Mentaiko Onigiri aka Flavored Rice Balls
Outdoor picnic has always been my favorite pastime in the summer. Sandwiches and cakes are some of the common snacks to be enjoyed during the picnics. Much inspired by the hanami picnics in Japan, I made these mentaiko onigiri as my picnic snack.
(Hanami refers to sakura viewing, a traditional custom in Japan to enjoy the transient beauty of sakura)
These flavored rice balls are so simple to make. Basically you just need two main ingredients - cooked rice and kelp & mentaiko seasoning. No extra seasoning i.e. salt or soy sauce is required as the hydrated mentaiko (pollock roe) is salty in taste. You can adjust the saltiness of the rice balls according to your preference - more kelp & mentaiko seasoning for saltier version.
Ingredients
A bowl of warm cooked rice
kelp & mentaiko seasoning (intake according to preference)
seaweed (optional)
Directions
1. Sprinkles kelp & mentaiko seasoning and seaweed on the warm rice. Mix well.
2. Wet your hands with some water. Scoop some rice onto your hand and shape the rice into ball shape or triangle shape.
I highly recommend the kelp & mentaiko seasoning by Hagoromo. The mentaiko are a bit spicy in taste, which added another layer of flavor to the plain rice. The seasoning can be purchased from Amazon. Just look for Wakame maze gohan Mentaiko konbu 30gx10.
Here is my little picnic's bento with onigiri, chicken nuggets and fried tempura shrimps. Let's picnic!
