Honestly, I swore I would never be one of those bloggers that gives you their life story in 20 paragraphs (and how they never thought they’d ever get an Instant Pot but they fell in love with it and it’s better than sliced bread and you should get one too–*cue affiliate link*) before getting to the actual recipe for a food blog, so I’ll cut to the chase here and say —

HI! 🙂 This is my first recipe post for my blog. Yes, my travel blog turned mommy blog turned everything and anything blog. Woo! I’m not going to give you serving sizes or calories or prep times because…well, I just don’t know! And I am slow AF in the kitchen. You’ll probably be faster than me! And you can eyeball and guesstimate things. I often do.

I like making these little salmon rice balls for my daughter because she will eat them. And quite frankly, toddlers can be a pain to feed. They decide they don’t like everything they ever liked as a baby, and it becomes a mindf*ck and stress fest trying to hide foods of nutritious values into their diets!

SO. I make this recipe once every other week or so, hoping to give her a dose of carbs, protein, omega-3s, and maybe sneak in some veggies. The bonus? I like to eat it too! It’s pretty yummy. So here you go; it’s right after this pin, which I’d loveeee if you’d pin it for future reference if you like it And I have a cool Reel on IG (also my first!) if you want to save that too! THANKS! 🙂

Salmon Onigiri (rice balls)

Ingredients

• 1 c sushi rice
• 1 T sushi seasoning 
• 1 – 2 tsp furikake seasoning 
• 1/4 lb salmon
• 1/2 c chopped pickled daikon (takuan)
• 1/2 avocado (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Seaweed (nori) for wrapping
• Ponzu sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Rinse the sushi rice in cold water. Dump the murky water and repeat a few times until the water runs clear. We don’t wash our rice after it’s cooked in this household—see this disgraceful method here if you don’t know what I’m referring to.
   
2. Cook the rice in a rice cooker, pot, Instant Pot, however you cook rice. I use my trusty Taiwanese Tatung rice cooker and I do not know how to cook rice any other way so…Google that if you really need those instructions! (If you follow @tiffycooks, this is her go to rice cooker too!) 1:1 rice to water ratio is how I usually do it, with 1/3 cup water in the outer bowl—this only makes sense if you use this kind of rice cooker!
   
3. While the rice is cooking, season your salmon with some salt and pepper to your liking and bake to internal temp of 135F. I use my trusty Bluetooth digital read thermometer that alerts me on my phone when it’s 10 degrees away. (I would get this older version I linked if you want it because newer is not always better.) I sometimes season with a few dashes of ponzu sauce when it’s done for a little extra flavor.
   
4. Prep any veggies you want to mix in with the rice. I always chop up some small cubes of pickled radish (daikon or takuan–see extra notes at the end) that my daughter loves munching on. If I have time, I’ll dice up some avocado chunks, puree some spinach, or chop up some broccoli into tiny flaky floret bits to mix in because it’s an awesome way to sneak in veggies!
   
5. When the rice is done (wait a few min for the steam to evaporate if you are using the Tatung rice cooker), stir in the sushi seasoning sauce and sprinkle in the furikake seasoning. I’m pretty generous with my furikake and the amount recommended in the ingredient list is a more modest suggestion. 😉 Mix well.
   
6. Shred up the salmon when it’s done cooking and mix with the rice. The salmon oils will help keep the rice moist too.
   
7. Add in the pickled daikon and other optional veggies and stir some more.
   
8. You can choose to make rice balls in cool shapes by compacting the rice into a mold or wrap them in seaweed strips or handrolls. Technically, a true onigiri is a compacted triangular rice ball wrapped with a strip of seaweed. I tried to make mine all cute and shaped them into Mickey Mouse molds, but my toddler had no appreciation for it after 2 seconds, of course, so she eats these like deconstructed handrolls.
   
   My favorite way to eat this is to scoop the rice into pre-cut lightly salted seaweed squares from Trader Joe’s or Costco in a taco format! My toddler just likes to munch on seaweed on the side and eat the rice separately. But the easy way to pack for meals is to compact it into a mold and wrap with seaweed like a musubi! Again, onigiri would technically be in a triangular rice format wrapped with seaweed. But toddlers do not care, so serve however you can get them to eat that is fun and palatable for them!

I tend to double this recipe and it leaves plenty of leftovers for another meal when I do so. Quantities of ingredients above are more for one meal for a family of 3-4 (with small children). Seconds are not as fresh as the day you make them and the salmon rice can be a little more dry the next day, but I am a busy mom, so I deal with it. I just try to microwave with a wet towel over the bowl or something. 🙂

And there you have it, an easy, healthy, possibly fun and interactive meal for the whole family that’s toddler-friendly! Please help me Pin on Pinterest if you thought this was helpful or cool and read on for more footnotes if you need! 🙂 Here it is again!

*Extra Footnotes…

Yea, just because I didn’t hit you with my life story at the beginning of the post, doesn’t mean it’s not at the end! JK, it’s not my life story, just some extra recipe notes and FAQs for those who are curious. 🙂

1. What is Pickled Daikon and why is it highlighter yellow?
   Good question–no idea why it is yellow! Daikon is root vegetable with a very mild radish taste in the shape of a giant fat carrot. Pickled daikon is often used in Japanese and Korean rice rolls or as a side dish. It is crunchy, sweet, and slightly tangy due to pickling. This lends a great texture contrast to Japanese sushi rolls or Korean kimbap and balances out any heavier flavors, almost like a palate cleanser. But overall, it’s a healthy vegetable high in fiber and vitamin C that helps with digestion. So I’m okay that my toddler is obsessed with munching on it! If you can’t find any at your local Asian grocery store, substituting with cucumbers can be one way to get an extra refreshing crunch, but the flavors will be a little different, of course.

2. What is the best kind of furikake seasoning?

I use Seto Fumi Furikake. Reference the picture below. I linked a super overpriced version also to show you which one it is, but please don’t buy it on Amazon unless you have no local Asian supermarket like 99 Ranch, Marina, etc. Trader Joe’s also makes a furikake mix, but I find the flavor is a bit lacking. This version/brand is the one I use for my rice and my furikake chex mix!

3. What can I use in place of sushi seasoning if I don’t have it?

Make sushi vinegar for sushi rice. But I’m a busy mom with no time and I’m lazy AF, so I buy the sushi seasoning and call it a day! See link for product description but don’t buy it for stupid expensive unless you really don’t have access to an Asian market. 🙂
OR…
My dad recently taught me this but he mixes in leftover juice from the pickled sushi ginger they buy at Mitsuwa and calls it sushi rice. Ha! Ingenious.

4. Do I have to use sushi rice?
You don’t have to do anything, but it certainly will taste better. So the real answer is–yes, use sushi rice. My family usually eats jasmine rice with our meals, but for this, I make sure to bust out the sushi rice! You can find it at any Asian supermarket as the medium grain rice for more plump, chewy texture.

Hope you enjoy my version of toddler salmon onigiri and let me know if you find any winning combos of protein or veggies to mix in for your toddlers! 🙂 Good luck!

xoxo,
Jas