Easy way to make rice balls in an emergency.
Use plastic wrap to make Japanese rice balls
in emergencies!!
Rice balls!! My kids love them!! But is it easy??
Even though it’s not an emergency, I can still use this technique, right?
I don’t have seaweed.
Have you ever eaten rice balls?
You probably have eaten rice balls somewhere, sometime. Maybe in Japan? Yes! That triangular rice ball, you can make it by yourself using plastic wrap.
It’s OK to make rice balls without plastic wrap, but in this post the focus is on emergency situations, so we’re going to explain how to make rice balls easily, with less clean up and less water.
I will show you how to make steamed rice in an emergency, in a future post.
Please stay tuned.
In my experience, most people love the simple rice balls seasoned only with salt. As you know, salt is very important for our health, especially in emergency situations. You don’t need a lot of ingredients or much preparation. They’re perfect for emergencies. Simple!
How to make rice balls?
1. Spread out a small sheet of plastic wrap and shake salt onto it. Add as much salt as you want. I use two shakes (about a sixteenth of a teaspoon).
2. Put steamed rice top of the plastic wrap. About a half-cup.
3. Wrap the rice ball in the plastic wrap, tightly, and mold it into a triangle shape. (It’s OK to make different shapes if you want!)
4. Open it up and shake on a little more salt. I use two shakes, but you can use more or less if you prefer. If you have seaweed, wrap the ball in seaweed.
5. Done!
I use salted Shiso leaves, sometimes, instead of seaweed.
When you’re done, your hands are not messy, and you don’t need to wash up.
It saves water!
You might think rice balls need seaweed, but they’re delicious even without it. You can leave the seaweed out entirely, or you can substitute other ingredients, like shiso leaves.
How to make rice balls for small kids!
1. Spread out a square of plastic wrap. My kids love sugar and kinako (soybean flower), so I sprinkle a pinch or two of equal parts sugar and kinako onto the plastic wrap. (You can use salt instead, if you like.)
Mixed sugar and kinako (soybean flour) is my kids’ favorite.
But it will be difficult to get these ingredients in a true emergency.
Why not try it now? It’s very tasty!
2. Put steamed rice top of the plastic wrap, about a half-cup.
3. Wrap it like a sausage.
4. Separate the rice into smaller balls by twisting.
5. Unwrap it, or cut it open, and eat.
These are the basics. Once you get comfortable making these recipes, you can start experimenting and adding variations.
My kids love when I use:
Sesame, Parmesan cheese, bonito powder, kinako (soybean powder),
and any kind of furikake (sprinkle-on seasoning).
Here’s another good recipe for emergencies that uses plastic wrap. This recipe is good for situations where you can still cook. Check out post #27.
Even when you’re not in an emergency situation, you can still make rice balls for lunch boxes or as a snack.
See you next time.
Remember, “Protect your life by yourself” （自分の命は自分で守る). You need to survive first, and then you need your emergency supply. No matter how well you prepared your emergency supplies, if you die, then all of your preparations will have been for nothing. First and foremost, keep your health up all the time. Build your stamina so that if you need to, you can evacuate as quickly as possible. Stay healthy.