Onigiri: Delicious Cheap Lunch

One piece of salmon onigiri on a plate. A salmon onigiri is my idea of lunch heaven. Onigiri  are Japanese stuffed rice balls that often come wrapped in nori seaweed and (lucky us) are commonly found in California supermarkets.  They are delicious, compact, portable, keep well, and are relatively healthy. Seaweed counts as a vegetable right?

I try not to eat out for lunch, but for onigiri the price is right and I can’t resist. I have one almost every Saturday as a follow up to a big weekend breakfast. Without the big breakfast it is a bit hard to eat only a stuffed rice ball for lunch…

The B-Dama onigiri (onigiris?) at Berkeley Bowl are particularly good and the salmon onigiri is only $1.85. Is it a coincidence that the cheapest one is also my favorite? I just toss one into the cart on my way through their deli section – and there’s lunch sorted.

Salmon Onigiri in it's plastic packaging for only $1.85.