Surprise! It's a post!

Last week, Shae and the girls stopped by to visit, and we had onigiri (and a grilled cheese sandwich for Omi). Me being lazy about email, I didn't catch Shae's after-note, in which she asked a bit about that lunch, until today.

Onigiri's really simple, in the sense that it's like a sandwich. The rice serves as filler and container for other fillings and flavors, and it's nice and portable. I learned about it at an onigiri party my Japanese prof held back in college, and we still make them, since it's pretty easy.

Onigiri
(riceballs)

Rice (short/medium grain packs a bit better, but you can use long grain if you want)
Filling: cooked meat, veggies, or whatever you think would taste good with rice
Salt/spices

1. Cook the rice. You don't need a special cooker for this, just a pot to cook it in. We have a cooker, so my measurements may be off, but generally to cook rice, for each cup of rice, you add one extra half-cup of water, so:

r = amount of rice (cups)
w = r + 0.5 (cup)

If you're using a pot, you put the rice and water in it, let it come to a boil, then lower heat to simmer, cover it, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Or until it's cooked, because that's what we're going for. >.>

2. Prep the filling. The filling I'm talking about is what you'd put in the rice ball as if it were something with a tasty center, but you can just mash everything together if you don't want to encounter one mash of filling all at once. Shredded or sliced pieces of meat are good for this - I've used canned fish and chopped-up deli meat, but you can experiment. Sauce might also make things tastier, but don't use too much, or the rice ball won't hold together.

3. Shape the rice. Fill a bowl of water and wet your hands with it. Sprinkle your hands with salt, or another spice you want on the rice ball, then pick up a handful of rice. The rice is hot. This is important. Please take care. Hot rice is easier to shape into what you want, but yes - it *is* hot. The water is so you don't have rice sticking to your hands, so use it as much as you need to.

Pack the rice together, then, if you're putting in filling, make a little bowl in the rice with your finger, and fill it with the filling. Add a little more rice to cover it up, then pack the rice together as much as possible. When it sticks together on its own, you've got yourself a riceball!

We like to add nori (seaweed) strips to the onigiri, but some people aren't fond of it, and even though it's common to see onigiri with it, it's not required - eat what you want, y'know.


Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Yes, I know, simple again, but I never learned how to make them nicely until we went to Derek's parents' home. So. There.

2 slices of bread
1 slice of cheese
butter

Butter the bread, then sandwich the cheese between the bread, with the butter side out. Heat up a pan to medium heat, then grill the sandwich until both sides are toasty-brown and the cheese is melted.

Yay!

Here's a recipe that I came across at Recipezaar* when looking for a way to dress up Ramen noodles (which I have been craving since a couple of my coworkers started eating them for lunch at work). Anyway, it's quick, easy, and actually has a pleasant blend of tastes. (Obviously you can vary what you add to get different flavors).

*Recipezaar = my favorite recipe site (besides this one, of course!), because you can sort by ingredient, including ones you want to use, and excluding those you don't have on hand.

TUNA RAMEN DINNER

* 1 (6 ounce) can tuna in oil (I used tuna in water, but added a bit of oil to the pan -JG)
* 1 (3 ounce) packet ramen noodles, any flavor (I used chicken -JG)
* 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables (I used carrots and peas. If I make it again, I'll probably add in a full cup - the peas have a very nice favor against the tuna -JG)

1. heat a nonstick frying pan to about medium heat, and fry the tuna until hot and slightly crispy. You can use tuna in water, but it sticks less if you use tuna in oil.
2. At the same time, cook the ramen on the stove top and add the veggies to the pot as well.
3. Drain the ramen and veggies and add them to the frying pan with the tuna and continue to cook until the noodles become slightly sticky.
4. Pour the seasoning packet over the whole thing and mix.
5. Enjoy!