Furikake Tomato Sandwich

By Eric Kim

Updated Oct. 12, 2023

Furikake Tomato Sandwich
Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Heather Greene.
Total Time
10 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Rating
4(1,319)
Comments
Read comments

In this variation on the classic Southern sandwich, a sprinkle of furikake, the savory-sweet Japanese rice seasoning that makes food sing, enhances the flavor of glutamate-rich summer tomatoes. The furikake’s seaweed, as well as its monosodium glutamate, lends you that extra burst of umami (the fifth taste after sweet, sour, salty and bitter), helping the tomatoes taste even more of themselves. Here, soft, just-toasted slices of brioche or milk bread should sandwich thick sheets of your favorite mayonnaise, completing the harmony of fruit, carb and condiment.

Featured in: The Sandwich Southerners Wait for All Year

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Ingredients

Yield:2 sandwiches
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1large very ripe heirloom tomato, thickly sliced crosswise
  • 4slices soft white sandwich bread, such as brioche or milk bread
  • Mayonnaise, for spreading
  • Furikake rice seasoning (see Tip), for sprinkling
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Salt and pepper the tomato slices. Lightly toast the bread.

  2. Step 2

    Spread a generous amount of mayonnaise on each slice of bread, then sprinkle with furikake. Divide the tomato slices between 2 slices of bread, then sandwich with the remaining bread.

  3. Step 3

    Cut the sandwiches diagonally and eat immediately.

Tip
  •  You can find furikake, in all its flavor iterations, in most Asian supermarkets and online. In a pinch, you can also pulse in a mini food processor 1 (5-gram) packet roasted seaweed, 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt and ½ teaspoon granulated sugar until fine, then stir in 2 teaspoons sesame seeds or everything bagel seasoning, and a pinch of MSG, such as Aji-No-Moto brand seasoning. Beyond the tomato sandwich, you can sprinkle this homemade seasoning over a bowl of fresh white rice, roasted vegetables and all manner of eggs.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,319 user ratings
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Comments

Laurie

I put potato chips on my tomato sandwich, using the crumbs at the bottom of the bag. The salty crunch makes it even better. I learned about tomato sandwiches while reading the children’s book “ Harriet the Spy”. I was in graduate school at the time. Many decades later it’s still one of my favorite books. And I LOVE tomato/mayo sandwiches!

Grace

instead of sliced bread, my family uses the cheap hamburger buns for tomato sandwiches. The buns don't fall apart. They are also round like the tomatoes. We do not buy the potato rolls or the brioche buns, because the sandwich is all about the tomato.

LKT

The recipe doesn't specify Kewpie mayo, but try it. It's made with yolks rather than whole eggs, giving it an eggier taste. It's almost like smearing your bread with egg salad, and it's amazing.

EJ

Thank you Eric Kim for once again elevating simple ingredients into something sublime!

Karen

Love tomato sandwiches but not with furikake. Really wanted to like this variation, but fishy tomato is not yummy.

Hannah

I made the seasoning from scratch without the msg. This is DELICIOUS! Tomato, mayo, and salt are the main flavor components. There's an umami in there from the seaweed and the sesame seeds.

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