Egg Scallion and Shio Kombu Onigiri 蔥蛋塩昆布日式飯糰

Perhaps similar to a chicken wrap, onigiri is like Japanese's version of a quick simple meal or a snack on the go. However, fast and easy doesn't mean the onigiri must be boring and bland. Instead, we're going to use some of the super-matching ingredients to bring out that extra aroma, making some hella satisfying rice balls.

Egg scallion and shio kombu onigiri 蔥蛋塩昆布日式飯糰 - 

Ingredients (about 3 rice balls)?

• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons shio kombu 塩昆布
• 1 1/2 cups cooked short grain white rice
• 1 big dried nori sheet
• 2 strings scallion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Some sesame oil
• Some salt

How?

Precook the rice. Once ready, fluff the rice and wait till some steam has been escaped. Oil a big mixing bowl to prevent sticking, I used sesame oil here.

Beat one egg with tiny pinch of salt. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil to a pan and switch to medium heat.

Once warm enough, pour in the beaten egg and start scramble the eggs to smaller pieces. Scoop out to oiled big mixing bowl that we prepped earlier.

Destem and chop the scallion. Add that to the bowl too together with about 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice. Also add 2 tablespoons of shio kombu and 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil. Fluff while mixing these ingredients gently till evenly blended.

Trim the nori sheet to rectangular pieces, or you can use the snack-pack, the nori sheets inside usually come as rectangular shaped.

Divide the rice mixture to 2 or 3 equal portions. Roll and shape each portion to a ball. Remember to use some force so the rice can stick together, but not too hard and break the rice. Wrap the rice ball with nori sheet and serve immediately.

I had to take pictures, which takes time, otherwise it's best to enjoy the onigiri as soon as it's been wrapped with nori sheet. The nori sheet turns soft basically in the blink of an eye. But even with soggy nori sheet after some pictures, I still enjoyed this onigiri flavor combo, just love that salty touch from the shio kombu. 

Other onigiri recipes:

• Tuna and sesame oil rice balls
• Hijiki and inari age onigiri 羊栖菜豆皮飯糰

Kuku Paka Coconut Chicken Curry - A Type of Curry That Can Be Easily Recreated at Home

When cooking curry, we often think about many exotic spices, perhaps lots of grinding and searing the aromatics to begin with. The long list of preparation can be daunting, but not this kuku papa curry recipe.

Kuku paka is a type of coconut chicken recipe with African, Indian, and Arabic influences. Of course you can elaborate on the spices, but generally speaking the key ingredients involved are far less compared to Indian curry. You can also use store-bought coconut milk and tomato purée to finish the job. So when working on homemade curry, kuku paka can be one simpler variety to begin with.

Kuku paka coconut chicken curry - 

Ingredients (about 4 to 6 servings)?

• 4 boneless skin-on chicken legs 
• 1 medium small onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 chunk ginger
• 270ml coconut milk
• 500ml tomato purée
• 1 lemon
• 1 small bundle cilantro
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Some salt
• Some black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• Some basmati or quinoa basmati rice (optional)

How?

Pat dry the chicken with paper towel. Sprinkle some salt and black pepper on both sides.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a big pot and switch to medium heat. Wait till the temperature rises a little then transfer the chicken over skin side down. Sear till the skin on the bottom turns golden.

Flip and sear the meaty side, also sear till slightly golden. Scoop out and set aside for later use.

Peel and dice the onion. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Scrape the skin off then finely chop the ginger, we will need about 2 teaspoons chopped ginger in the end. Chop the cilantro.

Use the same pot for the chicken, there should be some oil and chicken fat remain. Switch to medium heat and add in chopped onion. Stir and cook for couple minutes then add in the garlic and ginger. Cook till aromatic but not burning the garlic.

Add 2 teaspoons of cumin powder, 2 teaspoons of turmeric powder, 2 teaspoons of coriander powder, and 1 teaspoon of chili powder. Cook till aromatic, again but not burnt. This step will be fairly quick, should be done in less than one minute.

Pour in coconut milk and tomato purée. Mix and give it a taste test. I added one more teaspoon of salt here.

Transfer seared chicken legs back to the pot along with any remaining juice. Bring the whole thing to a light bubbling stage then adjust the heat to keep the pot at a light simmer. Cover with lid and cook for another 20 minutes.

I opened up the lid and scraped the bottom once a while, just to make sure nothing is burning or sticking to the pot. Towards the end, squeeze in juice of half lemon. Also add most of the chopped cilantro, especially the stem section. Mix and cook for couple more minutes.

The kuku paka is now ready. I prepped some quinoa basmati rice to eat along with the it. Remember to sprinkle some more chopped cilantro after plating.

The flavor is always better if bone-in chicken was used, but I'm just too lazy to deal with it. So to compromise, I used boneless but still skin-attached chicken instead. It's totally up to you, but I find my boneless version still quite yummy in the end.

One other note, the ingredients listed here will give you more curry sauce in the end. So if you want to use more chicken leg, maybe up to six chicken legs, there's no need to adjust the amount of seasonings whatsoever.