J-Style Country Breakfast: Onigiri
田舎めし

I just got back from a two-day trip to Chicago.

Love the windy city.

It was a short trip, but I ran into the fabulous donut shop where I had one of the best donuts (vegan) ever: Firecakes Donuts.

If you visit or live in Chicago, go there!

I had dark chocolate donut and it was insanely good.

The donut alone was worth traveling to the city.

I also got to try delicious Korean food at Amitabul.

I had their Dr. K’s Cure All Noodle Soup and All-Vegan Pizza, and they were both delicious!

But there is always a must-stop place in Chicago when we drive there, Mitsuwa, a Japanese grocery store.

Although our Twin Cities local Asian grocery stores carry a lot of Japanese foods now, there are still things you only find at Mitsuwa.

I got several goodies, and these are one of them: traditional Japanese fermented pickles.

I decided to make onigiri (Japanese rice ball) using these pickles for breakfast this morning.

The dark one is “Pickled Melon with Bake Less”; that’s what the package says.

And the lighter one is “Natural Nuka Takuan; Pickled Rice Bran Radish”.

I love Japanese pickles, and I grew up eating a lot of these.

My parents used to call me “Miss Tsukemono (pickles in Japanese)”.

Freshly cooked brown rice.

This country style breakfast was exactly what I wanted to create after a long drive home from the city.

I even made miso soup, and I was proud of myself!

This is something my husband picked up at Mitsuwa.

This is a type of sencha green tea, called “Gyoku-ro”.

Gyoku-ro is the king of sencha green tea, and of course, the “Grower’s Reserve” sign got his attention.

We tried a cup last night, and he really liked it.

But he said it’s going to be a weekend tea, because it’s special (well, it’s expensive for sure, lol).