Riceball Saves the Day

Hi Hivers. How are you?

This post is about onigiri (rice balls). It is a popular snack or staple had by many in Japan. It could be plain but often times has a filling. The filling could be vegetable, poultry, legumes, fish or meat. The shape varies but is often round or triangular and often times wrapped with dried and sometimes roasted seaweed.

They are popular homemade items but many varieties can be found at the supermarkets and convenience stores.
They are a quick meal, an easy-grab and they are quite reasonably-priced.

When my kids are home on holidays, I make sure to have some ready. They save the day. The kids can grab-and-go.

I first made some a few years ago for my son’s kindergarten picnic. I struggled to get the filling in without adding too much rice to conceal it. The rice balls sometimes broke apart. With more practice, I saw some improvement.

Whenever we have family picnics or family school events, onigiri is usually packed along with the other food items. This was lunch for the family at our last school event. I made some onigiri with seaweed and some without. I used that particular seaweed only because I had run out of the ones I usually use.

Now, I have to share with you, my favorite nori (seaweed) for onigiri.

One day (once upon a time, if you prefer), I saw some soccer-designed seaweed for riceballs at the supermarket. I bought a pack and decided to try it out. When I made the “soccer” rice balls, my son loved it. His response echoed. He said, “Mommy! You’re cool”. He carried them to his school picnic.
When I went to pick him up, to my surprise, his teachers were talking about it. If I remember well, they even clapped. Kudos to the nori.

Since that time, I’ve mostly been making soccer riceballs. I’ve been doing so mainly because:

My boys often request them.
The nori (seaweed) makes it easy.
I want to be “cool”.

I must mention here as well, that since that time, soccer became my favorite sport. I don’t know much about the game but I know the kind of ball that is used and that there are twelve members on a team (correct me if I’m wrong). The good thing is, people don’t usually ask me why I love soccer. That saves me from giving an explanation of rice, seaweed and the coolness that come with it.

Just a few days ago, my boys joined me in the kitchen and together we made some soccer onigiri. I realized afterwards that we made them a bit too big. The soccer design wasn’t really on-point but the boys were in the mood for a game anyway.

We used steamed rice, soccer-designed nori, salt (optional), umeboshi (pickled plums) and tuna flakes (with roasted sesame seed vegetable dressing). We prepared a cup of water along with those ingredients.

Let the game begin:

Step 1. Use the water from the cup to wet the palm of your hands. If you wish, add a little salt and rub the palm of your hands together.

Step 2. Place a small amount of rice in one hand and make an indent for the filling. Add the filling to the center.

Step 3.Cover the the filling with about the same amount of rice or less.
Use both hands to squeeze the rice and form it in the shape of a ball. Make it compact so that it doesn’t break apart easily.

Step 4. Put the seaweed around the rice ball.

Step 5. Make several to suit your need.

While making the riceballs, my boys asked if they could make a snowman. In my head, I could hear “Hey, it’s spring. Why not stick to the soccer game?” But, the cool mom in me said, “Sure, let’s make it!” We removed a piece of carrot from our soup to make the nose and hat of the snowman and cut two pieces from the soccer nori to make the eyes.