ONIGIRI

CONVENIENCE STORE FOOD ENCOUNTERED IN TAIWAN AND INTRODUCED AFTER SOME DUBIOUS PRACTICE

*Or: A fine Japanese meal for days without lunch breaks.

Image via Janice Chan/Flickr.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

Salt

(salt packets available in utensils space in BD)

Water

Freshly cooked rice

(may be obtained from stir fry in BD)

Nori seaweed

(United Provisions has this)

Filling

(e.g. pork floss, grilled salmon, UP has these too)

HOW TO MAKE THIS

  1. Pull up a piece of entertainment because you might be here a while.
  2. Toss a few pinches of salt into a small bowl of water (e.g. WashU honeydew containers).
  3. Wet hands with saltwater and grab a handful of rice. You can mix a bit of sesame or rice seasoning into it, like in the image above, if it suits your fancy.
  4. Mold rice into triangles (illustrations below: 1). You can use a spoon or similar flat edge, though wet hands work perfectly well and mean one less utensil to rinse.
  5. Make a small indentation in the rice with your finger (don't stab through completely, though), and pat in your filling (illustrations below: 2-4).
  6. Place triangles of rice onto a sheet of nori seaweed.
  7. Fold and wrap the nori seaweed over the rice ball to enclose it.

RINSE-REPEAT: MAKE AS MANY AS YOU NEED!

THEN, enjoy immediately, or if you're a sinner like me, wrap them in cling wrap and toss them in the fridge for consumption one to three days later, because hardened rice and softened seaweed is really not much of a problem! Everyone else is just foolishly picky!

ILLUSTRATIONS

Image source

TIPS + ALTERNATIVES