Feb. 2003, Xene #32
Great Balls of Rice!
Onigiri and miso - the secret Japanese health foods
by Kay Ifuji and Bill Andrechek




Boiled rice and miso are so beautifully complimentary that they form the center of the traditional everyday Japanese meal. Where rice is low in lysine, an essential amino acid, miso is high in it. Where miso is low in sulfur-containing amino acids, rice is high in them.
That's not all. You can add various extras for an even better nutritional balance. Just make rice balls - onigiri in Japanese - and use different fillings, or add additional ingredients to your miso soup. This will give you a meal in and of itself, without the need for side dishes. (Thanks, but no fries with that.) The combination of rice balls and miso soup makes an easy breakfast, a great lunch or a healthy midnight snack. Rice balls are versatile, to boot. Enjoy various flavors according to the fillings you choose: Japanese, Western - whatever grabs you. You'd be hard pressed to find another meal so simple, easy, healthy and economical.

The origin and history of rice balls

Rice balls are said to have arisen from tonjiki, a food served to attendants of aristocrats at banquets in the Heian era. Rice balls were later used as field rations for samurai during battles in the Warring States period, and they finally became popular among ordinary people in the Edo era. Rice balls were convenient for laborers to eat for lunch, and they were the perfect emergency food at times of fire, funeral or other catastrophe. Even today they are included in disaster rations and carried as handy bites for travels or mountain climbing.

Some say that rice balls were originally shaped like a human heart. Today you'll see many shapes, including drum (cylindrical), triangle, barrel and ball. These shapes vary by region: While triangular and drum-shaped rice balls are popular in Hokkaido, barrel-shaped ones are more common in the Kansai district.

How to make a basic rice ball

A bowl of warm boiled rice is usually used. It is easier to center the filling if you fill a bowl two-thirds with rice, make a depression at the center, and then place the filling before covering it with rice. Wet your hands, sprinkle salt on your palms, empty the lump out of the bowl into your hands, and press it into shape.

Recommended fillings

Standard fillings include grilled salted salmon, bonito shavings, pickled plums, and kelp boiled in sweetened soy sauce. Of course, you can use whatever you think goes well with rice. Enjoy exotic flavors: tuna mixed with mayonnaise, or bonito shavings mixed with cheese.

Recommendations

	Salmon
	Cod roe & butter
	Pickled plums
	Scrambled egg & wiener
	Kelp boiled in sweetened soy sauce
	Cheese & bonito shavings
	Tuna & mayonnaise

Laver (That's nori to all you seaweed veterans.)

Laver is the typical wrapping for rice balls. This food is said to have originated in the Edo era. Laver is healthy, high in protein. It is rich in vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. Wrapping rice balls with laver improves the nutritional balance and flavor. It is also makes the onigiri easier to eat, by preventing the rice from sticking to your hand.

Miso nutrition

As its main ingredient is soybeans, miso is rich in high-quality vegetable proteins that are effective in building body tissues and maintaining bodily functions, as well as linoleic acid and vitamin E, which slow the effects of aging in blood vessels and cells. Furthermore, lecithin, contained in the fat of soybeans, has the effect of removing cholesterol, which can cause high blood pressure and other health problems. The lactic acid, yeast and live bacteria in miso are beneficial to the intestines and create additional nutrients.
Miso can be considered a multi-purpose superfood, with its main benefits including the prevention of some types of cancers and gastric ulcers, the control of cholesterol, the prevention of aging, the acceleration of digestion, the regulation of intestinal functions, skin improvement, and the acceleration of the metabolism of the brain. For this reason, the effects of miso seem to be attracting the attention of not only of Japanese, but also of Westerners who are interested in a good diet and health.

Types of miso

The great number of different miso types is a legacy of the custom where each family made its own. Homemade miso has been replaced to a large extent by factory-made products, manufactured by adding salt and malt to steamed soybeans. The product can be divided roughly into four types: kome miso, using rice malt; mugi miso, using barley malt; mame miso, using soybean malt; and mixed miso. The majority of commercially available miso is kome miso. Miso comes in many different flavors and colors, and it varies depending on the production area. There are also products with different textures, such as tsubu miso, with coarse soybean and malt grains; and koshi miso, which has been smoothened by straining.

Miso Types

	Akadashi (dark brown) miso - Very tasty. Made by straining a combination of mame and kome miso after long maturation.
	Shiro (white) miso - Kome miso with a sweet taste. Usually used to season steamed food, as it is too rich for miso soup.
	Mugi (barley) miso - Soft, reddish brown, with barley malt. Popular as inaka (country-style) miso in different parts of Japan.
	Shinshu miso - Light yellow, salty. Makes a light miso soup.
	Aka (red) miso - Shiny, reddish brown, with a rich taste and saltiness. Produced in Hokkaido, Tohoku and many other parts of Japan.

A simple miso soup recipe

The miso chef starts by making stock (dashi). For convenience, you can start with the packaged dashi available at supermarkets and convenience stores.

1.	Bring the dashi to a boil over medium-high heat. Add bite-sized solid ingredients (start with those that cook slowly) and reduce the heat to medium-low.
2.	While boiling the ingredients, put one tablespoonful of miso per each cup of dashi into a small bowl and dissolve it by adding a small amount of broth.
3.	When the solid ingredients are cooked, add the miso from Step 2, and boil, turning up the heat slightly.
4.	When the boiling soup starts to form light bubbles at the surface, turn the heat off immediately and serve. If you boil the soup for too long after adding miso, the flavor will be ruined. It is better to add leek or other garnishes, tofu, wakame seaweed or boiled greens right after adding miso to avoid overcooking.

Recommended ingredients

As a rule of thumb, use fifty to one-hundred grams of solid ingredients per bowl of miso soup. It is desirable to use at least two ingredients, for reasons of nutritional balance. If you use three or more ingredients, the combination of different flavors will make miso soup taste even better.

Recommended

Classic standards:
Tofu & wakame seaweed
Aburaage (fried bean curd) & snow peas
Sliced onion & potato
Nameko mushrooms & grated Japanese white radish
Japanese white radish & aburaage

To ease a hangover:
Short-neck clams or Fresh-water clams

or use any leftover vegetables:
leek, cabbage, spinach, pumpkin, etc.

Instant miso soup - easy and convenient

Various instant miso soups are sold at supermarkets and convenience stores. They are convenient to eat with your packed lunch or rice balls when you go out. They also come in handy when you don't have time to cook miso soup at home. But try to make it yourself before rushing off to the convenience store. Home cooking tastes better with a little luck and practice.

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