Furikake Popcorn with Shoyu Brown Butter

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Big-bowl izakaya snacking: stovetop popcorn tossed in nutty brown butter spiked with soy sauce, then dusted with a furikake you toast and crush yourself from nori, two colors of sesame, and a little sugar and salt. The homemade seasoning tastes greener and smokier than the shaker stuff, and a short stint in a low oven keeps every kernel crackly instead of chewy.

Ingredients

• 3 sheets toasted nori (about 8x7 inches each)
• 3 tbsp white sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 tsp MSG or 1 tsp finely crumbled bonito flakes (optional)
• 1/4 tsp shichimi togarashi or cayenne (optional)

• 3 tbsp neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels

• 5 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 300°F and set a rack in the middle. Toast the sesame seeds first: put the white and black seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat and shake constantly for 3 to 4 minutes, until the white seeds turn pale gold and smell nutty. Immediately scrape them onto a plate to stop the cooking.
2. Crisp the nori: hold each sheet with tongs and pass it 4 to 6 inches above a gas burner on low for 5 to 10 seconds per side, until it darkens slightly and turns brittle. (No gas? Lay the sheets on a baking sheet and bake at 300°F for 3 minutes.) Cool for 1 minute, then tear into pieces.
3. Make the furikake: pulse the nori in a food processor or spice grinder to coarse flakes, about 5 short pulses — you want confetti, not powder. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the toasted sesame seeds, sugar, sea salt, and the MSG or bonito and shichimi if using. Set aside.
4. Pop the corn: put the oil and 3 kernels in a 6-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat and cover. When those 3 kernels pop (2 to 4 minutes), add the remaining kernels, shake to coat, and cover with the lid slightly ajar to let steam escape.
5. Cook, sliding the pot back and forth across the burner every 20 seconds, until the popping slows to about 2 seconds between pops, 3 to 5 minutes. Pull the pot off the heat right away and dump the popcorn into your largest bowl, leaving any unpopped kernels behind.
6. Make the shoyu brown butter: melt the butter in a small light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, swirling often, for 3 to 5 minutes, until the foam subsides and the milk solids at the bottom turn deep golden and smell like toasted hazelnuts. Off the heat, stand back and add the soy sauce and mirin — it will sputter — then swirl in the sesame oil.
7. Drizzle about half the butter over the popcorn while tossing with two big spoons, then sprinkle on half the furikake and toss again. Repeat with the remaining butter and furikake so the seasoning lands in layers rather than one wet patch.
8. Spread the popcorn on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake at 300°F for 6 to 8 minutes, tossing once halfway, to drive off moisture from the soy sauce and set the crunch. Cool for 3 minutes and serve warm, in the biggest bowl you own.
9. Taste and finish with an extra pinch of the furikake or a few flakes of salt if it needs lift. Leftovers keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days; re-crisp for 5 minutes at 300°F.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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