Friday, February 16, 2007

Let Me Count the Ways I Can Make Gohan

During test week at my former Jr. High School, I went to the nearby Elementary School to teach some classes. The fifth grade class taught me how to make various rice dishes. The elementary school kids grew and harvested their own rice - so amazing. I would love to harvest rice. We made 8 different rice dishes. It was a blast! Here are the pics.
First, we had to thoroughly wash the rice. The rice needs to change color from white to a clear color. Then, of course cook the rice in an electric rice cooker.
We made onigiri or rice balls, but their actually shaped into a triangle. We made three different kinds of onigiri: pickled plums, seaweed and green pickled veggies in the center. Then we wrapped it with seaweed.

In all of the convenient stores and supermarkets you can buy one onigiri for about 85 cents. They usually have many different selections such as salmon, tuna, chicken, fish roe and with mayo,etc. They are healthy and quick! I love them! My favorite is pickled plum.
I made a sweet mochi type of desert. We pounded the rice and then shaped them into balls and then dipped them into sweet red beans and soy bean powder.
I made yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls). There's nothing in the center, but there's a soy sauce glaze brushed onto the rice ball and then we grilled it over the stove flame.
We pounded more rice and shaped it onto a chopstick into a long shape, like a popsicle. Then we grilled it and also brushed it with a soy sauce.
We also made a rice snack, which was my favorite. We pounded the rice and shaped it into thin flat discs and then grilled it with soy sauce as well.
Then the kids gave me all of their concoctions to eat. Luckily, I was able to share some of it, I couldn't eat all of that rice by myself. I really enjoyed this class. Even though everything was prepared a little differently, I have to admit, it all seemed like the same concoction just in different forms/shapes or with different dressings. It was fun and delicious!

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