Taiwanese rice ball 飯糰

Taiwanese fan tuan or rice ball is not the most healthy items on breakfast menu however occasionally I will get cravings of eating one. I think it has to do with the warm memories it invokes of my childhood and my posterior visit to Taiwan. I wonder about the origin of Taiwanese rice balls because they are a very localized treat, when I made it for my Malaysian friends, they said they have never had any rice ball like it and I don't think china has them quite like thy either. May be Taiwanese people modified the Japanese onigiri during half century of Japan occupation before war war II. However If you have the Taiwanese version and Japanese version you would agree with me that Taiwanese rice ball have so much more flavor, it is literally busting out of fillings.

The hardest part of make rice ball is making the rice. In Taiwan, the street vendors who makes IMO the best rice balls use traditional steamers to steam sweet rice however I don't have a steamer only a rice cooker so it took some experimentation to get it right. Sweet rice or sticky rice is not particularly friendly for digestion so don't over eat! And don't eat rice ball too often. However once in while its absolutely delicious treat

1) wash one cup (for 4 rice balls) of sweet rice 圓糯米 in .7 cup of water and soak it for 10-30 min if you can. If you are in a rush, then cook it but you need to add more water outside or cook it for longer

2) put Chinese donut 油條 you can get from asian grocery store in the oven at 300 degree to make it crispy

3) sauté daikon radish preserve 菜蔔 in some garlic, dried shallot flakes and white pepper. Make sure you wash it and soak it in clean water before drying and using else will be too salty

4) scramble some egg with green onion

5)when the rice is cooked move it around a bit then cover it let it stay in the rice cooker for 10 min the steam will finish cooking the rice evenly. Put a piece of plastic wrap on the counter. Put about 1/2 cup of rice in the plastic wrap. Add some japanese rice seasonings, white sesame seeds, a piece of nori, egg, radish,dried pork and Chinese donut for crunchiness texture and role it into a role similar to sushi role. Use your hands and the help of plastic wrap to form into a tubular ball.