The Funky Kitchen

My first onigiri experiences were all at the Neighborhood Bookstore & Cafe, a cute local place that a friend of mine works at. Along with the vegan cake, home made cookies and sandwiches proffered, there were two kinds of onigiri: tuna and umeboshi. Tuna is my favorite of the two.

I still call them sushi triangles, I didn’t know what they were officially called at first and the name has sort of stuck for me. And now that I have gotten a handle on the preparation of sticky rice (though I still don’t have a handle on keeping the rice from getting stuck to my hands) onigiri have been a great addition to lunches and late night snacks alike. They’re stupendously simple to make, and the ingredients required don’t hit too hard on the wallet either. That makes this new homeowner feel pretty good, ha ha.

Tuna Onigiri

1 Cup sticky rice, prepared

1 can of tuna, drained

1 Tbsp of mayonnaise

2 sheets of nori

• Prepare rice and then allow it to cool to a point where it can be comfortably handled.
• With a fork combine the tuna and mayonnaise, also using the fork to break up any big clumps of tuna.
• Sandwich a spoonful of the tuna filling between two vaguely triangular layers of rice. It’s easier to mold into a triangle shape if you start out working with triangles.

• Mold into a triangular shape, or shape of your preference. (Aside: If you are like me, and seem unable to keep the sticky rice from gumming up your fingers, you can use a handy dandy piece of cling wrap. Make the layers, as in the step above, on a piece of cling wrap, fold it over, and then mold your onigiri into the desired shape.)
• If you are using cling wrap, peel it off, and repeat the process.

• Cut each of your nori sheets into three, lengthwise.
• If you are going to eat your sushi triangles right away, wrap each with one of the nori strips, and enjoy. If you are packing your onigiri for lunch, store the nori strips away from the rice so that they don’t get soggy, perhaps in a different compartment of your bento box or a ziploc bag, and wrap the onigiri when you are ready to consume them.

It’s just that easy! What a tasty, easy on the wallet lunch!

These are our new bento boxes.

They’re like lunch boxes, except very compact and all in one. I ordered them from J-box after hearing about them from a friend, I picked out the cute blue bunny moon one, and Mister picked out a samurai one.

What’s so awesome about bento boxes, you ask? Other than being really interesting to look at, there are lots of little compartments to keep your foods separate without using disposable bags, how environmentally friendly! The compartments, at least in ours, are removable or adjustable depending on the type of lunch you are packing, so that you aren’t locked into packing only certain types of lunches. The cutlery has a place provided for it, so you don’t need to pack it loose. As well, they aren’t big lunch boxes, I’ve been known during the school year not to pack lunch so that I can pack an extra textbook in my bag. Despite their small size, Mister ‘s bento box still provides him enough food so that he isn’t still hungry when he’s done his lunch.

His only complaint: you can’t really pack a sandwich in one of these… but I’ll be working on that.

Mister’s clips together at the sides so that the lunch box’s compartments are held together, while mine is held together with an elastic band. If you pack something that needs heating up, pop off the lids and you can pop the compartment in the microwave. Don’t feel like washing it by hand? That’s ok, you can put it in the dishwasher.

On the menu this particular day was tuna onigri (to go with our Japanese lunch theme), carrot sticks, rhubarb crisp and a Babybel cheese. It all fit into our respective bento boxes, and we took them the next day to work.  Onigri for lunch was so tasty! And if you stop by in the next couple of days, I’ll have the recipe for making them posted up.

Happy lunching!

… too much to say about the new house other than that we’ve got it, are working on it and pictures are coming soon. For the meantime, more potatoes!

These potatoes always remind me of spring. I know it’s odd to be writing about spring in August, but the little baby potatoes (I didn’t know they still came in baby size this late) just called out to be made into this. So, talking about spring in August:

My Baba has a giant garden that takes up half of her yard. It is reminiscent of her giant garden while she and my grandpa were still living on the farm. That was a truly large garden. In the spring, when she knew that the potato plants had had just enough time to grow, she would uproot a plant. And it would be redolent with the tiniest, tastiest baby potatoes. The first ones of the year to come out of the garden.

Much to the style of my Baba, they were prepared very simply, with only a couple of basic ingredients. But with the love involved with cooking for your family, and working with ingredients that you grew in your garden, simple and basic gets elevated into a pretty fantastic dish. No sir, these aren’t humble potatoes!

Baby Potatoes with Dill and Butter

(the way Baba makes them)

1 1/2 lbs of baby potatoes

2 Tbsp butter

A handful of dill (~1/4 Cup), chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

• Wash and scrub the potatoes.
• Boil the potatoes in a pot of salted water until soft all the way through and a fork is easily inserted into the bigger ones.
• Drain off the water.
• Put the pot that you boiled the potatoes in back on the element and add the butter to the pot, allowing it to melt but not brown.
• Add the dill to the butter, and then immediately after add the potatoes.
• Toss to coat the potatoes with the butter and dill.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy! If you’ve got some sour cream on hand, feel free to add a dollop on top, but they are certainly just as good without.