Name: Brock's Rice Balls
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: 500 g cooked short-grain Japanese rice, warm; 1/2 tsp salt, plus more for your hands; pickled plum (umeboshi) or salted salmon flakes, for filling; 4 nori strips

The English dub of the original Pokémon anime famously renamed these plain rice balls "jelly-filled doughnuts" when they first aired, a widely discussed example of how food references were sometimes changed for Western broadcast at the time.

The real dish is onigiri, simple and savory rather than sweet, and Brock, the group's practical cook among the original main characters, is the one usually shown making them.

Part of our 60 famous foods from movies and TV list.

method

Wet your hands and rub a pinch of salt over your palms.

Take a handful of warm rice, press a small well into the center, and add a little umeboshi or salmon flakes.

Shape the rice into a firm but not overly dense triangle, enclosing the filling completely.

Wrap a strip of nori around the base of each one.

Repeat with the remaining rice and filling.

Serve at room temperature, by hand, as a simple packed snack.

chef's tips

Keep the filling choice genuinely simple and traditional, umeboshi or salted fish are classic, everyday onigiri fillings, not a sweet one.
The English dub of the original Pokémon anime famously renamed these onigiri "jelly-filled doughnuts" when they were first broadcast, a widely discussed example of how food references were sometimes altered for Western audiences at the time.
Shape these with a light touch; a dense, overly packed rice ball is noticeably less pleasant to eat than one that holds together gently.
Brock, one of the series' original main characters, is often shown as the group's practical cook, and simple rice balls fit that grounded, capable role well.