The Southernmost Onigiri?

Today I tried (for the second time) the Crab Onigiri from Hikari - one of the better Japanese restaurants offering sushi in Dunedin (the New Zealand version). The sign offering a job in katakana also offered hope, given the pretty awful stuff being passed off as Japanese food in most other places.

The crab onigiri was pretty good - it consisted of leg meat and a bit too much mayonnaise. NZ$3.50

This one was actually wrapped in an onigiri wrapper and would actually be familiar to someone from Japan or someone like me who lived in Japan. I only add this because of the grapefruit-sized monstrosities being sold as onigiri in a few other places in Dunedin claiming to sell Japanese food.

Homemade Okaka Onigiri

I'm thinking about opening a new era in this long-neglected onigiri blog. Due to the very few options here in Melbourne for buying onigiri - I made my own. I had the ingredients at home so I chose to make 'okaka' onigiri - the filling is made from katsuobushi seasoned with soy sauce - a popular style in Japan. The taste was good, although it highlighted the need for a small amount of salt to be sprinkled on the final product.

I bought the bowl in the photo from a gallery in Osaka - it was made in Hiroshima! 

Hopefully in the future I'll make more - with different fillings. Salted salmon is next I think.

Enjoy.

D.

I also found this link to an onigiri map of Japan - fun!