Rice Rice Baby!

Play with your food again!

Junk food, I'm a terrible addict. But not because I'm a chocoholic or anything. But with life seemingly so hectic it’s a wonder I eat at all. Besides it being unhealthy to say the least it gets very expensive and generates a trash can full of waste nearly every other day.

In the past I’ve taken steps to drastically cut back on this. I now take a walk around the block during breaks instead of my daily fivebucks coffee trip. With 270 work days in a typical year that’s about 1,400 bucks a year. (plus it’s not very good actually). Or for the travelers that’s about the cost of an 11 day cruise to Hawaii.

To be honest most of the time I’m just looking for an excuse to spend those sweet 15 minutes of life gained outside in the beautiful California sun.

So several months ago I set out to find a quick and easy snack food to keep handy.

Well ever since I was about 3 years old I’ve been eating sushi usually with a bowl of white rice, which I love any number of ways. The only thing is making a pot of it takes time for just a single meal.

Oddly enough the idea of a homemade rice snack came from a cartoon. Being very fond of anime (japanese cartoons for adults) since the days of Robotech, I remembered the main character Jubei in Ninja Scroll strolling through the countryside munching on a rice ball (right before tossing it up in the air, dispatching 2 evil ninjas then catching it and continuing on, how cool!)

Given the immense power of Google I though I could find out at least some more info. Turnsout rice ball's or ONIGIRI as it’s referred to by everyone else on the planet who’s not me. Apparently is quite a staple snack especially among the bento box set, which are small compartmentalized lunch boxes kinda like lunchables for grown-ups.

Preparing them are very easy with nearly any option you can mix rice with being an option to keep it interesting.

Only a couple of basic items are needed.

1. Steamed rice - I perfer Jasmine white rice. Make sure to keep it on the stove simmering.

2. A glass or cup - I use a martini glass for it's broad flat shape.

3. Saran wrap - I perfer clear

4. A small amount of salt and water

5. (optional) small pieces of cooked fish or seasoning

First, take a piece of saran wrap roughly 12 x12 and lay it in you glass or cup so it's open.

Then take a scoop of the steamed rice - I use an ice cream scooper to keep it even amounts.

Then place it on the saran wrap and a add a very small bit of salt and water 1/4 teaspoon or so.

At this point you can take your finger and poke it into the center to create a hole where you can put any number of things like crab or even a small piece of pastrami. I also grind up a mix of spices to add flavor. Ralphs and many others have an east asian spice mix thats very good.

Then fold up the sran wrap and twist it so that it forms a small and tightly compacted ball. So the mix of salt and water is evenly distributed and to remove as much air as possible. You can set them upside down to help keep them seled when your done.

Then simply place them in a piece of Tupperware and stick them in the fridge. Where they can last for about a week.

When you're ready unwrap and there ready to eat. I pack mine for lunch all the time and they make great hor derves.

Since you can start with a very large rice cooker, it's possible to have lunch and snacks fr a week ready to go. With endless possibilities for toppings. Or for an easy meal with a couple heated in a bowl with some butter or soy sauce. Good stuff.

As a side note. If you plan on heating them up, please beaware that heating up sara wrap can release PET from the plastic which has been linked to many possible negatie health benefits.

Of course rice is sold in bulk and you can make alot of food from a 5 pound bag for about 4 bucks. It also cuts down on packaging. Trips to the store which cuts down on gas and time. Plus by cooking in bulk all the dishes and water saved. You can even toss the saran wrap with your recycled plastics.

Rice is also produced locally in many states especially California. Which means even less impact from transport and supporting your local farmers.

So try it yourself, be creative. Cooking can be theraputic and has been shown to improve bonding n relationships.

For further ideas including Bento, here's a few links that I found helpfull.

riceballs - riceball hompage numba won

bento - the wiki 411