Here at Tiger, we are lovers of the quintessential Japanese snack – onigiri. We love good rice and just like with sushi, a good rice ball starts with well cooked short grain rice. If you happen to live in New York City or planning a trip there soon, there is one spot you must not miss if you love rice balls as much as we do. Hanamizuki Cafe is a quaint Japanese coffee shop located on 29th street serving an array of rice balls, miso soups and sweets. We instantly fell in love with the place from the moment we looked at the menu – Hawaiian style spam musubi, classic Japanese flavors such as okaka (bonito flakes with soy sauce) and ume (pickled plum), original flavor combinations such as curry and egg, cha-shu pork, and sukiyaki, and healthy vegetarian options like sweet potato and mixed mushrooms. What stood out was the combination of white and brown rice used to create the rice balls, something quite unique and absolutely delicious! In fact, we liked the rice balls so much that we gifted them with one of our commercial rice cookers, the Tiger JNO-A36U model.

The Tiger JNO-A36U is the perfect commercial rice cooker and warmer for any sized restaurant.

It has a capacity of 20 cups dry rice (40 cups cooked) and its stainless steel body makes it durable even against the roughest restaurant conditions. 

The attached moisture collector is a convenient way to remove condensation from the rice, keeping it evenly fluffy.

Cooking rice with it is very simple – add rice and then water up to the indicated water mark in the inner pot, place the inner pot in the rice cooker and press the lever into Cooking mode. After the rice finishes cooking, it will automatically switch to the keep warm mode for the rice to be left warm up to 12 hours for convenient cooking.

After a few weeks of using our rice cookers we received a thank you note from Jumi, the owner of the shop, saying that the quality of the rice had been better than ever. We explained to her that the exclusive silicon mat included with the unit prevents the rice from burning on the bottom and helps distribute heat evenly. Cleaning is a breeze and the flavor of the rice remains pure. Needless to say we were very happy to know that our rice cooker was getting plenty of use! The next time we visited Hanamizuki cafe, Jumi greeted us with hot coffee, onigiri and matcha cookies and talked about plans to expand her dessert menu. We sat for a couple of hours like old friends catching up on each other’s lives, excited about the future. The relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff make it an oasis of tranquility in an urban jungle. So next time you find yourself feeling peckish in midtown Manhattan, stop by Hanamizuki Cafe and grab yourself a couple of rice balls. We promise you will be glad you did! 🍙