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Rilakkuma rice balls are a must-have addition to any Rilakkuma fan's bento box! Easy to make, delicious to eat, and an adorable upgrade from plain white rice bentos. Video tutorial included! | loveatfirstbento.com

Rilakkuma Rice Balls


  • Author: Shannon
  • Yield: ~9 rice balls
  • Category: Character Bento

Description

Step-by-step instructions for making Rilakkuma, Korilakkuma, & Kiiroitori rice balls. Perfect for a Rilakkuma themed bento box!


Ingredients

Food Items:

  • 1.5 cups cooked Japanese short-grain rice, divided into 1/2 cup portions
  • 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 hard-boiled egg yolks
  • 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
  • Nori seaweed
  • Orange cheese (such as cheddar or Kraft Singles)
  • White cheese (such as provolone, swiss, or white Kraft Singles)
  • Honey or mayonnaise

Recommended Tools:

  • Mini rice ball mold
  • Rilakkuma nori punch
  • Multi-purpose nori punch
  • Small smiley face nori punch (See Notes for alternative option)
  • Rilakkuma facial feature cutter

Optional Tools (these will give you a more precise design):

  • Small oval or circle cutter
  • Winking face nori punch
  • Small circle nori punch

Instructions

Facial Features:

  1. Using the Rilakkuma food cutter, cut out 3 ovals from white cheese, and 3 ovals from the orange cheese.
  2. Using the Rilakkuma nori punch, punch out 6 sets of Rilakkuma faces from nori (3 for Rilakkuma, and 3 for Korilakkuma).
  3. Using the multi-purpose nori punch, punch the full design out 3 times from nori. You will be needing a total of 6 circles, and 3 carets (^) – these will become Kiiroitori’s eyes and hair tufts, respectively.
  4. Using the small smiley face nori punch, punch out 3 pairs of eyes from nori – these will become Kiiroitori’s nostrils.
  5. Optional: Using the winking face nori punch, punch out 6 “winks” (the eye that’s winking) from nori – these will become Kiiroitori’s feet.

Rilakkuma Rice Balls:

  1. Add soy sauce to 1/2 cup of warm sushi rice, and mix until rice is evenly brown in color. Feel free to add a little more soy sauce if needed.
  2. Fill rice mold with soy sauce rice, shake for 30 seconds, and carefully remove rice balls from mold. Wrap each rice ball in plastic wrap until ready to decorate.
  3. Using tweezers, dip one side of the white cheese oval in honey or mayo. Place in the middle of a brown rice ball, sticky-side down.
  4. Using tweezers, place the nori Rilakkuma mouth directly on top of the white cheese oval.
  5. Using tweezers, place the nori Rilakkuma eyes just slightly above the mouth.
  6. Repeat this decorating process on the other 2 brown rice balls.

Korilakkuma Rice Balls:

  1. Fill rice mold with plain white rice, shake for 30 seconds, and carefully remove rice balls from mold. Wrap each rice ball in plastic wrap until ready to decorate.
  2. Using tweezers, place the nori Rilakkuma mouth in the middle of the rice ball.
  3. Using tweezers, place the nori Rilakkuma eyes just slightly above the mouth.
  4. Repeat this decorating process on the other 2 white rice balls.

Kiiroitori Rice Balls:

  1. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and turmeric until it becomes an even yellow color. Add more turmeric if necessary.
  2. Add your hard-boiled egg yolks to the mayo-turmeric mixture, and mash and mix with a fork until you end up with a relatively smooth, evenly colored yellow paste.
  3. Add the yellow egg mix to 1/2 cup of warm sushi rice, and mix until rice is evenly yellow in color.
  4. Fill rice mold with yellow rice, shake for 30 seconds, and carefully remove rice balls from mold. Wrap each rice ball in plastic wrap until ready to decorate.
  5. Using tweezers, dip one side of the orange cheese oval in honey or mayo. Place in the middle of a yellow rice ball, sticky-side down.
  6. Using tweezers, place 2 nori nostrils directly on top of the orange cheese oval.
  7. Using tweezers, place the nori Kiiroitori eyes just slightly above his beak.
  8. Using tweezers, place the nori caret (^) near the top of the rice ball, pointy side facing down towards the face.
  9. Optional: If you have nori Kiiroitori feet cutouts, then place these near the bottom of the rice ball, with the claws facing slightly inward towards the middle.
  10. Repeat this decorating process on the other 2 yellow rice balls.

Notes

  • Here’s how I used the optional tools in this recipe: small circle nori punch = Kiiroitori’s eyes; winking face nori punch = Kiiroitori’s feet; small oval cutter = Kiiroitori’s beak (cut from orange cheese).
  • Another way to make Kiiroitori’s nostrils: take a square or rectangular piece of nori, and cut off the very tips of each corner, so that you’re left with tiny black “dots”.
  • You can also use the multi-purpose nori punch to make Kiiroitori’s feet. Just take the straight line cutout, cut it in half, and repeat this until you have 9 short straight lines. Then, you can add his feet to the rice ball “claw by claw”.

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