Ahn Sung-hoon shares golden ratio recipes for various rice balls

Singer Ahn Sung-hoon demonstrated his professional rice ball techniques on KBS WORLD TV, revealing a specific ratio of low-sugar mayonnaise and sugar for tuna mayo and flying fish roe fillings. Drawing on business experience of selling up to 200 rice balls a day, he also shared tips for preparing anchovy, beef, and kimchi bacon varieties.

Singer Ahn Sung-hoon revealed his secrets for making triangular rice balls with hand movements comparable to a "rice ball expert." In an episode of Fun-Staurant reported by KBS WORLD TV, Ahn demonstrated the recipes and processes for three different types of rice balls he made himself.

"The rice itself must be delicious"... The first rice ball with anchovy and beef

Ahn Sung-hoon emphasized that the foundation of a rice ball is the seasoning of the rice. To prevent the rice from becoming gummy while mixing, he demonstrated a technique of "cutting" the rice while adding two tablespoons of sesame oil, one tablespoon of salt, one tablespoon of sugar, and three tablespoons of sesame salt. Once the rice was prepared, he used a commercially available triangular rice ball mold.

The first menu item was a rice ball using anchovy and beef. After filling the mold with rice, Ahn hollowed out the center to create a groove. He lined that space with perilla leaves and generously filled it with beef and anchovy ingredients. A key part of the process was pressing down firmly with his body weight from front to back to ensure the rice did not fall apart. The finished rice ball featured a harmony between the crunchy texture of the anchovy and garlic scapes. The cast members tasting it on-site expressed satisfaction with the combination of the crunchy anchovy and the texture of the garlic scapes.

A harmony of low-sugar mayonnaise and sugar: Tuna mayo, flying fish roe, and kimchi bacon trio

The following menus were the highly popular tuna mayo, flying fish roe, and kimchi bacon rice balls. To make the tuna mayo, Ahn finely minced onion and mixed it with tuna, mashing it with his fist to remove the oil. He revealed his "professional ratio" for balancing flavor while controlling sugar, stating, "Four tablespoons of low-sugar mayonnaise, 1.5 tablespoons of regular sugar, and two pinches of salt is the golden ratio." He explained that he mixes in regular sugar to balance the taste, noting that removing too much sugar could lead to hypoglycemia.

In the case of the flying fish roe rice ball, the key was to remove as much moisture from the roe as possible. Ahn made a sauce by mixing two tablespoons of low-sugar mayonnaise and 1.5 tablespoons of sugar with the flying fish roe. He explained, "If you make this sauce and let it age for about a day, the grains grow larger and become thicker, deepening the flavor." The rice ball, built by layering the tuna mayo sauce and the flying fish roe sauce, took on a form like a "work of art."

The final menu introduced was the kimchi bacon rice ball, made by combining minced garlic, sesame oil, sugar, and bacon. After removing the moisture from the kimchi, he placed it with the rice, composing it to cater to tastes that prefer a Korean food base. Ahn added practical know-how, noting that when making rice balls in large quantities, the seaweed should be attached as late as possible. He demonstrated skilled hand movements based on his real-world business experience, where he sometimes sells as many as 200 rice balls a day.

Source: KBS WORLD TV (YouTube)