Taste-testing Manma’s premium onigiri in Shinjuku.

It wasn’t all that long ago that most onigiri (rice balls) at Japanese convenience stores were around 120 yen (US$0.85). Following a string of rapid price increases, though, 120 yen is now a bargain price for onigiri, and a lot of them are now in the 160-and-up price range.

But even as we’ve braced ourselves to see higher and higher onigiri prices, we were still shocked when we found a single rice ball that sells for a whopping 2,000 yen (US$14.30)!

What’s more, this isn’t an onigiri that’s only available as an eat-in item at some exclusive members-only gourmet restaurant in Ginza. It’s offered by Manma, an unassuming-looking onigiri specialty shop in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood, not far from SoraNews24 HQ.

▼ Manma

At more than 10 times the price of an average onigiri, this was going to have to do something special to convince us to give it a try. So what was the special thing? Well, Manma used to operate under the name Bongo, a small chain that makes some of the very best onigiri around. We’ve been fans for years, and so when we saw that they’re selling something called the Special 20-year Miso Onigiri, we decided to open our wallet and keep an open mind until after we’d taste-tested it.

Miso is made by mashing soybeans into a paste and letting it ferment, a process which usually requires around six months. For this premium onigiri, though, Manma uses an extra-fancy variety of miso which takes 20 years to make. The aroma is amazing, with the scent of miso so pronounced that we could smell it even before we remove the rice ball’s plastic wrapping.

A lot of onigiri have a dark outer color because they’re wrapped in seaweed, but not the Special 20-year Miso Onigiri, as it has no seaweed at all. Instead, that deep brown, near-black hue is all from the miso it’s covered in.

Because of how strong the smell of miso is, we wondered if maybe this onigiri has a special liquid miso core too, so before we took a taste we decided to take a peek, but to our surprise, there’s no filling of any kind. The Special 20-year Miso Onigiri gives you rice, miso, and nothing else.

If anything, though, this just raised our expectations higher for the eating experience. Like we said, Manma/Bongo has shown they know what they’re doing when it comes to rice balls, so if they said this one doesn’t need anything other than rice and miso to justify its price, they must be very confident in the quality of those ingredients, right?

Going in for a bite, we expected the miso to announce its presence with a rich sweetness and sharp saltiness, but that’s not how things played out. Yes, the taste of miso was immediate and intense, but it had an intriguing hint of sourness, followed by a slowly but steadily building umami sensation as we chewed. It’s a sophisticated flavor that we found delicious, and definitely conveys a sense of quality and uniqueness, but it’s probably not for everybody.

Then again, a 2,000-yen onigiri isn’t for everybody either, and it would honestly be a pretty big let-down to pay that much for one and have it leave us with nothing more than “Sure, good orthodox miso flavor.” So while we don’t see the Special 20-year Miso Onigiri going into our daily diet, it’s a luxury we’re happy to have splurged on this time, and maybe we’ll see them come to Manma’s Haneda Airport sister shop someday.

Location information
Manma / まんま
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku Sanchome 14-23
住所　東京都新宿区新宿三丁目14-23
Open 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

Photos © SoraNews24
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