ONIGIRI

I’m the type of traveler that would eat and try everything I see whether it’s street food or a wonderfully displayed dessert on the window. One of my go-to snacks in Tokyo is the rice ball Onigiri from 7-eleven.

They have different fillings but the labels are written in Japanese so my purchase is always an exciting surprise. I later realized that this little rice balls are a staple Japanese snack and a popular bento box choice (with miso soup).

Since preparing lunch for work is always a struggle, I decided to test drive making Onigiri at home as a potential lunch box treat.

I was pleasantly surprised on how easy it was to make. It’s basically rolled Japanese rice or steamed rice (not sushi rice) with filling in the middle and covered with sushi nori (seawed wrapper).

You have free range on the fillings but I suggest choosing something packed with flavor since the rice is bland.

I used leftover salmon as my filling and lightly toasted the rice balls with a glaze of Japanese soy sauce before wrapping with the nori.

I have a feeling that Onigiri will be my simple lunch solution and it’s exciting to experiment with different fillings and decoration like a totoro version or a hello kitty one?