Peko-Peko’s onigiri are made each day, Monday through Friday, and then delivered to Umami Mart’s konbini, or convenience store, in the back of its gift shop (815 Broadway) in Uptown, by noon.

Onigiri are a traditional Japanese snack—a handful of rice encases a savory filling, with a seaweed wrapping for easy transport. They’re common, at least in Japan, where every convenience store sells them. But onigiri made from almost exclusively local ingredients? That’s what makes Oakland catering business Peko-Peko’s onigiri unique.

Many of Peko-Peko’s ingredients come from local farms. But for dry ingredients like kombu (edible kelp) and mirin (sweet rice wine), Peko-Peko owner Sylvan Brackett turns to Japan. “There aren’t good sources in the U.S. for these ingredients,” says Brackett, whose food is influenced by childhood summers in Japan and many years working at Chez Panisse as Alice Waters’ assistant and later as creative director.

Bite into one of Peko-Peko’s onigiri, and the nori wrap snaps and crackles. The nori comes from the Ariake coast Kyushu’s Kumamoto Prefecture, an area of Japan known for its nori.

The rice inside holds together without being too dense or gluey, a result of blending a shorter-grained rice—Tamaki Gold, a brand popular in Japan—with longer-grained Kokuho Rose, a Koda Farms varietal that Brackett, a Japanese-American, grew up with in California.

At the center of each onigiri might be a generous portion of Riverdog Farm chicken kara-age (battered and fried), perhaps, or homemade kimchi using organic vegetables, dried squid, and shrimp. Another option is kombu from Hokkaido, dressed in soy and mirin.

The umeboshi, or pickled plums, was the filling most difficult to find locally. Organically raised ume plums are a rarity in California, and Brackett had to search deeply, before finding an orchard in Winters, Calif. Knocking on doors surrounding the orchard, he eventually tracked down the owner, who lives in Hawaii.

Peko-Peko uses a common, dollar-store mold to create the typical triangle shape of onigiri. “It’s important to make the rice shiny and smooth,” says Peko-Peko’s Tomoko Tokumaru, as she makes rice balls for the day, “because it keeps the rice and filling from decaying.” The sheet of nori, still wrapped in plastic, is then folded around the rice. The plastic protects the seaweed from being moistened by the rice, and helps keep it fresh.  — Cynthia Salaysay

Peko-Peko Catering, 415-710-3926, www.eatpekopeko.com.

This article appears in the November 2013 issue of Alameda Magazine
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