It’s a red-letter day for sekihan fans.

With most onigiri/rice balls, it’s their fillings that differentiate them from each other. In the case of sekihan rice balls, though, it’s the rice itself that makes them special,

Sekihan translates literally to “red rice,” and it gets its name from the rice being steamed together with azuki, the same red beans used in many traditional Japanese desserts. While you wouldn’t mistake sekihan for a dessert in and of itself, it does have a touch of sweetness you won’t find in other rice balls, and the use of sticky mochi rice gives sekihan an interesting texture too, chewier than other rice balls.

Because red is a celebratory color in Japanese culture, sekihan is often eaten on special occasions, especially when marking milestones for kids or families. However, with all three of Japan’s major convenience store chains, 7-Eleven, Family Mart, and Lawson, regularly having sekihan rice balls on their shelves, fans of Japan’s red rice have reason to celebrate every day. Our own Japanese-language reporter Mariko Ohanabatake has a sekihan rice ball as part of her lunch almost every day she commutes into the office, and after months of research/munching, she’s ready to give her impressions on how the three brands differ, and which one she thinks is the best.

So let’s get this sekihan party started!

▼ From left to right: Family Mart, Lawson, and 7-Eleven sekihan rice balls, all of which are sprinkled with black sesame and source their beans from the Tokachi region of Hokkaido, famed for its high-quality azuki

● 7-Eleven: Sekihan Okowa/Rice with Adzuki Beans (170 yen [US$1.15])

There’s not a big difference in price between the three brands, but 7-Eleven’s is the least expensive of the bunch, at 170 yen. As for the “okowa” part of its name, okowa is a blanket term for steamed glutinous rice with other ingredients mixed in, making sekihan a subset of okowa.

The most striking thing about 7-Eleven’s sekihan rice ball is just how firm it is. It’s so chewy that if you’re eating the rice ball cold, it practically has the consistency of mochi, Mariko says, and becomes kind of a hassle to eat. For that reason, she strongly recommends warming the rice ball up first, which softens up the texture and makes it much more pleasing. Even then, though, she can’t help feeling like maybe the grains are pressed too tightly together when 7-Eleven shapes its sekihan rice balls, and these aren’t really suited for scarfing down in a few quick big-sized bites. That might actually be a selling point, though, if you’re the type who likes to really take your time with your food, and Mariko figures it might also make 7-Eleven’s sekihan rice balls a good choice for dieters, since eating slowly is supposed to contribute to a feeling of fullness and help prevent overeating.

● Lawson: Sekihan Okowa/Glutinous Rice with Red Beans (181 yen)

Lawson’s is the most expensive of the bunch, and also the only one that’s triangular. Compared to the 7-Eleven sekihan, Mariko deems the texture much improved. In terms of flavor, Lawson’s sekihan has strong salt notes, and the sweetness also felt more pronounced that with the other two brands, though still not to the extent that you’d think of this as a confectionary.

Overall, it’s pretty much what you’d expect and hope for with sekihan, and Mariko found it consistently enjoyable from the first bite to the last.

● Family Mart: Sekihan/Red Bean Rice (178 yen)

Remember how we said Mariko picks up a sekihan rice ball almost every day for lunch? It’s Family Mart’s version that got her into this habit. The texture is, by her standard, perfect, sitting in that magical balance of firmness and fluffiness that’s optimally enjoyable to chew.

What really makes Family Mart’s sekihan shine, though, is the way it’s seasoned. The sprinkling of salt and black sesame isn’t uniform, meaning that some bites give you a sharper saltiness, others more sophisticated sesame, and still others allow the sweetness of the azuki beans to take center stage.

If eating the Lawson sekihan rice ball is like gazing out the window on a countryside train ride at a beautiful, but unchanging, bucolic scenery, Family Mart’s is more like a road trip where there’s always new terrain and roadside attractions to spark your interest. Mariko loves them so much that if you open the SoraNews24 office fridge, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll see four or five Family Mart sekihan onigiri in there, and even if she doesn’t write her name on them, we all know who they belong to.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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