Onigiri (japanese Rice "sandwiches")

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I've gotten very interested in Bento lunches (Japanese lunchboxes), and have been finding all kinds of wonderful sites, blogs, and tutorials!

Onigiri are these cute little rice balls made with short or medium grain rice. You mold them when the rice is still warm, and fill them with whatever you like (suggestions: tuna salad, chopped deli meat with a little hoisin sauce and some chopped scallions, chickpeas mixed with a bit of pesto).

Here are instructions on how to make Onigiri (with pictures!):

Open Original Shared Link

The following link is a website completely devoted to preparing Bento lunches, with pictures of every recipe AND with a gluten-free search link!

www.lunchinabox.net (the gal who blogs this one is a GENIUS! And her most recent post is about how to organize all the Bento-thingies that accumulate when you get into this.)

And this last one is a site that sells very cool Bento lunchboxes that are perfect for the kinds of (non-bread/non-sandwich) lunches we celiacs typically pack, and it has newsletters on file with tons of recipes!

Even the gluteny recipes are easy to adjust for us:

for couscous salads, substitute quinoa or even rice;

for any recipe requiring bread crumbs, used crushed potato chips or cornmeal;

for crackers, use either gluten-free crackers or corn chips;

and there's always gluten-free bread (homemade is best);

IMPORTANT TIP for packing sandwiches on gluten-free bread: toast the bread, butter it (or whatever df spread you use), make the sandwich, and then let it cool on a plate for 15 -20 minutes before packing (just enough time to take a shower and get dressed).

Happy Bentoing!

[missy'smom]

As you probably know, we bento too. It works very well for us and once you learn the tricks of the trade, doesn't take as much time as it would seem. Lunch in a Box give great tips for making it quick and easy.

Just a tip for those who want to start, be careful what kind of nori(seaweed sheets) you use. The Japanese nori in small sheets is sometimes "seasoned" with soy sauce. There are some that are not, the sushi nori in large sheets is usually unseasoned and scored so you can use it for onigiri. We often buy a Korean brand that is seasoned with just salt and sesame oil.

[kenlove]

I've found its often the other way around in Hawaii. The Japanese nori is just seaweed and the Korean is season with soy sauce.

Really have to be careful which one you get.

ken

As you probably know, we bento too. It works very well for us and once you learn the tricks of the trade, doesn't take as much time as it would seem. Lunch in a Box give great tips for making it quick and easy.

Just a tip for those who want to start, be careful what kind of nori(seaweed sheets) you use. The Japanese nori in small sheets is sometimes "seasoned" with soy sauce. There are some that are not, the sushi nori in large sheets is usually unseasoned and scored so you can use it for onigiri. We often buy a Korean brand that is seasoned with just salt and sesame oil.

[sickchick]

I love you I love you I love you

I can't wait to try this! I love love japanese food

I've been making my own sushi since high school...

thanks, doll!