Panda Rice Balls

Panda Rice Balls

Summer really puts me in the picnic mood.
In Korea when people go on picnics they always bring lunch boxes with sushi rolls or rice balls or such, so I love to make those especially in the summer. Got a little fancy this time around and made my rice balls into panda bears! What do you think?

They require a bit of cutting, but that is the only complicated thing about them. For the filling I used Bumble Bee®'s flavored tunas so you don't even need to add anything to the tuna, just use it as is; it makes things so easy peasy, nutritious and very convenient. Here I used their jalapeno tuna because hubby loves all things jalapeno, but my personal favorite is the spicy thai chili, that one is serrriously delish guys, it brings rice balls to a whole new level. Recipe and pictorial is below, tell me if you try them out!

Panda Rice Balls

• sushi seaweed sheets
• sticky rice, cooked (about 2/3 cup cooked rice for each panda)
• Bumble Bee® flavored tuna (eg spicy thai chili)

Directions:

Cut arms, ears, eyes, nose and feet out of the nori sheets:

Arms: cut 6in. x 1/2in. strips then round the corners

Eyes: cut 1/2in. squares then cut into egg shapes.

Ears: cut 1/2in. squares then cut in half circles

Feet: cut 1/2in. squares then shape into circles

Noses: cut the corners off of your scrap pieces to make noses

Take about 1/3 cup of rice and shape into an oval disk. Press the center to make a divot, then fill the divot with tuna. Take another 1/3 cup of rice and cover the tuna. Gently but firmly squeeze and shape the rice into an oval. Decorate with cut nori pieces. Best eaten within the day.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.