I'm making Japanese rice balls but I can't get Nori: dry seaweed sheets in my area. What can I use instead? ?

Question

Do you truly need this to finish off the recipe, can I just leave this out?

Answer 1

If it is not available it is ok to make them without the nori.

Answer 2

You can make many sushi style appetizers with out seaweed. Try rolling them in toasted white or black sesame seeds or butterflying shrimp and add a little wasabi paste and stuffing them with the rice mixture. Or take some very thinly sliced smoked salmon like lox and place it on a piece of plastic wrap then add your rice and form it into a ball squeezing it tightly it'll make a beautiful little ball.  

Answer 3

You don't need nori.  Some people like them better without.  This site takes you through step by step, and offers variations of rice balls (onigiri).

http://www.geocities.com/tpkamsin/fbonig...

Answer 4

This is a key component to the recipe. rice balls aren't the same with out the nori. There is places online you can order Nori from. Try safeway or another large supermarket they have a Chinese  aisle. sometimes its there.  also they may have  nori pieces with sesame seeds in a shaker bottle this is traditional Japanese style. just roll  the balls and roll it in the sprinkles. You could leave the nori out and just use toasted sesame seeds. thats actually really good

Answer 5

Too bad about the Nori, it has a taste and texture all its own!  You can try using spinach leaves instead (which I've actually had in Japanese restaurants) or banana leaves.

Answer 6

You can do without them, shown in the image below:

http://www.pref.osaka.jp/koho/brand/05/e...