On the way home to my parents’ home from Harajuku are, we tried to look for something tasty that we can bring back with us for dinner. We looked at some places, but then, the choice of food didn’t feel like they will travel well on the train ride… But then, I remember seeing this spot, Osushiyasan no Pork Tamago Onigiri near Tokyo Tarako Spaghetti when we were walking to lunch there. I was curious about their offerings, so we decided to walk back there to check it out. Yes, I know their name is a mouthful… Their advertisement right outside the door had nice photos and descriptions of what they offer, and I was sold!
In Okinawa (the southmost prefecture of Japan), they have some their own unique dishes, and one of them is Spam & Egg Onigiri. The onigiri is commonly known as rice ball, but in this term, it is not in the “ball” shape. Spam & Egg Onigiri has gained popularity in the last several years, and there are several spots in and around Tokyo where you can get some tasty Spam & Egg Onigiri. The ones here at Osushiyasan no Pork Tamago Onigiri is a bit special, which I will tell you all about later. The shop is pretty small, with just a small counter seats for anyone who wants to eat them right there. They had some beer bottles. They recommend pairing their onigiri with the Ise Kadoya Beer. Those craft beers looked really interesting, I would like to try some in the future for sure.
Osushiyasan no Pork Tamago Onigiri offers over ten different flavors, and I wanted to try them all… But I got down to total of 8 flavors. Once I picked the flavors, she started to make them right there. Seems that the ingredients are mostly prepared, but she has to finish them up and assemble them. At this point, I realized that she is the only person managing the store! She was very efficient, and every time someone came in, she greeted them and let them know how long the wait is going to be (while she is assembling our order).
Since our order was somewhat of a large order, it took a while for her to make all of them, but we were not in a hurry so it was ok with us. She assembled each one with care of love. The eight flavors were placed in one large box, and two smaller boxes. We were very excited to bring them home to my parents!
And here they are! Don’t they look great? As I mentioned, Spam & Egg Onigiri is not as rare as it used to be outside of Okinawa. However, at this spot, Osushiyasan no Pork Tamago Onigiri, they created their version of Spam & Egg Onigiri. What is unique about them, you ask? First, they don’t use regular white rice, but they use sushi rice. And the Japanese egg omelet is from Marutake (丸武) in Tsukiji Market. One of the most popular sushi dish is the egg omelet sushi, so you can imagine how they go perfectly together in this concoction here as well. Another benefit of using sushi rice is that it can preserve the ingredients longer, and therefore, they taste good even if you can’t eat these delicious onigiri immediately.
With that, let’s dig into what we bought! Since there were so many enticing flavors, I decided to order “Standard 4 Type Set” from their menu for the first four flavors. The set contains Tuna & Mayo (ツナマヨ), Sesame Kelp (ごま昆布), Spicy Takana (ピリ辛高菜), and Plum & Perilla (梅と大葉) (2,000 yen). These have the traditional flavors of Japan, and they were so good!!! Tuna & Japanese Mayo combination is always a hit, you can’t go wrong with that. Sesame and the Seaweed had strong flavor, made milder by the sweet egg omelet. Made me think of some dishes that were made by grandma from way back when. Takana is kind of a picked or braised greens, and it had a little kick to it. Plum and Shiso is one of my favorite duos, and it worked great here as well. Each one had its own strong flavor, and it was all so tasty!
The other half of the order was my selection. I went with their staple, most basic kind, Pork Tamago (ポーたま) (500 yen), Potato Salad (ポテトサラダ) (550 yen), Spicy Cod Roe & Mayo (明太マヨ) (550 yen), and Tartar Corn (タルタルコーン) (550 yen). As you can see, each onigiri has the sushi rice, spam, egg omelet, and also lettuce. Other than the original Pork Tamago Onigiri, the others have the additional ingredients of your choice. They were all very good, and since I love Mentaiko, I did enjoy the Spicy Cod Roe one so much! The potato salad one was unique and interesting too. And the corn gave the added texture.
Since there were four of us, we cut the half onigiri into another half, so we each had quarter of the whole onigiri. Therefore, at the end, it was same as having two whole onigiri per person. But they are pretty nice portions size, so we were all happily full at the end. Also, with this, we get the rice, protein, egg, and vegetable, so it was the complete meal!
We loved all onigiris from Osushiyasan no Pork Tamago Onigiri. We each had a different favorite, but we enjoyed them all. The quality was high, and all the ingredients worked perfectly together. The flavors were strong yet comforting and balanced. The way they were constructed made it very easy to share, which was another plus. The price was super affordable too, and you get a nice portion. Great for snack, lunch, or dinner! The owner (?) was friendly and courteous, gave us nice advice on which ones to choose as well. I would definitely go back again if I were back in Harajuku area!
Osushiyasan no Pork Tamago Onigiri – 6 Chome-2-7 Jingumae, Shibuya City, Tokyo, Japan
おすし屋さんのポークたまごおにぎり – 東京都渋谷区神宮前6丁目2-7