Onigiri

Description:

Before heading into work in Tokyo, I often stopped at a little stand where an elderly woman sold nothing but rice balls. Onigiri is a quintessential Japanese food made by moms for breakfast, lunch boxes, and picnics. It is the ideal handheld food (the nori wrapper keeps the sticky rice from getting all over your hand).

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon salt.
• 1 cup warm cooked rice.
• 4 teaspoons cooked flaked fresh salmon or flaked canned salmon.
• 2 sheets yakinori, halved.

Steps:

In a shallow bowl, dissolve the salt in 1 cup water. Dip your hands into the salted water, then grab 1/4 cup of the rice. Using your hands, shape the rice into a small, fat triangle, then use your thumb to create an indentation in the center. Place a teaspoonful of the salmon in the hollow, dampen your hands lightly again, and pat the rice over the hollow to encase the salmon. Repeat to create 3 more rice balls.