Furikake Saves the Rice

Although the mixed mince rice at MOF @ My Izakaya was totally disappointing & Sam didn't like it at all, I still 'tabao' some of the rice (already mixed up with the minced pork & beef) home in my trusty TumbleMates bowl. Wanted to try if the pungent taste of meat would be covered by furikake.

What is furikake (ふりかけ)? Wikipedia defined it as "any 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 MSG."

I learnt to eat it when I was staying in Japan, and my ex-Japanese colleagues stationed to work in Singapore & Batam always add a packet on their rice at every lunchtime. Nowadays, most supermarkets in Singapore would sell the condiment, usually sesame or salmon flavoured.

What I like to use for Sam though, is the kids' version. These are usually packaged in cartoon charactors - Hello Kitty, Doraemon, etc - and the serving size for each packet is smaller than the adult version. There would usually be 4~5 different flavours - such as salmon (sake), egg (tamago), vegetable (yasai) - in a single package, each flavours having 4~6 packets. The main difference for the kids' version is it usually has calcium added. So I feel as though Sam would be getting some form of nutrients despite the MSG.

Normally, I add only half a packet of furikake to one whole bowl of Sam's rice when he has a poor appetite. Since Sam likes to eat salty foods, this makes it a convenient condiment to use besides the usual Chinese pork floss.

Anyway, after reheating the mixed mince rice in the microwave, I sprinkled a packet of Tamago Furikake (and later a packet of Sake Furikake) on the rice, and Sam willingly finished the resulting dish. So I didn't waste the rice, and saved myself the process of preparing a meal for Sam. ;)