A Taipei restaurant took top place with its “tree ring onigiri” (年輪飯糰) in the Sustainable Vegetarian Fare category at the Ministry of Agriculture’s rice ball competition on Friday, held to encourage the public to consume more domestically-grown grains.
In the “Style and Charisma category,” the winning entry came from Happiness Rice Ball Shop (幸福稻飯丸), in Yuanlin City, Changhua County, for its “savory cheese chicken with sauce” onigiri rice balls, the ministry’s Agriculture and Food Agency head Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) said.
The winners were honored at the ministry’s second annual Rice Ball Competition in Taipei, with 157 entries from 97 proprietors across the nation, with various onigiri items made from high-quality rice varieties, seasonal ingredients and farm produce, and put together by experienced culinary professionals, Hu said.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
The tree ring onigiri was created by chefs at Little Tree Food’s (小小樹食) Daan District store in Taipei, using Kaohsiung No. 147 rice (高雄147號米), stewed first in a vegetable broth and then filled with seasonal ingredients, while the other winner was made using Tainan No. 16 rice (台南16號).
After presenting awards and prize money to the winners, Hu said in his address: “There are no meat or animal products in the ‘Sustainable Vegetarian Fare’ category, based on seasonal vegetables and domestic grains to create delicious and flavorful vegetarian onigiri. Since they do not contain meat or animal products, they are environmentally friendly, good for responding to climate change and sustainable.”
“We have plans for exports by collaborating with Taiwan’s Si Sheng Foods Industry Co Ltd, which has already supplied a variety of rice burgers to the US. The winning entries could be mass-produced, frozen and sold in convenience stores and hypermarkets, and cooperating firms could be found for international export,” Hu said.
Entries in the second category would be commercialized, with new creative flavors and other specialties, while it has been decided that the winning onigiri would be sold at Taiwan’s 6,000 7-Eleven stores starting in May next year, packaged for cold storage at 18°C, he added.
After last year’s competition, the ministry assisted in commercializing the top two winning entries, launching them in June and selling 600,000 of them in a five-month period, taking up 28 tonnes of domestically produced rice for a turnover at NT$27.5 million (US$872,683). The products are estimated to reach NT$60 million by the end of this year, he said.
“We are hopeful about promoting more consumption of Taiwan’s domestically grown rice and seasonal ingredients by making more tasty onigiri, providing balanced and nutritious fare for consumers. By selecting these grains as part of a meal, the public can also make a contribution to mitigating the effects of climate change and global warming,” he said.
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