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Hello, everyone!
How are you? I'm fine.
Last month I wrote a letter about chazuke. And there is one food that most of us Japanese like very much. I have heard that a famous japanese sportswoman liked it very much and that eating it she became very powerful. Indeed, it is the food of power for Japanese. That is onigiri (or omusubi).
So today I will read the articles about nigirimeshi from "Japan - an illustrated Encyclopedia"(Kodansha).
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nigirimeshi (rice ball)
Also called onigiri. A food consisting of boiled rice (MESHI) that is molded with the hands, which are dampered to prevent the rice from sticking to them, into round, triangular, or cylindrical shapes. a small amount of another ingredient is often placed in the center of a rice ball, most commonly an UMEBOSHI (pickled plum), some TSUKUDANI (delicacies simmered in soy sauce), small pieces of salted salmon, or bonito flakes flavored with soy sauce. Rice balls are often wrapped in NORI (a kind of dried seaweed) and sometimes sprinkled with sesame seeds. Rice balls are often made for picnics and packed in lunch boxes.
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I would go to mountains with some onigiris. Onigiri was particularly good when I was tired with walking. It would prove that it is the food which gives us power. perhaps it is the most popular fast food in Japan.
In my childhood I had thought that triangular shaped nigirimeshi was called omusubi and cylindrcal shaped one was called onigiri. And in my district there is no round shaped one. I was very surprised when I saw round one for the first time, because I had been said that the only the people who couldn't make triangular shaped one made round shaped one.
Last week watching TV, a person said that eating onigiri he had been watching baseball game in the stadium. I wonder if they sell onigiri in US baseball stadium. if so, onigiri is now international food, isn't it?
Then see you next time!
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