Kuro shichimi vs. shichimi togarashi: why roasting and rubbing turns it black

In a soba shop or a ryotei, have you noticed a small wooden cylinder holding a blackish powder? It looks like shichimi, yet the color is nothing alike. That is kuro shichimi.

The name says shichimi, but it differs from red shichimi togarashi in how the taste is built. And the difference lies not in the blend but in the labor added to the ingredients.

The difference is in roasting and rubbing

Ordinary shichimi togarashi is finished by preparing each spice, chili, sansho pepper, dried citrus peel, sesame and so on, and then mixing them together. The original blend born at Yagenbori (薬研堀) in Edo also rests on the idea of compounding 7 spices.

Kuro shichimi adds one step here. Ingredients such as white sesame, sansho pepper and chili are carefully roasted, and then rubbed in. Repeating that labor without shortcuts leaves the powder faintly moist and clothed in a toasty note nothing else carries.

So: shichimi is made by mixing, kuro shichimi by roasting and rubbing. The gap in process becomes the gap in taste.

The black comes from the method, not from coloring

The color of kuro shichimi does not come from adding some black ingredient. As the roasted ingredients are rubbed in, the oil from the sesame spreads through the whole blend, and the powder grows moist and deepens in color. The color is not the aim; it is what the method leaves behind.

That method also settles the character of the taste. If red shichimi is a seasoning that raises both heat and aroma, kuro shichimi keeps the heat back and gives you the aroma to taste. One shake does not make a dish hot; it lays a toasty note over it. Which is why sprinkling the amount you would use of your usual shichimi can bring the aroma out too strongly.

Hara Ryokaku: three hundred years in Gion, one heir at a time

Kuro shichimi came from Hara Ryokaku in Gion, Kyoto. The shop hung out its curtain around the Genroku era as an established maker of kosen (香煎), and for the three hundred years or so since, the craft has passed from one heir to the next.

Roasting and rubbing in leave much that is hard to replace with machines. Because the amount of labor shows up directly in the taste, it makes sense that the work survived in the form of a single-heir craft.

The small 5g portion held in a wooden cylinder is Kyoto's sense of beauty itself. The barest shake over udon or yudofu, and the scent of a ryotei rises.

Choosing between them

• Kuro shichimi: a small amount over udon, soba or yudofu, just before eating. For moments when the aroma is the point
• Red shichimi: for tonjiru, yakitori or pickles, where you want both heat and aroma
• Ichimi togarashi: when you want nothing but heat
• Kuro shichimi also suits yakitori and tempura, and works as a finish on miso soup
• Aroma escapes any spice blend over time. Buy an amount you can finish, and use it up soon after opening

Inside a single name, shichimi, sit the craft of mixing and the craft of roasting. Next time you see that wooden cylinder, remember the reason for the black.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between kuro shichimi and ordinary shichimi togarashi?

The large difference is the method. Ordinary shichimi togarashi is made by mixing the spices together, while kuro shichimi goes through repeated rounds of carefully roasting the ingredients and rubbing them in. That labor leaves the powder faintly moist and darkened, and makes a spice blend in which the toasty note stands ahead of the heat.

Is kuro shichimi black because something has been mixed in?

Nothing is added for color. Roasting ingredients such as white sesame, sansho pepper and chili, then rubbing them in over and over, spreads the oil from the sesame through the whole blend, and the powder turns moist and dark. The color is the result of the method.

How is kuro shichimi best used?

Aroma is its strength, so it suits a small sprinkle over udon, soba or yudofu just before eating. It also goes well on yakitori and tempura, or as a finish on miso soup. Because it is not a spice blend that pushes with heat, sprinkling the same amount you would use of ordinary shichimi can make the aroma come out too strongly.