You can’t make a great Omusubi without a superior rice. See our “About our rice” section to understand the care we put into our rice.
We pamper our brown rice by keeping it refrigerated when importing it from our farmers – it’s the key to its freshness. If brown rice is exposed to high heat, the bran layer will oxidize, affecting flavor and nutrients.
We carefully maintain the temperature in our refrigerated containers to prevent oxidation. And because the milling process causes oxidation, we wait until our rice is at each store before milling it daily. This level of care means the rice you eat is as fresh as when the farmers shipped it. We take “farm to table” seriously.
Our Omusubi truly shine because they are tasty no matter the temperature of the rice. A lot of things will be tasty while they are still hot and fresh but it shows the amount of work put into food for it to be delicious when it has cooled down. Our Omusubi retain their high quality even when they’ve cooled down. We meticulously soak each grain of rice in cold water to make sure that each grain of rice is soaked and will be able to transfer heat evenly while its being cooked. If each grain of rice is not fully soaked, the core of it can become hard when it's cold and the rice will become dry. Due to our efforts, the core of each grain stays sticky and soft, and the rice stays moist when cooled.
This process may sound simple, but it’s not. No matter how much experience we have in cooking rice, it never gets easier. So many different small factors can affect the final result such as difference in temperature of the day and the condition of the rice, so we pay attention to every detail to make sure our rice comes out perfectly.
Our Omusubi are unique because they are large and thick compared to the ones you can find in convenience stores in Japan. In comparison, we shape ours By hand instead of being pressed by machines or into molds which contributes to the deliciousness of our Omusubi. We gently shape the Omusubi so that they are still airy, fluffy and the perfect texture. Feeling the outline of each grain is the essence of the rice ball’s deliciousness. That is also the reason why we call our rice balls “Omusubi=knotting or tying” instead of the more harsher “Onigiri=grasping”. We shape our rice balls with care and respect.
We use vinyl gloves to handle all the foods at the store.
Our Omusubi are wonderful when they are hot, but they are also tasty after they’ve cooled down because of the care we take with our ingredients. If you would prefer to have fresh Omusubi, you can ask us anytime. As long as we have fresh rice, we are always happy to serve you fresh Omusubi. You may also customize them by requesting no salt, sesame, or nori/seaweed. There is a small fee for additional nori.
Rice can be delicious hot or cold and we strive to make sure our rice is cooked perfectly so you can enjoy them no matter what the temperature of the rice is.
The reason why our Omusubi are so simple is because we would like to highlight the natural beauty of each ingredient. We avoid using preservatives and food colors as much as possible. We would like every one of any age to enjoy it.
