Good Bite: rice balls

Showcasing our favorite casual eats. To suggest one, email ung@northjersey.com

My mother made Japanese rice balls all the time when I was growing up. Though I loved the rice wrapped in sheets of seaweed, I used to dread the tangy surprise buried in the middle: a magenta umeboshi (pickled plum).

These days, I still love rice balls, and now I actually embrace fillings – particularly the ones available at the Omusubi Gonbei stand inside Mitsuwa Marketplace. Their freshly made rice balls ($1.50 to $2.80) are perked up by a number of strongly flavored ingredients, such as anchovy and shiso, spicy pollock roe and, of course, pickled plums.

My current favorite is stuffed and topped with salted, cooked sockeye salmon ($1.80). Two of those and a bowl of miso soup (also $1.80) and you've got an excellent quick lunch.

Omusubi Gonbei, Mitsuwa Marketplace, 595 River Road, Edgewater, 201-941-9113 (main Mitsuwa number), mitsuwa.com.

— Elisa Ung