Onigiri (Rice Ball) Making in Japanese Classes 

おにぎり　を　つくりましょう！

In Week 10, the students from years 3 to 6 decided to show our appreciation for all of our newfound Japanese food knowledge, and make onigiri, or Japanese rice balls. 

These little delicious balls of cooked rice are much like sandwiches in the West. Onigiri is readily available in convenience stores across Japan and is great for a quick and easy savory snack.  Onigiri are very common in lunchboxes (bento). They are usually shaped into rounds or triangles by hand and they're fun to make and eat. 

There are lots of possibilities for filling the onigiri - with tuna, salted plums, pickled vegetables, chicken etc, but in class this week we focused on the traditional method of making them - shaping them by hand, wrapped in nori (seaweed sheets), with a little salt. The rice can also be mixed with flavourful sprinkles like furikake. Furikake is like the salt and pepper of Japan and consists of toasted sesame seeds and salt. 

Here are some photos of the students from the Wednesday Japanese classes, enjoying the making AND the eating process!