The Best Game Day Food You've Never Tried

One of the greatest memories I have stored deep in my heart is the image of my grandmother, now passed, with her bowl of rice, salt shaker, and a bowl of water.

She would dip her hands in the water and shake some salt on them. Rubbing them together she would scoop out a handful of rice and roll and pat into a perfect oval-shaped ball. Then picking up a precut strip of nori, she wrapped it up and set it gently on the tray before repeating the process.

No matter how many she made, it was never enough for our constantly growing family.

As we all gathered together at the grandparents' house for the big game, the greatest anticipation was waiting for Grandma to remove the saran wrap over the plate of riceballs.

If you dare to be late, not only would you miss the kickoff, you were more than likely not going to get very many riceballs either.

There were three different ways that my grandmother made her riceballs, all perfect for eating with your fingers as all game day foods should be!

The first was regular riceballs. These were rolled, slightly football-shaped, and easy to eat dozens at a time.

Next was the Onigiri. These are triangled shaped. They always had at least one strip of nori at the bottom for your fingers to hold while you ate. Japanese rice is called sticky rice for a reason, and without that nori, you would have rice stuck all over your fingers.

The way my grandmother made it was with red Umeboshi tucked into its center. These are sour pickled plums. If you got a pit in the middle, you were the winner.

Winner of what?

Who knows! But it was always exciting to announce you were the winner!

These onigiris can also be made with rice mixed with dried season fish seasoning called Fudikaki or even can be filled with a tuna salad or salmon salad.

The third type of riceballs we enjoyed was called Inarizushi. These are the best in my opinion.

My grandmother would take her ready-made football-shaped rice balls and tuck them in little brown bags made from tofu soaked in soy sauce. (Japanese actually call it sho-u) I loved it when my grandmother mixed in some pickled red ginger with the rice before tucking it into its little bag.

All of these types of rice balls are perfect for game day. They are easy to grab, all delicious to eat, and a perfect way to fill up the belly of a large crowd of party guests.

Luckily, nowadays you don't need a ninty-year-old grandmother with almost a century's practice rolling riceballs into the perfect shape. They make molds for it now!

All you need is some short-grain sticky rice, salt, and a mold and you too can have enough riceballs to satisfy a crowd.

Of course with molds, you don't have to stick to the boring old shapes of triangles and ovals. My personal favorite is panda riceballs.

With these molds, anyone can make super cute riceballs that would bring a smile to anyone's face, even if their team is losing!

Now, something very important to remember, if you choose to pick this amazing game day food for the next big game, offer two bowls of soy sauce for dipping. One that is just soy sauce and one that is mixed with wasabi paste.

Just whatever you do, don't forget to label them!

You never know when a little girl's hand will sneak under the saran wrap when Grandma isn't looking to sneak a riceball and dips in the wrong sauce! It doesn't make for a happy experience.