Just Bento

I’ve neglected the furikake series for a while, but it’s back!

And what better way to return, than with bacon.

I have bacon on the mind recently for some reason. I’m not overindulging in it, but it’s fun trying to figure out different ways of incorporating bacon in one’s life.

Bacon goes with everything, including rice. It’s salty and bacon-y. I’ve souped it up by adding some Japanese flavors sweet-salty flavors. The result is almost like bacon candy. A little goes a long way.

It’s great sprinkled on just about everything. Besides rice, you could sprinkle it on eggs, vegetables, your tongue…

Sweet-salty bacon furikake

You’ll want to try to select a fairly low fat bacon. A dry-cured one is best. You can also use a cured ham like proscuitto.

• About 150g / 5.25 oz lean bacon
• 1 Tbs. mirin
• 1 Tbs. raw cane sugar (or regular sugar)
• 1/2 Tbs. soy sauce

Chop up the bacon quite finely.

In a large frying pan, sauté the bacon over a low-medium heat until it’s rendered a lot of its fat and is fairly crispy, but not burned.

Drain the bacon on paper towels. Wipe out the pan to get rid of any bacon fat.

Add the other ingredients over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar is melted. Return the bacon and stir around until the liquid is gone.

Let cool completely. Optionally whirl it in a food processor until very finely chopped.

This will keep in the refrigerator for a week or two (if it lasts that long).

Spicy variation: Add a little of our favorite condiment, nanami (shichimi) tohgarashi.

• See more homemade furikake recipes.