Episode 3: Onigiri

Onigiri!


Japanese comfort food to the max.


It can be anything from a ball of rice sprinkled with salt to
rice surrounding tuna or salmon, wrapped with nori.


But it's not sushi. Nope. No rice vinegar involved, thus... not
sushi!


They make excellent lunches. Bring them to school or to work -
they'll stay fresh unrefrigerated for up to six hours, thanks to
the wonderful, magical (okay, not so magical) preservation
qualities of salt! And if you fill your onigiri with an umebosi -
a very salty, sour pickled plum - it'll stay fresh for up to
eight hours.


You can fill them with anything that goes well with rice - common
onigiri fillings include flaked salmon, gingery chicken, spicy
fish roe, bonito flakes moistened with soy sauce, and tiny clams
cooked in a sweet soy glaze. But the possibilities are endless.
(Rachael put an olive in her olive-loving older daughter's
onigiri; Allison's contemplating how she can get bacon into one.)


Onigiri have been around for a really long time... more than 1000
years. (Holy cow, that's a long time!) There are even Japanese
fairy tales about it.


Onigiri can come in all sorts of different shapes. To get them
into all these fun shapes, you can form them by hand... or there
are lots of different molds you can buy.


So how do you make an onigiri? Lucky for you, Rachael made an
awesome video that shows all three methods for making it:


If you're ever in Japan, you can buy onigiri at most convenience
stores... make sure to watch this video where Rachael shows you
how to open onigiri from convenience stores... it's pretty cool!


Now, we want YOU to make onigiri, and tell us about it! It's so
easy to do... and we just know you'll love them.


(Need inspiration for your onigiri? Check out this blog.)


And remember... “Onigiri should fall apart in your mouth, not in
your hands.” – Sonoko Sakai


(Don't forget, today's the last day to enter our Japanese candy
giveaway!