Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

[tutusue]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

[...]Tutusue, Is the Tilia foodsaver good?

Sorry for the delay, Pongs. I just saw your post today! Anyway, I really like the Tilia because I do a lot of freezing. In addition to the rolls of 'wrap' or whatever it's called, it also came with 3 canisters, all in different sizes. I love the canisters and can now buy perishables in bulk from Costco! Vacuum sealing really prolongs the life of perishables.

[Pomai]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

I need to buy a new triangle-shaped Musubi maker. I can't find mine.

I think the triangle shape facilitates a "complete Musubi experience", as each bite you're able to get have a perfect portion of rice, nori and pickled rice flavor from the Ume in the middle. It's one of those "perfect foods".

[Erika Engle]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

I need to buy a new triangle-shaped Musubi maker. I can't find mine.

I think the triangle shape facilitates a "complete Musubi experience", as each bite you're able to get have a perfect portion of rice, nori and pickled rice flavor from the Ume in the middle. It's one of those "perfect foods".

You've got two perfect tools for triangular musubi preparation -- right at the ends of your arms.

The way my Nihonjin mother taught me to make musubi, you work with wet hands so the rice doesn't stick.
-You bend one hand at the "base" knuckles so your fingers are straight and your hand is bent into a 90-degree, squared "scoop."
- Put the desired amount of rice, in your hand, put your ume in the center, cover with a little rice
- With your other hand bent into the same shape and perpendicular to the rice-holding hand, squeeze and turn and squeeze and turn until your musubi reaches the desired shape and firmness.
- My mom used to sprinkle salt on her hand before putting the rice in it, and would then sprinkle the top of the rice before forming it, so the musubi would have flavor and cause a bit of salivation while eating, minimizing the need for a beverage. Nowadays with blood pressure concerns, I'm not sure she still does that. My daughter doesn't like the salted outside, so I don't make mine that way.

Instead, I often mix nori furikake, or shiso fumi furikake into the rice before forming the musubi, so the salted outside would be overkill, anyway.

Omigosh. I just flashed on mixing some grated Spam into the rice before forming ... I wonder if it would all stay together without some sort of binding ingredient? Hmm.

[Pomai]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

You've got two perfect tools for triangular musubi preparation -- right at the ends of your arms. ...

-You bend one hand at the "base" knuckles so your fingers are straight and your hand is bent into a 90-degree, squared "scoop." ...

Erika, your post is useless without pics or a video. Nah, j/k. I think I understand your instructions. I'll give it a try!

Yeah, the salt definately is a requirement. I'm not so sure about that grated Spam idea. Sounds challenging, not to mention unnecessary added fat and calories.

For me, just a SIMPLE, salt-seasoned triangle musubi with a strip of Nori around the perimeter and Ume in the middle is all it really needs. Sometimes I pour a little of the Ume's pickling juice around the ume for added zip.

Get this: My late grandmother used to make musubi EXCLUSIVELY into round balls, which I only recently found out is only supposed to be served at funerals, as it represents a death. I guess, she not being Japanese, either wasn't aware of it or didn't believe in that. She lived until 93 so obviously it didn't effect her.

I was given a musubi mold kit once that had all kinds of shapes like a heart, clover, cylinder, etc. Stupid. I gave it away.

[Erika Engle]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

Would that I had video/pix to post! It woulda saved me the time of trying to figure out how to put something I take for granted into words.

At least once, my mom also made oval musubi -- flat front and back, but the shape was an elongated oval.

Anyway, you may be in luck! I was at Windward Mall today and as is my habit, I cruised Marukai for a little while. They had your triangular musubi-makers in stock for $1.49 -- each makes two at once! There's a Marukai dollar-forty-nine store (hehe) at Ward, one in Waipahu, and last I knew, one inside the Sack N Save at Stadium Mall.

I hadn't been on HT before going to WW mall or I would have looked for the other shapes you mentioned. I've seen them before, either at Marukai or at Daiei (in the dollar-store section) or perhaps both. Even though Daiei has a new owner, the dollar store is still present -- in the Kailua location, anyway.

Happy musubi-making!

[Pomai]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

Would that I had video/pix to post! It woulda saved me the time of trying to figure out how to put something I take for granted into words.

Pictorial demo here! Albeit, the pictures are thumbnail size.

Interesting how they say to use a small bowl to start the shape into a ball. I would have just shaped it in my hands, but I'll try that method.

I can't make out the final shape of that Tawara (strawbag?) Omusubi. It says to start it by forming into a log shape, but I imagine being a "strawbag", one end of it must taper?

Yeah, the triangle mold I had made two at once, with a bendable tab on the back to push the musubi out. I'll check Ward Marukai or the 99 cent ($1.49) store later today.

