Like most people stuck at home at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Nathan Bounphisai was bored. Bounphisai is a graphic designer obsessed with onigiri, the protein-filled rice balls that are a staple food in Japan.
Before COVID, Bounphisai was a frequent traveler who envied the onigiri stores he visited in cities like New York and Los Angeles. “You have so many more options, and after seeing that diversity, I wondered why Dallas didn’t have any,” he says. “So one day I decided to try it out.”
As he prepared the menu and format for his pop-ups, Bounphisai looked at other popular pop-ups from Dallas, like Japan’s Sando favorite, Sandoitchi, which has since expanded to cities across the country and won fans of celebrities like Chrissy Teigen . He chose a name – “inu”, a reference to the Shiba Inu dog breed, and “san”, a Japanese badge of honor, came together to make Inusan, which roughly translates to “Mr. Dog “- inspired by a character that Bounphisai drew years ago and who would eventually become Inusan Onigiri’s mascot.
When the idea for Inusan Onigiri came up, Bounphisai had no formal experience in restaurant kitchens. He had worked in Boba tea shops in the past but quickly realized that making onigiri was more complicated than he had imagined. He hired a cook friend, whose family is from Okinawa, to perfect the most important part of the onigiri: the rice. “It’s one of those things that are so simple and so complex at the same time,” he says. “Different types of rice make a big difference. We tried so many types of rice and I will never forget when my friends finally tried a good onigiri that didn’t fall apart. ”
Once he figured out how to make the perfect onigiri rice, Bounphisai began experimenting with flavor combinations to cram into. First came classics like egg salad and tuna with mayo or umeboshi (pickled plum), then more inventive creations like a recent collaboration with the pop-up crack brisket for smoked meat, which combined burnt pork belly ends with crispy pickled cucumbers. Bounphisai has to be largely strategic when it comes to fillings for his onigiri. “It’s supposed to be eaten at any time of the day, so all the ingredients in it have to be durable,” he says. “That’s why you see so many pickled ingredients. They have antibacterial properties and preserve the food. There is a science behind it. ”
Now, after more than a year in the lead of Inusan Onigiri, Bounphisai is selling more than 300 onigiri at each of its pop-up events. Most of these sales come from the pop-up website, which opens for ordering about a week before each event that takes place in places like the popular Boba shop, Feng Cha, in Addison. He starts preparing the fillings and shaping the onigiri at 7 a.m. on the morning of each event to make sure the onigiri are as fresh as possible.
Inusan’s Yuzu Sando filled with sweet orange and kiwi Inusan Onigiri [Official Photo]
Recently, Bounphisai added sweet Japanese sandos made with fresh fruit and whipped cream with flavors like yuzu, matcha and ube to its menu. These have proven particularly popular, even if they pose a challenge to him. “It sounds easy to just cut the crusts off and package them, but it’s a very tedious process,” he says. “But we’re really trying to get the 7-Eleven aesthetic in Japan, and the wrapper is one of that. In a way, it feels like spending a lot of time wrapping Christmas presents and giving it to someone and he just tears off all the paper. ”
When asked if he plans to bring his own onigiri shop to Dallas, the one he loves in New York and California, Bounphisai says he’s holding back that idea. “Right now, I’m very comfortable with the pop-ups,” he says. “I’m still exploring my creativity and expanding the menu. That’s the thing about pop-ups that is really good – we can just keep testing and testing and see what works. If I’m completely satisfied with the full menu, maybe we’ll see how we can take it to the next level. ”
Insuan Onigiri will hold its next pop-up on October 2nd at Feng Cha in Lower Greenville. Please refer to the pop-up’s website for more information.
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