Shichimi togarashi

Shichimi togarashi

What it is

The spice seller Karashiya Tokuemon built it in 1625 on the Yagenbori canal in Edo, along Chinese pharmacy lines, and sold it at temple gates as a medicine long before anyone ate it for pleasure. Shops still mix to their own house formula — chilli, sanshō, sesame, nori, hemp seed, dried citrus peel, poppy or ginger — so no two brands taste alike.

In the kitchen

Treat it as a table condiment, not a cooking spice: nori and sesame go bitter in a hot pan and the citrus peel is the first thing to disappear. Buy the smallest tin and keep it away from the stove.

Goes with

Soba noodles Miso Chicken Egg Daikon Negi

Also used with

Chicken tail (bonjiri) Chicken gizzard Pork uterus (kobukuro) Chicken cartilage (nankotsu)

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