Making Onigiri

My friend Coco wanted to know how I make the shaped rice balls (called onigiri) that I put in my bento box lunches. This post is for you, Coco! I bought a onigiri maker at Asia Mart on Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa. It has three different shapes you can use. In this bento lunch, I chose the heart shape to match my heart shaped mini quiche. Also in this bento box: baby carrots, a container of soy sauce, watermelon radish, grapes, a small piece of purple broccolini, and white strawberries.

The white strawberries are a variety called Mara des Bois, and they taste more like tutti frutti than strawberries. They do not grow to the size of the strawberries you get at the grocery store, but then again, those strawberries have little flavor. I got these white strawberries at the Sebastopol Farmers Market from Nancy at Middleton Farms. She is an amazing producer, always has quality stuff.

On to the onigiri lesson! You can click on the images for a larger view. (Figure 1) The onigiri mold has removeable bottoms and a lid that comes off. Many people recommend wetting the onigiri mold before filling it. Water, or water with some salt in it will help keep the rice from sticking to your mold. (Figure 2) Fill the mold about 1/3 of the way with cooked rice. I use cold rice, but you can use warm rice too. (Figure 3) If you want to, put a small bit of filling in the center of the rice mold. I used leftover barbequed brisket from BBQ Smokehouse in Sebastopol, hands down the best BBQ in Sonoma County. Do not use really wet fillings as they will leak out of the onigiri. (Figure 4) Fill the mold with more rice until you are a little bit over the top of the mold, but to not pack it in, just lightly fill it. (Figure 5) Place the top of the mold over the rice and press firmly straight down. If you have not added enough rice, carefully remove the lid and add a bit more. Carefully remove the top lid after the shape has been molded.

(Figure 6) Gently push the bottom of the mold up through the opening at the top of the mold. (Figure 7) You'll see that the heart shaped onigiri is carefully making its way out of the top of the mold. (Figure 8) Once the rice ball is free of the mold, carefully remove the bottom piece of the mold from the rice ball. (Figure 9) Place the onigiri in your bento box and embellish it with sesame seeds or a cute soy paper cut out.

I have cutters in different shapes for cutting soy paper or nori (seaweed) in cute shapes. Soy paper and nori can be found in asian markets and also at Sonoma County's G&G Shopping Centers.

Mother Daughter Bento-ing

I introduced my 9 year old step daughter to Bento Boxes this weekend, and she was a little skeptical at first, until we started talking about different colored foods. Once she saw some of the pictures of the bento box lunches I have made, she was ready to make one herself. My step daughter's bento includes: heart shaped quiche (recipe here), edamame (she loves saying this word!), yellow and orange bell pepper slices, and a heart shaped onigiri rice ball inside of which we hid an edamame bean. We also added a heart cut out of orange soy paper on the top of the onigiri. In the lower compartment, she arranged mandarin oranges, cucumbers, and a steamed purple potato in the shape of a heart.

My bento lunch uses many of the same ingredients: steamed purple potato hearts, red bell pepper slices, cucubmer slices, heart shaped onigiri, and grapes in the upper compartment. In the lower compartment, I have edamame, a heart shaped quiche, steamed broccoli, and carrots. I tried to eat my bento lunch right before our broadcast today, but got totally sidetracked, so I guess it is now a late afternoon snack.

My daughter mapped out what she wanted in her bento box. I helped her respell the words she had trouble with. It's a great plan!

Heart Shaped Quiche

One of my favorite advocates of Sonoma County is Sheana Davis of The Epicurean Connection. She is so amazing, and if you haven't yet had a chance, check out her shop. She's got lots of wonderful products from Sonoma County, including her very own cheese called Delice de la Vallee. It's a soft cow milk and goat milk cheese, and it tastes so good. I used it in today's bento to make Heart Shaped Quiches.

In this bento box lunch: Heart Shaped Quiche, radishes, carrots, steamed broccoli, greens from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, mandarin orange, and grapes.

Recipe for Heart Shaped Quiches
1 premade pie crust
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk or 1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons finely chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil
salt and pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons Delice de la Vallee cheese (or other soft cheese)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan tins with the pie crust, making 9 or so molds for the quiche. Lightly dock the bottoms of the pie crusts with a fork. Bake the crusts for about 5 or 6 minutes. While pie crusts bake, whisk eggs, milk or cream, tomatoes, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Remove muffin pan from oven, and add 1/2 tablespoon of cheese to each pie crust, using a spoon and your fingers to make little dabs of cheese. Pour egg mixture carefully into each pie crust. Lower heat to 350 degrees and bake mini quiches for about 8 to 10 minutes more, until crusts are golden brown and eggs have set. Makes 8 or 9 mini quiches. These can be frozen for up to a month!