I spent the whole morning (well, maybe not the whole morning...) making some onigiri! I got the recipe from JustHungry.com, but I used the easier, no hands directions that's perfect for beginners.

They came out great! Here's a pic:

The ones on top are chicken-filled and the ones on the bottom have pickles in them. There were two more of the chicken-filled ones, but two of my brothers had already tried some. =^_^;= Lol They loved 'em! All three of my brothers loved them. I liked the chicken one better than the pickle one, mostly because I prefer my pickles juicier, so next time I'll see how juicy I can keep them without the onigir falling apart. Also, I'm contemplating more types of fillings, like boiled eggs and mustard (I love mustard). The directions say that the best fillings are the kind that are very dray and salty, so that they keep well. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I also want to try some sweet fillings, like jam or fruit with honey.

I'm really happy that my first rice balls turned out well. Next I'd like to try making dango, or rice-flour dumplings with a sweet-savory sauce. It'll be a bit more difficult to get ahold of the two different types of flour, tho. I got lucky when looking for the nori seaweed to wrap my onigiri because it was at Meijers. I may be able to get at least one type of flour from there, anyway.

I hope to be able to try making plenty of Japanese foods. Maybe I'll even be able to make a traditional obento (boxed lunch). Wish me luck, then! =^_^=