One of the biggest stresses in my life is debating whether to eat out at one of the 3,500 restaurants in SF or cook at home. I love doing both, but often, there simply isn’t enough time.
Luckily, Simmr solves that problem.
Simmr brings locals a fun, food-related experience that is different from the typical restaurant visit. Not only do you get to eat somewhere new, but you make your meal, too, garnering the best of both worlds and making me much less stressed out.
Last week, I had the opportunity to join in on one of these events hosted by Onigilly and named (awesomely) The Rice is Right!
For those unfamiliar, Onigilly was born from food incubation program La Cocina. Since its inception in 2006, it has 3 locations and frequently rotates at local events. Its signature dish is of course, onigiri – a Japanese street food of filled rice balls.
Adachi scoops rice for onigiri
This evening, Adachi and Julia taught us how to make onigiri using two different methods – pressing it into a triangular mold or creating balls by hand. Once we learned the story and origins of Onigilly, we got to work.
The molds were of course, much easier than hand-rolling; mine looked like lumpy messes! There were lots of fillings to choose from, including traditional ones like ume (pickled plum) and California-inspired ones like spicy shrimp with aioli. I have to admit, the spicy shrimp was my favorite, but maybe that’s because I love spicy anything!
It was exciting to see everyone so involved and making friends so quickly, and Julia and Adachi were extremely helpful, kind and didn’t laugh when we failed at making our onigiri look as pretty as theirs.
Snoopy-gilly!
Turnip ball-man makes an appearance
To make sure we were full, there were lots of extra dishes to nom on throughout the night like miso soup, edamame, spicy mushrooms, and a sake-sangria that packed a punch. After eating communally, some fun prizes were given out and we each went home with an onigiri packed in an individual container.
Simmr did a great job executing this event and allowed me to learn about and make something I would normally never make at home. Plus, having swag to take home is always a plus. Big thanks to Adachi, Julia, and the Simmr crew!
If you want to sign up for a future Simmr event, take a look at their calendar here!
Rice, rice, baby.
Everyone loves onigiri!
Spicy bacon, ready to be wrapped
We can fly!
Dinner is served.
Omg are you gonna post a recipe??? Looks delicious and I’ve been so obsessed with Asian food (any and all kinds!!) lately.
I can! I’m going to email Onigilly for some more information. It was so much fun to make! I love Asian food too, especially Japanese food!
LOL The Snoopy-gilly is too fun! What a great and delicious event.
It was great! The next event is going to be at Turtle Tower, about pho – can’t wait!