The most savage hand-made musubi I ever had was from Nuuanu Delicatessen (Okazuya). I swear they must have not spent more than 2 seconds forming those things. Halfway into biting into it, the rice becomes a heaping mess that just falls apart onto your plate. Other than that, they're an excellent Okazuya.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

Our favorite kitchen gadgets:

-The Egg Sandwich Toaster: Bought it off Amazon.com (free shipping!). It will toast your bread and poach an egg in 3 minutes. It also does hard-boiled eggs. I can make breakfast and do my hair in the morning at the same time. Good deal. But you have to take care of it (e.g. follow the instructions) or you ruin the nonstick surface. It's super.

Yes I think you can ruin the nonstick surface if you try dry your hair in it as well. Piece of advice? Use a Hair dryer instead

Oh I'm sorry, you use that to keep your coffee hot!!! That's right I do the same thing

I'm sorry I had to take the bait on that one But seriously now, my favorite is that little one cup food processor that'll mince veggies into basically nothing so when I add it to my chili for dinner, the kids have no idea they're eating healthy stuff buried in it.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

Interesting how they say to use a small bowl to start the shape into a ball. I would have just shaped it in my hands, but I'll try that method.

I think it's because the rice is hot. It's no fun making musubi out of hot rice.

[Kelly0040]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

CRAIG!

lol anyway...

No matter how hard I try, I cannot make a triangle riceball.

My friends would come over and we'd beg and beg for dad to make them (normally he'd only make them when we'd have left over rice...so maybe once a week - a riceball in my lunchbag always made my day). So, whenever I'd have a sleepover, he'd make a big pot of rice and we'd all try making them. None of us could make it into a triangle, course dad's came out perfect each time; we'd end up eating dad's and he fed ours to the dogs. I remember my dad telling me, "it's your mom's fault you cant make them" (my mom is Assyrian - like Andre Agassi! ).

k

[tutusue]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

[...]But seriously now, my favorite is that little one cup food processor that'll mince veggies into basically nothing so when I add it to my chili for dinner, the kids have no idea they're eating healthy stuff buried in it.

A friend of mine used to hide veggies in homemade, brightly colored pasta! She pureed tomatoes for red...any green veggie for green (duh!)...yellow bell peppers for yellow. Her kids loved it!

[Miulang]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

CRAIG!

lol anyway...

No matter how hard I try, I cannot make a triangle riceball.

My friends would come over and we'd beg and beg for him to make them (normally he'd only make them when we'd have left over rice...so maybe once a week - a riceball in my lunchbag always made my day). So, whenever I'd have a sleepover, he'd make a big pot of rice and we'd all try making them. None of us could make it into a triangle, course dad's came out perfect each time; we'd end up eating dad's and he fed ours to the dogs. I remember my dad telling me, "it's your mom's fault you cant make them" (my mom is Assyrian - like Andre Agassi! ).

k

My Mom used to have one of those plastic musubi molds too. But when she was lazy, she would take fairly hot rice, put it into a chawan and toss the rice around in the bowl to cool it off (if you roll the scoop of rice around in that bowl long enough, it does become a ball). Then she would put the rice in one hand, and she would place her other hand on top of the hand with the rice ball perpendicular to the other hand. Cupping your hands that way will allow you to make a triangle shaped musubi. Then she would wrap a half sheet of nori around the triangle and lightly compress the rice a little more. We never had problems with musubi falling apart as we were eating them!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

yup making triangle musubi is a talent. But never serve round musubi other than at a funeral reception. That's an old Japanese thing.

[Pomai]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

I think it's because the rice is hot. It's no fun making musubi out of hot rice.

I usually wait until the rice has fully steamed through and cools down to just below the point of scorching hot before handling it.

As for that All-in-one Egg McMuffin machine (did I say that?), my friend has one, and the only complaint he has is that it only makes one at a time, which can take up to 10 minutes -- contrary to the manufacturer's 4 minute claim. So it's really not practical when he wants to prepare a bunch for the family. Otherwise he says they come out as good as Mikky-Deez.

I have yet to try The Foreman Grill (or its higher end Griddler counterpart), which seems a popular item here. While I doubt it will ever match good ole open-flame charcoal, sounds acceptable, considering the plug-and-play convenience.

Still, I'm a minimalist when it comes to plug-in appliances. God-forbid they should come out with an electric Musubi Maker.

[Pomai]

Musubi Mania

Erika, you're right. Half the stuff in 99 cent store is now $1.49. What's the deal? lol Unfortunately neither there or Marukai Ward had any in stock at the moment.

So I ended up getting it from Daiei **ehem** I mean Don Quijote. Get this: They had it stocked in the KITCHEN GADGET aisle (relabeled) for $2.49. Then I look in the "Dollar" section near the registers and the same exact one is just a buck! So I bought two makers for less than the price of one for some serious 4-at-once Musubi mass production.

This is the exact model...

[Erika Engle]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

Pomai, you are a shrewd shopper and a discount diva! (And I seriously mean that as a major compliment!!!)

It's too bad you had to go to more than one store, but I guess the "find" made up for it.

Now that Pomai's got the hook-up, musubi party, anyone?