recipe: rice balls (주먹밥)

these rice balls are an easy way to get kids to eat their veggies. each time i make these i increase the ratio of veggies/meat to rice, and so far lana's still eating them. we'll see how far i can get before she decides enough is enough. ;)

ingredients (none of these measurements are exact - i'm just estimating):
about a cup and a half of rice (i mix white and brown)
3 tsbp of each of the following: carrots and broccoli (you can also use zucchini, onions, potatoes, chives, basically any vegetable that is able to be finely diced)
3 tsbp of finely chopped meat (i used turkey hot dog here, but you can also use steak/beef, ham, crabmeat, ground meats - if you use steak/beef/ground meat, marinate first in a little soy sauce and minced garlic so it has some flavor)
1 tsbp of olive oil
1 tsbp of sesame oil
salt, to taste
(makes about 5 small rice balls - lana (who's 2) can eat about 3 of these for a meal)

 

1. chop finely the carrots, broccoli and meat.

2. turn on stove to medium heat, add olive oil and saute the veggies and meat till soft. make sure to keep an eye on them - they are finely chopped so they burn very quickly.

3. put the rice, veggies and meat in a bowl. add sesame oil. 

4. mix everything together. add salt if desired.

5. once the rice balls are cool, get a piece of plastic wrap, put a heaping spoon of the rice mixture in the middle, then cover and twist until you have a tightly-formed ball that can hold its shape.

6. enjoy! it gets a little messy with the oil but lana loves eating these with her hands. in the future (whenever i get around to it, you know, with all the free time i have) i want to chop up the veggies/meat in huge batches and then freeze them so that as long as i have rice made, i can make these rice balls pretty quickly.