[Ninja Baker] Onigiri/Omusubi: Japanese Comfort Food

[Ninja Baker]

“Then followed that beautiful season...Summer... / Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape / Lay as if new-created in all the freshness of childhood.”

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie

The New England poet’s Evangeline evokes happy childhood memories of my nanny taking me to our local amusement park. Patiently she’d wait as I whirled around on the Ferris Wheel and took a spin on the roller coaster. Not to lose sight of her charge, she even followed me into the House of Mirrors. (Like a guardian angel she stood behind me as distorted images of my true self appeared. Prescient visions of adulthood experiences perhaps.) In our picnic basket, she always packed onigiri also called omusubi.  (A rice ball commonly shaped into triangles, sometimes ovals, and wrapped with seaweed.)

While my friends’ comfort foods are meatloaf and mac ‘n cheese, mine is onigiri with umeboshi (pickled plum) filling. Traditional preparation of omusubi requires that a bit of salt is placed in the palm of one’s hand when shaping the rice balls. This action is known as teijo ni kakeru – to apply hand-salt. The exact same expression is used when referring to raising a beloved child or plant. Inherent in the preparation of omusubi is nurturing.

Apparently after a hard day at the office, I am not the only one whose go-to fix are onigiri rice balls filled with ume plums and wrapped with dried seaweed. Even with the abundance of Japanese markets in LA, if I arrive after 6p.m., my favorite omusubi are gone (And for a weekend pick-up, I know I’ve got to hit Marukai, Mitsuwa or Nijiya markets by 4p.m.)

A typical supermarket type rice ball with pickeled plum.

Of course, other varieties of the rice ball abound. Salmon, pollack roe, tuna with mayonnaise, sweet burdock root are just a few examples of the other types of onigiri that are commonly sold in the Japanese markets. Oh, yes, omusubi filled with dried bonito flakes - katsuobushi - which have been mixed with soy sauce are big sellers, too.

Caught in the act of trying to open the tightly concealed katsuobushi.

Cautionary side note for pet owners: Cats and dogs go crazy for katsuobushi. When/if making homemade omusubi with bonito; before the fish flakes are drenched with soy sauce (or hits boiling water for dashi soup), expect a chorus of meows or woofs.

Onigiri making is simple. And is a kid-friendly family project. See if you don’t agree after watching my Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) audition tape. 
(The first one is in English. 二番目は日本語版です。）

Cookery and Chat: English version

料理と会話：日本語版

Should other priorities prevent you from making homemade omusubi and a Japanese market is not near, try Trader Joe’s. My Yokohama, Japan born brother, Steve, vouches for the grilled onigiri sold in the frozen section of his local TJ in New York. 

Trader Joe's grilled onigiri

Of course, refrigerated rice balls require a zap in the microwave. 

Sprinkles of water are essential to reviving the rice in any style omusubi. Avoid soggy seaweed by dabbing liquid only on the inside of the onigiri.  

Genji Monogatari - The Tale of Genji - the world's first novel written by Lady Murasaki.

Seaweed was not always a major component of the rice ball. The omusubi’s ancestor, tonjiki, was served plain – sans wrapping - in small rectangular shapes. One of the first mentions of the compact meal appears in Lady Murasaki’s Tales of Genji. The novel was written in the Heian Period (when Kyoto was the capital of Japan from 794 to 1185.) 

During the proceeding Kamakura Period – the time of the twice-failed Mongol invasion into Japan – the interchangeable terms onigiri and omusubi came into play. The dried seaweed wrapping did not appear on the scene until the middle of the Edo period (1603 to 1867.) Reports from the battlefield of the time tell of samurai carrying omusubi protected by bamboo leaves into war.  (Warriors need their comfort foods, too.)

Before the steady onslaught of computer chips and Nintendo games, commerce in Japan revolved around rice. Only members of the samurai caste, the Imperial Court and merchant class could afford glutinous white rice. However, farmers and artisans, those with less money still enjoyed their own forms of onigiri made with Japanese millet. Ironically, well-fed Japanese who are dieting in the new millennium are turning to the “lower class” grain.

Others are enjoying the newly popular meat wrapped onigiri. Nikudawara specialty shops are apparently popping up all over Japan.

Still, a loyal contingent of onigiri fans flock to stores selling the seaweed wrapped triangular rice ball. Why? Omusubi vendor Honriya’s banner says it all: “Bound into our rice balls is the taste you remember from the time Mother made them.”

Sunny Blue Manager, Ian making an ume-shiso (plum-perilla) blend omusubi.

Wish you could visit an onigiri specialty shop like Honriya? If you’re anywhere in the vicinity of Santa Monica, California, you’re in luck! Sunny Blue located at 2728 Main Street sells genuine omusubi. (They sell fantastic frozen yogurt, too.) 

In Tales of Genji (where one of the first derivations of omusubi is mentioned) Lady Murasaki declares, “Foolish indeed are those who trust to fortune.”

Well, meet Keiko Nakashima. Far from taking a laissez-faire approach to her fate, Sunny Blue’s co-owner channeled her passion for omusubi into financial victory. And after viewing the video in English or Japanese or both, I believe Keiko Nakashima’s story will leave you inspired to believe Emmy-award winning musician Peter Buffett’s observations on life.  (Yes, he’s Warren’s son.) “We are stronger than we think we are. We have courage that we do not recognize until we need it. We are equal to challenges that we haven't even imagined yet.”

Interview (in English) with Sunny Blue co-owner, Keiko Nakashima.

Inside Sunny Blue (in English.)

サンタ・モニカのおむすびレストラン、サニ・ブルウの所有者のインタビユー

サニ・ブルウのツアー

Wishing for you the courage needed to find the contentment of home.

The Ninja Baker

 

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Posted By Ninja Baker to Ninja Baker at 7/03/2011 06:47:00 PM