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Hachimi Togarashi (or Eight-Spice Japanese Chile Seasoning)

Name: Hachimi Togarashi (or Eight-Spice Japanese Chile Seasoning)
Yield: Makes about 1/3 cup
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon Szechuan/sansho peppercorn; 1 teaspoon black peppercorn; 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic; 1 teaspoon dried orange peel; 2 tablespoons ground cayenne pepper; 2 teaspoons finely flaked nori or dulse; 2 teaspoons sesame seeds; 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds

by: vvvanessa

November 4, 2014

2 Ratings

Hachimi Togarashi (or Eight-Spice Japanese Chile Seasoning)

Makes about 1/3 cup

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Author Notes

I enjoy a spicy condiment as much as the next guy, but I have a soft spot for togarashi, the Japanese spice mix you sprinkle on rice or noodle dishes, or, if you're like me, on everything else, like eggs and vegetables and hummus. There are plenty of takes on togarashi recipes, which vary in proportions as well as ingredients; some recipes call for hemp seeds or poppy seeds and some leave out the garlic or seaweed, but technically, "shimichi togarashi" refers to using seven ingredients. My version takes a slight detour in that it uses eight ingredients and has a smaller proportion of chiles to the other ingredients than most versions I’ve seen (my air-dried cayenne chiles from the farmers' market were quite strong, but you can adjust to your taste). There is a lot of room for tinkering with this recipe, and I do not claim that it is anything that your Japanese grandmother would call authentic, but it’ll warm you up and give your food a tasty kick. —vvvanessa

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Ingredients

Directions

Using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, grind the peppercorns, garlic, and orange peel to a medium grind. Combine well with the rest of the ingredients and store in an air-tight container.

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6 Reviews

augustabeth November 13, 2014

This is really good used very lightly on pasta! What's the red flaky spice in the photo? It looks like cayenne flakes. Wondering if 2 TAB of flakes instead of ground cayenne would dial the heat back a little?

vvvanessa November 14, 2014

The batch of togarashi in this photo uses cayenne peppers that I ground by hand, so they're a little flakier than powdered cayenne. I think that there is so much variation in the intensity of peppers that it's good to play around with the proportions to get a heat that's right for you. Maybe start with just 1 tablespoon of cayenne and add more as you like. I have found bottled togarashi that I've had from the store has been pretty spicy.

mrslarkin November 10, 2014

Also, I feel like I should know this, but, can I DIY the dried orange peel in my oven??

vvvanessa November 11, 2014

I don't see why not. The peel I get is super dry and hard, and it does have the pith attached. You could go all nuts and do blood orange peel or something!