Shichimi togarashi
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| Kind | Condiment |
|---|---|
| Part of the plant | Seed |
| Also called | shichimi shichimi-togarashi nanairo tōgarashi (七色唐辛子) |
| Language | Japanese |
| Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Still made | Yes |
Shichimi togarashi (七味唐辛子, shichimi tōgarashi, "seven-flavour chilli") is a Japanese seasoning of ground chilli blended with six other ingredients, one of which is usually hemp seed (麻の実, asa no mi).[1] The seed is that of the cannabis plant (アサ, asa). As only licensed handlers could grow the plant under the Cannabis Control Law, the seed on sale in Japan in 2010 had been treated to stop it germinating, and it went into shichimi tōgarashi.[2]
The blends differ from maker to maker. Chilli, sanshō pepper and sesame are standard, and hemp seed is in the blends of all three makers that nippon.com calls the "three great shichimi" of Japan: Yagenbori of Edo, Yawataya Isogorō of Shinshū and Shichimiya Honpo of Kyoto. In the blend the hemp seed is the largest grain, crisp when bitten.[1] Yagenbori mixes the blend to order in its shop, and a customer may ask for it without the hemp seed.[3]
Yagenbori's account
Yagenbori, now in Asakusa, Tokyo, says that its first master, the spice merchant Karashiya Tokuemon, devised the blend in 1625, taking a hint from the herbal medicine of the doctors and drug wholesalers who lived around the Yagenbori canal in Edo. It says that the blend was presented that year to the shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu, who granted the firm the character toku (徳) of his family's name.[4][5] In the account of nippon.com the blend "is said" (と言われる) to go back to that founding, and it was first sold at temple and shrine gates on its medicinal virtues.[1]
The firm's street cry (売り口上) names each of the seven ingredients with its place: black sesame of Kawagoe, mandarin peel of Arita, roasted chilli of Naitō Shinjuku, chilli powder of Takamatsu, sanshō of Asakura, poppy seed of Yamato and "hemp seed, the famous product of Nikkō in Yashū" (野州日光の名産で麻の実).[6]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "七味唐辛子の七つ全部言える？ : 江戸前期から伝わる日本独自のミックススパイス" [Can you name all seven in shichimi tōgarashi? A Japanese spice blend handed down from the early Edo period]. nippon.com (in 日本語). 17 July 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
- ↑ "「日本食品標準成分表2010」について第3章の5" [On the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan 2010, chapter 3, part 5]. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (in 日本語). Retrieved 29 October 2026.
- ↑ "やげん堀 七味唐辛子本舗-オフィシャルサイト" [Yagenbori shichimi tōgarashi, official site] (in 日本語). Yagenbori Nakajima Shōten. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
- ↑ "創業 寛永二年" [Founded in the second year of Kan'ei]. やげん堀 七味唐辛子本舗 (in 日本語). Yagenbori Nakajima Shōten. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
- ↑ "名称" [The name]. やげん堀 七味唐辛子本舗 (in 日本語). Yagenbori Nakajima Shōten. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
- ↑ "売り口上" [The sales patter]. やげん堀 七味唐辛子本舗 (in 日本語). Yagenbori Nakajima Shōten. Retrieved 29 October 2026.