Yesterday I was suffering from a bad case of food poisoning and all I could eat was porridge sprinkled with some Furikake 振り掛け. Therefore, I decided to share with you one of my favorite Japanese condiments for our Today’s Japan Photo series.

This yummy shot of a bowl of rice and some light sprinkle of Furikake 振り掛け was taken by flickr user ensman82. For those that are wondering what the heck is Furikake 振り掛け:

Furikake (振り掛け) is a dry Japanese condiment meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. It typically consists of a mixture of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and monosodium glutamate.

Other flavorful ingredients such as katsuobushi (sometimes indicated on the package as bonito), or okaka (bonito flakes moistened with soy sauce and dried again), salmon, shiso, egg, powdered miso, vegetables, etc. are often added to the mix.

Furikake is often brightly colored and flaky. It can have a slight fish or seafood flavoring, and is sometimes spicy. It can be used in Japanese cooking for pickling foods for onigiri, or rice balls.