🍙Homemade onigiri! 🍙

One of my favorites, this Japanese soulfood is so cute and easy to make, bring along and eat. They remind me of my little foodie breaks when I was wandering Tokyo by myself. Mmmh.. oishii, I was hooked on them! Couldn’t read the Japanese packaging, obviously, so I just picked one every time to be surprised by all the different fillings. (It took a few times to tackle the ingenius wrapping that keeps the nori fresh and crispy before you eat, happy to see those more and more here!)
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These ones have a tuna, mayo, pepper and vinegar filling, but I love to make various salmon & kimchi fillings, bonito flake or miso buttered ones too.
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‘O’ is a Japanese word giving honor to someone or something. ‘Nigiri’ comes from the verb ‘nigiru’, meaning ‘to grasp’. Grasp some love, that is! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Making chubby little onigiri with bare hands seems to be the ultimate physical act of loving and caring. I love taking the lukewarm sticky rice in my hands.. rolling balls with it, carefully forming a cup and filling it with lovingly prepared filling, and softly but firmly pressing them in triangle shape. I make sure mine have rounded edges so they look kawaii 😍.
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🙏🏼 Itadakimasu! 🙏🏼
(This is such a lovely Japanese phrase; it literally means ‘I humbly receive’. Having its roots in Japanese Buddhism to be used as giving thanks before a meal, itadakimasu unfolds beautifully in a sentence from a Japanese etiquette guide from around 1800: “When you grab chopsticks, you should thank all nature and living things, the Emperor, and your parents.”)