Onigiri (Japanese rice 'balls')

On my way back from the After JET Conference in Yokohama in February, I discovered the joys of onigiri (rice balls) and have completely fallen in love with the convenient little snack.  Bereft that it took me so damn long to clue up to, I have been wasting no time in munching them down since.  Even going so far as to try making my own at home, in prep for when I return to Australia and will have to otherwise go without.  Here I shall explain the mysteries of onigiri...

The most common place to find onigiri is lurking in the refrigerated section of your local combini (convenience store).  They are generally the size of your palm and are essentially a portion of rice, usually with some sort of filling inside, all wrapped in a sheet of seaweed or nori.  Most onigiri cost 105yen each, about equivalent to 1AUD.  They are perfect little snack foods to keep in your handbag, as they are individually wrapped and take about 30 seconds to consume.

How to Eat an Onigiri:

This is what onigiri looks like straight off the shelf.  This one is "sea chicken with mayo" which is a Japanese way of saying there's 'tuna mayo' filling inside the rice.  It is individually wrapped so that the seaweed outside doesn't touch the rice (or else it will get soggy) and costs 105yen.

The first step is to grab the plastic tab at the top of the triangle and pull it down, ripping the label.  You should rip the plastic all the way around the rice ball, leaving two separate pieces of plastic wrap on each side of the triangle.  In case you are stuck at this point, you should notice some numbers printed on the onigiri.  This indicates the steps through which you should remove the wrapping.

Next, you should carefully remove the plastic wrap labelled "2".  This is a dual layered wrapper, with one layer reaching in between the rice and the seaweed and the other forming the outer packaging of the onigiri.  You must be careful here not to tear the crispy seaweed sheet.

Repeat the process with the other side labelled "3".

Discard the wrappers and munch into your onigiri.  The nori wrap should be firm and crispy, the rice soft and fluffy and in this case, the tuna mayo should be creamy and hidden inside.  Devour with relish and don't hesitate to reload - one onigiri is never enough!