Studio Food Entry #3: Rice balls Inspired by Fruits Basket and Spirited Away

Studio Food Entry #3: Rice Balls!

Shown above is the assorted rice balls Tohru makes for her school festival.

Fruits Basket is one of my most favorite anime. In fact, it was this show along with D.N. Angel, recommended by a friend, that got me into anime during middle school. Fruits Basket is about a homeless girl named Tohru Honda who lives in a tent in a forest. She finds out that the forest is actually on the property of a popular honor student's house, Yuki Sohma. The two go to the same highschool and Tohru is accepted to live with the Sohma house. But upon doing so, she discovered the Chinese zodiac curse imposed on the family. I especially liked this show not only for its comedy, but also for its lighthearted lessons on love, family, and friends.

In addition to Fruits Basket, Spirited Away is an iconic Studio Ghibli film which features a girl named Chihiro. Check out my Spirited Away Food Analysis post for more information. However in this post, I will be going over the star of the show, onigiri or rice ball! Let's see where they appear within these two shows. 

Above is the scene where Tohru complements Kyo's abilities to make rice balls. 

In episode seven of Fruits Basket, "A Plum on the Back", Tohru's class participates in the culutral festival in which they are in charge of a rice ball stand. Tohru suggests a three flavor rice ball so one rice ball is equal to three! I thought this was a great idea and I will try it in my recipe as a result. Anyways, I also loved this episode because it demonstrates a life lesson regarding jealousy, when people feel envious of each other's talents or abilities. 

Tohru shares a story where people are just like rice balls. The flavors and fillings which represent the good qualities of a person, would be stuck on the rice balls' backs. Because of this, they wouldn't be able to see their own talents, but they could see the talents of others.

 One rice ball would look at the others and feel so plain. But in reality, it had a flavor of its own; it just couldn't see it because it was stuck on the back. I thought this story was clever and true; we all have our very own delicious filling!

 Below is a scene where Kyo eats a cat shaped rice ball. I will be making this is my recipe as well!

Now in the film of Spirited Away, Chihiro eats rice balls made by Haku. She is touched by the familiarity of the food and cries while she eats. This scene was very memorable as it is the first time Chihiro shows how she truly feels regarding the turn of events. In the scene, the rice balls look failry plain, especially compared to Tohru's hit or miss rice balls. However they might have had a filling such as umeboshi, pickled plum, or they were salted generously.

Then enough with the chatter, let's make rice balls!

Here I show the different types of rice you can make, to the left is simple plain white rice. You can add in beans or wild rice to make it more nutritious or to give it appetizing color. The purple packet is a rice ball seasoning mix which you can get at a local Asian supermarket. I love the picture of Pororo.

  

Step 1: Measure out 2 bowls or cups of rice. Place in a pot and rinse and drain the rice about 6 times or until the water is clear.

 

 

 

Step 2: Add in 2 1/2 bowls or cups of water to the drained, washed rice and bring to high heat. Once it boils, lower the heat to the lowest setting, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, do not lift the lid too much. But if the water boils over the lid, don't panic and just lift the lid for a second and place it back on.

  

 

Step 3: Prepare the tuna filling by cracking open a can of tuna. Mix with one tablespoon of light mayonnaise. Set aside and chill in the fridge.

  

  

Step 4: Prepare the seaweed. This is a good time to cut the seaweed into shapes to stick on the rice ball.

  

Step 5: Fluff the rice and be careful not to squish the rice grains. Place a handful of rice in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and toss well.

   

  

  

Rice Ball #1: The Cat Shaped Onigiri from Fruits Basket

Step 6: Place a third of the salted rice onto a piece of plastic wrap and spread it out. Then place a tablespoon of your tuna mixture in the center. Take another third of the salted rice and cover the tuna.

 

Step 7: Gather the four corners of the plastic wrap square and twist the ends. Shape the rice ball into an oval.

   

 

Step 8: With the remaining one third of the salted rice, shape cat ears into two triangles. Stick them on to the oval by squeezing gently, using the plastic wrap to keep your hands from getting messy.

 

Step 9: Decorate the rice ball with a strip of seaweed and two eyes. The cat rice ball is complete!

  

Rice Ball #2: The Spirited Away Rice Ball

Step 10: Using the same method as in the cat rice ball recipe, scoop a handful of rice into the laid out plastic wrap square. Now instead of shaping the rice into an oval, we will shape the rice into the popular triangle shape!

 

To do this, bend your right hand fingers 90 degrees. Take you left hand and cup the rice, using your right fingers to form the peak of the triangle.

  

Looking good so far!

Rice Ball #3 The Final Showdown: One Three Flavor Rice Ball from Fruits Basket

Step 11: Now spoon some rice into a bowl. Add the rice ball seasoning packet. If you don't have any, just rip apart some seaweed (sprinkle some sesame seed if you want) and add it to the rice. Mix well. Place on a piece of plastic wrap.

   

Place some more rice into the bowl and mix a teaspoon of soy sauce and a drop of sesame oil. Mix well and place on the same piece of plastic wrap next to the seaweed rice mixture.

 

For the final flavor, combine some of the tuna mixture and rice into the bowl. Place the rice next to the two other flavors. Gather the four corners of the plastic wrap and shape it into a ball! Eat it wrapped with nori, kkim, or seaweed.

    

Finished! The assorted rice balls as shown below.

  

  

Close ups of the rice ball

Final Thoughts: You can do so much with rice balls, the possibilities are endless. You can use different meats or fish as filling. In fact, I like to add kimchi into the rice ball as well. Or you can even spread miso onto the rice ball and fry with sesame oil!

I bet Kyo wouldn't like this