Rice Balls

Rice Balls are our Japanese soul food. I remember during one of my English class in Singapore, the British teacher asked us what the last meal in our life will be?

I answered "The Rice balls and Miso soup!" straight away.

We use boiled white rice with a bit of salt, and shaped round or triangular.



Commonly, we put pickled Ume (salted plums) in the centre of the ball then finish with a wrap of laver. We have a big variety of fillings for them - canned tuna; seaweeds boiled in sweetened soy; dried bonito seasoned with soy; grilled, salted salmon; cod roe and so on… Prawn tempura is also a good filling!


If you go to convenience stores like SEVEN ELEVEN in Japan, you will always find them  among Sandwiches and Bento Lunch boxes.


Real Japanese rice is stickier than normal rice so it’s easy to mould. You can add some sticky rice when you make rice balls with Japanese rice produced in Australia or the US.


Chinese medical science teaches that thereis a healing point in our palms so we sometimes put our hands on areas of our body that feel pain. It is one kind of healing..


But, rice balls sold at SEVEN ELEVEN are made with machines.


Please don't add any vinegar to it. We do so only when making sushi!!

   variety of race balls

                               

My Grandmother`s rice ball. She shaped rectangle and wrapped it with [tororo-kobu] peices of shaved dried kelp

                              





SEVEN ELEVEN nearby here



rice balls in SEVEN ELEVEN