Popular musubi (Japanese rice ball) shops regularly sell out of their savory, flavored morsels. Why not make your own at home? They are easy to assemble.
This version incorporates nametake (marinated enoki mushrooms), furikake (seasoned seaweed flakes) and edamame (soybeans) into cooked rice for a winning combination.
You can form the rice into the traditional musubi triangle shape or simply serve it loose in a bowl or tray. It’s perfect for a family gathering.
The recipe, Nametake Rice, is a maze gohan dish, rice mixed with other items. Maze gohan is traditionally served in a tray.
All the ingredients for nametake rice are readily available in supermarkets.
Find edamame in the frozen vegetable section, shelled and with the shell. Save time and buy the shelled variety. Along the Asian aisle, find bottles of nametake, in which the enoki are preserved in a salty-sweet sauce that will flavor the rice. In that same aisle, you’ll locate many types of furikake. Any variety will do for this recipe, whether green seaweed with sesame seeds, shiso or ochazuke (with tiny, crunchy balls of browned mochi rice).
Edamame provides color and a contrast in texture to the soft rice. Nametake and furikake add lots of flavor and texture as well.
Nametake Rice
- 2 rice-cooker cups raw white or brown rice
- 1 cup frozen shelled edamame (soybeans), defrosted
- 1/4 cup nametake (seasoned enoki mushrooms)
- 1/4 cup furikake (dried seaweed flakes)
Cook rice in rice cooker.
In a large bowl, mix hot rice with edamame, nametake and furikake.
Add additional nametake and furikake to taste. Serve hot or at room temperature. Shape into musubi using your hands or a mold. Or keep as a family-style side dish in a bowl. Serves 4 as a side dish.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 330 calories, 2.5 g fat, no saturated fat or cholesterol, 85 mg sodium, 64 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 9 g protein
NOTE: For softer soybeans, cook them in boiling water for 3 minutes first.
”Easy Kine” features simple dishes that start with commercially prepared ingredients. Lynette Lo Tom is excited to hear your tried-and-true suggestions. Contact her at 275-3004, email lynette@brightlightcookery.com or via instagram at brightlightcookery. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.
