Lunchbox Ninja Rice Balls

I was so intrigued by the home-cooked food that some of the Korean moms shared with me during a picnic lunch yesterday. There were salads, sandwiches, fried dumplings, Gimbap (Korean sushi), some pork belly squares (they were square shaped slices of pork, could be a terrine?), spicy fried chicken etc. The flavours were mostly sweet and spicy, and I really should get some of that Korean chilli paste this weekend, which I think is called Gochujang. They make a great salad dressing!

Anyway, one of the moms showed me the Samgak Gimbap (Korean version of Japanese Onigiri - you know, the triangular shaped sushi?) that she made for her 4-year old. That got me thinking that I should pack a not-so-boring lunch for Z than plain ham sandwiches, and so last night, I told myself that I would get up early to make sushi for his lunchbox this morning. However, I woke up an hour later than I had planned to. Initially, I wanted to ditch the sushi plan and just revert to the usual stuff instead. But at the last minute, I figured I'd still have enough time if I set the rice-cooker to "Quick-cook" function, which took only half an hour to cook the rice. I microwaved some luncheon meat and mashed it up with a fork, and mixed it through the rice (to which I had folded in some vinegar-salt-sugar solution). Then, it was all just a matter of cutting, ripping and pasting the nori sheets onto the rice balls that I had shaped using cling wrap. I made the triangular shaped ones using cling wrap as well, and then used a strip of nori to wrap it around the rice.

Well, I must say it didn't take long to prepare, and Z was happy with his new lunch menu. Next time, however, I will probably try using something more nutricious than luncheon meat! Tuna, chicken, beef, corn, and how about some fried shallots thrown in...he would like that :)