7-Eleven’s Chinese New Year-Themed Onigiri Taste Test: Nice Or Not?

Besides bringing us the latest drinks from around the world (hello, Coca-Cola Strawberry), 7-Eleven is also the purveyor of fun snacks. In the spirit of Chinese New Year, the convenience store chain launched three limited-edition versions of their Japanese rice balls: the Fortune XO Fried Rice Onigiri, Abundance Wasabi Tako Onigiri and Prosperous Grilled Mentaiko Salmon Onigiri. They're available till February 29 at $2.50 for one or $4.50 for two.

The only truly Chinese New Year themed flavour among the trio, in our opinion. This is made with Japanese short grain rice that’s been fried with “traditional homemade XO sauce”. The first thing that caught our eye were the two whole pieces of prawns embedded in the centre. The rice ball is also mixed with chunks of dried scallops, salted fish, spring onions, red onions, asparagus, and carrots. The umami seafood flavour of the XO sauce was quick to hit our taste buds along with a slight spiciness and sweetness. The rice was too soft, but the prawn fresher and firmer than we expected. We don't mind eating this on a simple late night snack run.

We’re not sure how this very Japanese-sounding onigri is in any way CNY-themed. Adding a ‘prosperous’ in front of its name does not make it Chinese, ha. Anyhow, while 7-Eleven has a triangular Salmon Tartar Onigiri in their regular range, this CNY edition is painted with soy sauce and grilled. It also includes mentaiko (spicy cod roe) for an extra layer of flavour. This has a pretty good ratio of salmon to rice, with a charred texture and suggestion of smokiness in some of its grains. The fish was a bit dry but thankfully, tasted fairly fresh. We would’ve preferred more of the briny mentaiko mayo sauce, though.

This is the first snack from 7-Eleven that uses octopus. The octopus in the centre of the chopped carrot and seaweed-speckled rice ball is liberally coated with wasabi mayonnaise and looked scarily slimy at first. The punchy wasabi kinda overwhelmed most of the flavours of the chewy and surprisingly fresh octopus.

The lightly spicy Fortune XO Fried Rice Onigiri is quite tasty and snack-able for $2.50. While the Prosperous Grilled Mentaiko Salmon Onigiri and Abundance Wasabi aren't bad, they aren't great either.

Available till Feb 29 or while stocks last at selected 7-Eleven outlets. https://www.7-eleven.com.sg/