Japanese with anime voice: episode77
Hello, I’m Sachi.
June 18, to my surprise, today is the day of my favorite onigiri! I didn’t think there was even an Onigiri Day in the “What’s Today?” I had no idea.
It is the anniversary of the discovery in November 1987 of the oldest known onigiri fossil in Japan from the remains of a pit dwelling at the Sugitani Chanobatake site in Rokusei Town, Ishikawa Prefecture! A pit dwelling is the name of a common dwelling in Japan during the Jomon period.
They chose June for the establishment of the anniversary because of the name of the town, Rokusei. In fact, the 18th of every month is 米食 (Beishoku) Day. 米食 (Beishoku) is written “米 (Kome)” and “食べる (Taberu)” and reads “米食 (Beishoku). It is a mystery why they did not use the reading “こめしょく (Komeshoku). This is the reason why they have chosen this June 18 as Onigiri Day. The reason why the 18th of every month is 米食 (Beishoku) Day is because the kanji character “米 (Kome)” can be broken down into the kanji numbers 十 (juu) and 八 (hachi). As usual, brilliant thinking. But am I the only one who wonders where the two dots in the kanji for 米 (Kome) have gone? Is it because I don’t need to worry about the details?
In my opinion, since there is a Beishoku day every month, it would have been better to have it in November, the month the fossil was discovered. But I wonder if it was also important for them to make an impression on the town where they discovered the fossil. Was it because they wanted to be associated with the name of the town, even if just a little? I don’t know. Well, I guess that’s what it’s about. I don’t know. I mean, what in the world is a fossilized onigiri? Can rice fossilize in the first place? If you leave it as a onigiri, won’t some beast or something eat it? If it rains, it would lose its shape. I can’t even imagine how it could become fossilized.
However, I really like onigiri. I especially love the smell of the seaweed wrapped around the onigiri. The smell of the seaweed really whets my appetite. Even as I say this, I’m starting to feel like eating onigiri. I wonder if I should have onigiri for lunch today. Oh, as I said in Episode 30, an onigiri is an onigiri, not a rice ball. The origin of the name “onigiri” is also explained there, so please listen to Episode 30 as well.
Of all onigiri, I like shio-nigiri the best. It is seasoned only with salt. But without nori, it’s not enough for me. It tastes good without seaweed, but it tastes even better with seaweed. And if you sprinkle sesame seeds on it, it tastes even better. You may think that sesame seeds are tiny and that it won’t make a difference in taste, but it does. The flavor is totally different. When sprinkled on warm rice, the delicious smell of sesame seeds spreads at once! Also, green onions, not sesame seeds, are delicious. Cut the green onion into small pieces and mix them with rice with salt to make onigiri. You can use either the white part or the green part of the green onion, but the green part is more colorful. And ginger. Salt and ginger are also delicious. You can use grated ginger, minced ginger, shredded ginger, or anything as long as it is fine enough to mix with rice. Ginger tsukudani (food boiled in soy sauce) would be even better.
My partner’s mother made onigiri with a surprising twist: bonito flakes and cheese. It is a square of cheese called “baby cheese” that is さいの目切り (sainomegiri)’d and put in onigirin together with dried bonito flakes. さいの目切り (sainomegiri) means to cut it into small pieces like dice. Bonito flakes and cheese go well together. Before we started eating it, my mother-in-law said “bonito flakes and cheese” and at first I wondered if cheese goes well with onigiri, but it does.
But people are strange, aren’t they? There is a dish called “doria,” which is baked rice with cheese on top, but the combination of unmelted cheese and rice makes us puzzled for a moment. But don’t worry. Onigiri with bonito flakes and cheese is definitely delicious. Nowadays, fancy onigiri such as wiener onigiri and karaage onigiri have become popular, but you can make delicious onigiri with simple ingredients like these, so please give them a try!
