A Minor Onigiri Project

First onigiri for 2014. Comforting cured, grilled salmon.

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!

Cod-roe, Chilli and Kelp with Soy Sauce

This limited edition tarako, chilli and kelp onigiri was delicious. Predictibly, though, it was light on the chilli! I'm always amazed at how they must make millions of these tasty triangles every day!160 yen plus a 20 yen discount on the bill!

Shirasu and Eggyolk Onigiri

 This tasty number had rice cooked in a bonito dashi,  tiny white fish and a pretty raw egg yolk. Lots of flavour for 128 yen. How do they do it? The rough translation from the Family mart website is below!


"Fancy rice was mixed with bonito flavor twist, add the ingredients are rice balls whitebait tailored to domestic land of egg yolk nourishment."

Pork-Wrapped Onigiri

This onigiri was friedish-rice wrapped in pork and laced with sweeeeet sauce. I heated this one as per the instructions - 25 seconds in a 500w microwave. It tasted a little sickly  and my mouth watered unaccountably for hours afterwards. MSG in spades methinks. 158 yen from Family Mart

Simmered Pork and Mustard

This pork and mustard number was pretty tasty, but needed heating. Expensive at 178 yen.