I bought this on a whim on Sunday to go with a sushi style salad I was making.   And what a good buy it was!  So you may ask, what exactly is Furikake? Furikake is a lightly salted Japanese condiment that is generally sprinkled over cooked white rice or Japanese rice balls called Onigiri, among other things. It'sas commonplace in Japan as salt and pepper is in America. Furikake usually consists of various ingredients such as sushi nori (seaweed), sesame seeds, dried tuna flakes, ground shiso leaf, salmonflakes, powdered soy sauce or miso, and dried egg.  

Close up of Seasoning

Here is the ingredient list for the version I bought (a hot wasabi version): Sesame Seed, Horseradish, Shaved Bonito, Japanese Mustard Plant, Sugar, Seaweed, Soy Sauce, Salt, and Cooking RiceWine. I purchased it at Wegmans Grocery Store in Hunt Valley, MD for $2.99. It is also available on Amazon.com.

My version of Furikake contains ‘shaved bonito'. Bonito flakes, known as katsuo-bushi or katsuobushi in Japanese cuisine, are flakes of dried, smoked bonito fish. They look similar to woodshavings. The "bonito" is a type of tuna. The drying process makes the fish very concentrated in inosinic acid which provides a distinct umami (savory) flavor. In the food industry, inosinic acidand its salts such as disodium inosinate are used as flavor enhancers and are often used in place of MSG.

Furikake will enhance flavor to whatever you add it to, whether it’s rice, fish, or stir-fry. It’s an unique seasoning, and will be as versatile as your imagination- - I’m going to try it on my eggs tomorrow morning.  I’m also going to try to replace some of the table salt I use with this stuff. Yes, it does contain salt but less of it - - the otheringredients such as the bonito will naturally enhance the flavor of any dish.