I love gomashio — it’s a Japanese seasoning made with sesame seeds “goma” and salt “shio.” For years, I’ve used Eden Foods Organic Seaweed Gomasio which also has a few sea vegetables in it for flavor. But commercial gomashio is expensive, and I’ve been thinking about making my own for a while. Recently, I found I could get 5 pounds of hulled organic sesame seeds for cheap on Amazon.com, and I have plenty of sea salt. I’ve been wanting to harvest local seaweed here around Juneau for some time, but I haven’t made forays into that particular kind of foraging yet. What I do have right now is a jar full of dried nettles that I picked this spring. Nettles have a tons of vitamins, and a nice flavor that is slightly seaweedy. So I looked at my empty bottle of Gomasio for guidance on a ratio of sesame seeds to salt. I discovered today that Wikipedia says the range is between 5:1 and 15:1. Mine is about 1:16, and it is still pleasantly salty.

Alaska Gomashio

1 cup hulled sesame seeds
1 loose handful of dried nettle leaves
3 1/2 t. sea salt

Toast the sesame seeds for 2-3 minutes in a dry pan on the stove top until they start to turn golden and smell fragrant. Allow to cool.

In food processor, mix toasted sesame seeds, nettle leaves, and sea salt.

Blend until nettle leaves are crumbled. Store in an airtight container, and freeze what you won’t use up quickly.

You can sprinkle gomashio on just about anything. I love it in stir fry, on rice, and last night, I used it on salmon.

 

 

Seasoning with Thriftiness – Alaska Gomashio
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