Anime Recipe: Onigiri aka Brock's "Jelly Doughnuts" from Pokemon

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page!
​

I can’t believe Pokémon’s 25th anniversary is this year! I grew up with the series, so I knew I had to make an anime recipe for one of the shows that defined my childhood.

A weird thing I never questioned as a kid was why they called the rice balls in Pokémon “donuts” and “sandwiches.” They weren’t sandwiches or donuts - they were onigiri! This was an attempt to localize the subtitles for American audiences, but understandably was meme'd since it doesn't make much sense.

I’m making two kinds of onigiri today: some stuffed with tuna, and some with umeboshi (aka Japanese pickled plum). You can also use salmon as a filling, if you like!

Ingredients (serves four)

• 2 cans tuna
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise (preferably Japanese kewpie mayo, but you can use regular mayo) 
  • ​If you're following Weight Watchers or are on a calorie deficit, you can use a light mayo instead
• 1 tbsp sriracha
• 2 cups uncooked sushi rice
  • ​​If you're following myWW Purple, you can use brown sushi rice
• 6 pieces umeboshi
• 12 pieces of snack-sized Nori 

Instructions

• Before you begin, check if your umeboshi have pits! Remove them if so.
• Once your rice is cooked and has cooled, wet your hands or use a paper towel to scoop rice into your hands. I used a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop it out so the rice was evenly distributed.
• With your thumb, create a slight indent in the middle.
• Add either umeboshi or tuna to the indent.
• Use your hands to wrap the filling with rice and form into a triangular shape.
• Add nori to the rice ball and serve. You should have enough to make about 12-14 rice balls. ​

​

Need help assembling your rice balls? Check out this video from Tokyo Kitchen!
​

​The Verdict

I love onigiri, but I've only ever made it with tuna before. This was my first time trying umeboshi and I enjoyed it! It was slightly sweet and pretty salty, so it tasted really nice in the rice. Anthony thought the umeboshi was a little too salty for his liking, but otherwise was had a tasty flavor.  

Have a food from an anime that you want me to try to recreate? Let me know in the comments below! Plus, follow me on TikTok to see the behind the scenes of how this was made.
​