Salmon+Furikake rice balls

The kids love these and they are so easy to make and take for picnics, school lunches or a quick snack. You don’t have to make them look like ninjas, but really – why not?

ingredients:
3 cups cooked rice
1-1/2 cups salmon (cooked)
furikake
1 sheet of nori

Salmon is great brain food. I am a big believer in feeding kids fish, it’s good for them and they will become smarter. (*I don’t guarantee that last part.)

The best way to make these is to use rice ball molds – but if you don’t have one, hold tight, I’ll show you how to do it without one later. But first – if you DO have a rice ball maker fill it about 1/3 of the way with rice, making a little ‘well’ in the center.

Spoon the salmon into the well. Canned salmon works fine or if you have leftover yummy teriyaki salmon (recipe, here) even better. Sprinkle with a little furikake – it just adds a little flavor and little crunch but it’s not necessary.

Place another scoop of rice right on top of the salmon+furikake mixture, put the top on and PRESS. Then simply pop it out…

YES THAT IS A VIDEO OF ME POPPIN’ OUT RICE BALLS. Lucky for you, you can’t hear my annoying voice or the sweet sounds of Tupac in the background. Anyway. See how easy that is?

Now, if you don’t have a rice ball maker, no worries – here’s an old skool way of doing it. Simply place the same mixture in a sheet of plastic wrap, squeeze tightly to form the shape…

and magically you have the exact same rice ball. Couldn’t be easier.

To add a little ‘something’ and make it a bit more authentic, you can cut a strip of nori (dried seaweed) and wrap it around the rice ball. My friend brought me these amazing nori punch cutter from Japan and they are just too cute. So just for fun I cut a strip of nori, punched out a face and there you go –

- instant ninja! The Baby was thrilled!

This is a very simple dish that you can throw together fast. Eat it on the go, or I like to serve it with full meals, the kids love ‘em!