Red Gomashio

Gomashio is a simple Japanese seasoning made from toasted sesame seeds and salt. It adds crunch, nuttiness, and added nutrients from the sesame seeds. A few years ago I started making a red version and it quickly became a kitchen staple. Dense with sesame, dynamic with chile powder and smoked paprika, the wildcard ingredient is green cardamom. Fragrant cardamom seeds are ground with mortar and pestle along with some of the sesame and the resulting blend of spices really sings - especially when it hits something hot. And while not at all traditional, you can use it in many of the same ways you might use a more traditional version of goma (sesame) shio (salt).

Red Gomashio: Ingredients

• Cardamom: Your cardamom seeds should be fragrant when crushed. You can buy cardamom in different forms - whole cardamom pods, cardamom seeds, ground cardamom seeds. For this recipe you want to start with pods or whole seeds. If you buy the seeds, it’s a bit of a shortcut and you can simply pounds them in a mortar and pestle, or grind them in a clean pepper grinder. If you start with seeds you’ll need about 1/4 teaspoon for this recipe.
  
  My friend Wendy gifted me a few beautiful glass jars of spices last week (her calligraphy!), and looking at the cardamom I took it as a sign to make a fresh round of red gomashio.
• Sesame Seeds: I typically keep unhulled sesame seeds on hand, and that’s what I use here. Fresher is better. You want to keep sesame seeds in an airtight container, out of direct light, preferably refrigerated if you don’t go through them quickly.
  
• Onion: I prefer to use dried onion flakes here, but they can be tricky to find. Onion powder does the job as well, and is available in most stores. That said, if you plan ahead, one of my favorite ingredient discoveries lately is the toasted onion powder from Burlap & Barrel (not sponsored, just a fan). It’s good in place of the dried onion flakes here.
• Salt: I like to use flaky sea salt here, you can kind of crush it with your fingers into small, irregular shapes that are nice. Alternately, pink Himalayan sea salt pounded a bit with a mortar and pestle is a nice alternative.
  
• Chile powder: I like to use Kashmiri chile powder here. It has a vibrant spiciness, fruity notes, and for the electric color (!) it brings. If you want to use another chile powder, add it gradually as your final ingredient, adding more until the overall blend is to your liking.

How To Use Red Gomashio

This is a wildly adaptable seasoning. I love it sprinkled over labneh and drizzled with a finishing extra virgin olive oil. It’s good sprinkled over homemade pasta tossed with a generous amount of butter or olive oil, some Parmesan, and whatever fresh herbs you have on hand. It’s A-plus on a baked potato (or mashed potatoes omg). Or sprinkled across a plate of hard-boiled eggs. Basically it’s an easy way to make everyday staples a bit special. You see it sprinkled above on onigirazu, it’s equally at home on rice bowls, onigiri, and soba bowls. I also love to sprinkle it all over guacamole before serving. I could go on and on, basically keep it on your counter and use it constantly.

The Process

Here are a few process shots and visual cues in case you need them. 

• Grind the cardamom: This is the texture you're after when grinding the cardamom seeds. A bit of texture along with a fine grind. It's the grind I go for when grinding black pepper. 
• Grind some of the sesame seeds: If you have a suribachi, this would be the time to use it - I bought this one by Colleen Hennessey for Permanent Collection years ago and it's one of my prized kitchen possessions. But a mortar and pestle works nicely as well (pictured). Then you add the rest of ingredients.
  
• Add the rest of the toasted sesame seeds: Stir in the rest of the seeds and then adjust the seasoning to your linking with more chile powder, brown sugar, salt, etc. Keep it on your counter and sprinkle with enthusiasm!

More Homemade Spice Blends

• Homemade Bouillon
• Homemade Celery Salt
• Salad Booster
• Citrus Salt
• Za’atar
• Citrus Furikake
• Homemade Onion Powder

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