CONTRIBUTED BY KAHO
Onigiri means a triangular shaped "rice ball" in Japanese and it is a typical lunch food that Japanese people take in their lunch box.
Left: Onigiri bought at "CO-OP"
Right: Onigiri bought at LAWSON Convenience Store
You can make onigiri at home, but you can also find them at convenience stores and supermarkets. Salmon is my favorite!
All the pictures on here was taken by wonderful Aviva. She even took the picture to explain how to unwrap the package. Numbers to show how to unwrap are printed on the plastic package.
There are a lot other kinds as well. Below is some examples of other kinds of onigiri.
Left: Fried Rice
Middle: Salmon and Sesame
Right: Jushi (Okinawa Pork Rice)
I bought some frozen onigiri as well. You just stick them in a microwave and there is your warm onigiri!
Left: Brown rice
Middle: Baked with soy sauce
Right: Brown rice and baked onigiris on a plate
I had an onigiri tasting with my friends. It was so much fun to try many different kinds of onigiri at once!!
We all were stuffed after eating rice after rice.
I made my friends rate the onigiri. When I shop on-line or find recipes on-line, I like checking stars and reading reviews. Here is our review. This rating is based on my and my friends preference, so you might not agree with us and that's fine. Give us your recommendation!
Here's the result:
Salmon☆☆☆☆ Everyone liked it.
Salmon mayonnaise☆☆☆ If you don't like mayonnaise, regular salmon is better.
Tuna mayonnaise☆☆☆ Pretty good. It's like tuna salad inside rice ball.
Miso paste☆☆☆☆ Sweet red miso is inside. Many liked it.
Meat☆☆☆ It was okay. It's kind of like taco meat inside a rice ball.
Plum☆ Some didn't enjoy this at all. I like it because I'm Japanese and I'm used to the taste.
Konbu (Seaweed)☆☆☆☆☆ Everyone liked it. Some said that this was their favorite.
Fried Rice☆☆☆ Pretty good.
Salmon and Sesame☆☆☆☆☆ Some said this one was one of the best. Very tasty.
Brown rice ☆☆☆☆ The rice is cooked with red beans. Some liked it, some weren't too crazy about it.
Baked with soy sauce☆☆☆☆ A few said that it was okay. I LOVE this onigiri. If you like Japanese rice crackers, you'll like this one as well.
Below is side dishes for our carbohydrates.
Left: The one on the left is cooked radish, black one in the middle is hijiki seaweed with carrots and pork, the one on the right is burdock roots called kipira gobo.
Right: Vegetable tempura
Rice fills you up fast. We all were pretty full after the onigiri tasting. It was fun!
GOCHISOSAMA!!! (Thanks for the meal!)
This is awesome. I have always had hit or miss on the little triangles because I can’t see what is in them. I do buy the musubi’s from the convenience store but you can see the contents from the side….(usually spam and egg with some kind of sauce depending on which one you get).
I will have to study the writing on these ones from your great photos so I will be prepared next time I come across a section of these in the store…many of them sound very yummy…thanks for an awesome post.
I know when our time is up, we’re going to miss the readily available bentos and onigiris at every corner store! What a great post with great photos too!
OH I am so excited, we lived in Seoul, S. Korea 4 years ago. I LOVED getting the little triangles. Had no idea the name and it was like a game show seeing what the secret center was. The plastic seperated the seaweed from the rice so it was crispy. Yum. Okinawa has them!! Yahoo.
I am thrilled to know I will able to get these again! Plus I will make a cheat sheet from your pics and always know what I am getting.
Thanks what a great post.
You did a great job explaining in this post, Kaho! And Mishka & Tara – the best is that the labels on the outside have the same colors- salmon onigiri has a salmon/peach-colored label, the tuna is always blue, and the seaweed was green, the miso paste was reddish-orange. I love these snacks and the tasting was fun. I used to go to the convenience store and just grab whichever onigiri had the least left on the shelf. I figured that had to be the best. Now I’ll look for the miso or the seaweed – definitely the salmon without the mayo. Oishii!
OH MY GOODNESS I am officially homesick… My Hubby and I were in Okinawa from Oct 2001-Nov 2004, and I MISS IT TERRIBLY! I love Onigiri, and have been making my own here at home since we left there… I wish I had your blog when I was there… I have so much information I hope I can help out!!!
うめおにぎりさいこう！！！
I love onigiri!I just had an ume onigiri as a snack earlier today and it was so good! I also like the kombu ones alot. I have to admit that a few kinds are a little too crazy for my tastes such as a curry chicken one that I had once. Then again whatever floats your boat