-
We try out “instant rice balls”, prepared with water, to see if they’re actually tasty
投稿日 2018年7月21日 02:30:24 (ニュース)
-
続・お知らせ。海外セレブゴシップ&ニュース
-
お知らせ
-
We spot the legendary dekotora Aki Kannon, dedicated to actress and singer Aki Yashiro
-
New Pokémon GU collaboration dresses all the family, including babies for the first time
-
How do European Cup Noodles taste to a Japanese palate?
-
We’ve been doing it wrong – Japanese genius shows us how we should all be making sandwiches【Pics】
-
The future is now with full face sunglasses
-
Natto-infused ramen is a thing — we tried it, we love it【Taste test】
-
Jellyfish and Halloween in perfect harmony at Sumida Aquarium event
-
Japanese toilet paper collection opens our minds as we open our butts
-
Aomori police on the lookout for man shouting unsolicited advice at kids about dating and ramen
-
Former Arashi members Sho Sakurai and Masaki Aiba get married… Wait, that didn’t come out right
-
Creator of Japan’s longest-running manga, Golgo 13, passes away, leaves fans one last gift
-
Crazy cheap cosplay at Daiso? How to transform into Dragon Ball’s Vegeta at the discount shop
-
7 Halloween-themed afternoon teas you won’t want to miss this year
-
Krispy Kreme Japan creates doughnut burgers that are a meal and two desserts all in one【Photos】
-
Get in the damn drift car, Shinji? Evangelion Tomika toy brings D1 machine home in miniature form
-
Demon Slayer Nichiren Blades ready for new duty: Slicing through your sweets as dessert knives
-
Man in Japan arrested for breaking into ex-girlfriend’s apartment to steal her Nintendo Switch
-
The Japanese Internet chooses the top too-sexy-for-their-own-good male voices in anime
-
First-ever Studio Ghibli x Russell Athletic range pays homage to My Neighbour Totoro
-
Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan announces first expansion with new Donkey Kong area
-
Cup Noodle pouch satisfies our never-ending need for instant ramen
-
Retro Japanese train is our new favourite office space
-
How do Japanese fans feel about Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop opening sequence?
-
We try Uniqlo coffee at first-ever cafe inside Ginza flagship store
-
The number of elderly people in Japan this year has yet again smashed multiple records
-
Mr. Sato broadens his home drinking horizons at Kaldi【Japan’s Best Home Senbero】
-
We try Japanese Twitter’s newest trend the Penguin Egg, end up hatching something very disturbing
-
Takoyaki makers surprisingly good at grilling meat for yakiniku too
Sponsored Link
These rice balls are meant to be cooked easily and to last for a long time…but do they sacrifice flavor for function?
Rice balls, also known as “onigiri”, come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. Seriously, you can have a one-kilogram (2.2-pound) literal ball of rice stuffed with edamame soybeans, a palm-size disc-shaped rice ball with a dumpling on top, or even what looks like a rice sandwich. If you’ve got rice stuffed with something and molded into some kind of shape, then, well, what you’ve got is a rice ball.
Rice balls make a great snack, but they take a bit of work to make, and they don’t last long once made. But food production company Onisi released a solution to that problem last year: “instant onigiri”! They’re portable rice balls that have a five-year shelf-life (before opening the package), and can be made by just adding water!
Thinking they might be good in a pinch, but wondering if they’re actually tasty, we bought two flavors to try out. We started with the seaweed flavor. The ingredients say that it’s composed of cooked dry rice, which is also known as “quick-cooking” rice. It also contains dry ingredients for flavoring.
The package has a handy zip opening so it can be opened and closed throughout preparation. When we opened it up to look inside…
,,,the rice and seaweed turned out to be dry and crispy! This conclusion was further solidified by the fact that when you close up the bag and shake it, it makes a rattling noise like dry rice.
Now we were curious about how flaky rice pieces could become a rice ball with just water. Without further ado, we took out the freshness package, pulled off the sticker on the front so we could see inside the bag…
…poured water in up to the line….
…sealed it, and shook it up!
After confirming that the water and rice were thoroughly mixed…
…we let it sit. When using room-temperature water, it takes 60 minutes for one of these rice balls to be ready, so we went to watch some dog videos while we waited.
One hour later, filled with the excitement of a new food and hungry for rice balls, we came to check on it. Was it ready?
It was! It had somehow become onigiri-shaped!
Sponsored Link
Mouths watering, we followed the directions to open the bag and make a nice holder out of the package. Cut off the top first, and then the sides, and…
…voila! A seaweed rice ball!
It looked like an ordinary, fresh rice ball. The rice was soft and fluffy, and the seaweed moist. It looked like we’d bought one from a convenience store!
But how did it taste?
So good! …is not really what we’d say about the flavor of this instant rice ball, but it’s not bad. The rice tastes decent, and the seaweed has a good texture. It’s without a doubt a seaweed rice ball, though its flavor is not on par with a convenience store rice ball.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what is holding this rice ball back. Maybe it’s because its flavor is a little brothy, or maybe the MSG taste is too strong. Regardless, to be able to make a rice ball with just water is pretty nice.
Next we tried a salmon-flavored one. This time, we tried cooking it with hot water instead of room temperature water, which only takes 15 minutes.
As before, we opened up the top, poured the water in….
Sealed it and shook it, waited 15 minutes…
…and voila! It was done!
It was steaming hot and looked delicious! It might have been our imagination, but it looked a lot fluffier than the seaweed one. We took a bite….
…and the salmon rice ball is a lot tastier than the seaweed one! It’s still got a strong MSG flavor, but it feels like a solid rice ball. At the very least, it’s a lot better than those ice-cold rice balls they give you on international flights.
In any case, the flavors are decent, and being easy to make is a definite plus. They’d be great to take as a mid-adventure snack on a hike or a long trip. Plus, since they are meant to last for up to five years, they’d also be great to put into an emergency preparedness kit. It’s always best to be prepared!
Officially called Nigirazu Onigiri, you can buy these instant rice balls through Onisi’s web shop in packs of 10 or 30. They’re priced at 2,376 yen or 7,128 yen (US$21 or $63) depending on the pack. A trial set of three is also available for 712 yen, if you’re not ready for complete commitment right away.
Images ©SoraNews24
Source: SORA NEWS24
Sponsored Link
最新情報