Genkichi

If you know the following terms:
Onigiri,
Omusubi,
Rice Balls (rice shaped in a ball, not what you think, I mean come on…),
and like the word, ‘authentic’, you’ll love this little stand inside of Marukai.
So I’m standing in front of what appears to be a corner food stand and I can’t figure out for the life of me what they are selling. I finally am able to figure out that these guys are selling rice balls, aka, onigiri/​omusubi. It’s the sandwich of Samurai’s past.
This is the story: the guy that runs the shop is son of the rice farm, Koshihikari, which is in Niigata, land of rice, clean water, and sake. I guess he came to the US to teach us how to enjoy the real thing. There are many categories of Nigiri: Shake (Salmon), Okaka (Bonito), Ume (salted plum), list goes on, see the picture of the menu. I chose Shake. The lady behind the counter takes nori (sea weed), arranges it, rice which is carefully placed into the palm of her hand, a healthy portion of Shake, and voila!
I can’t really describe it but it’s just delicious with the perfect feel, not too compacted like a golf ball, not too soggy, just real. It’s the closest you’ll get to home made.
I went back to get 3 more.