I bought a rice ball - it looked such a lovely thing, shiny with little holes in patterns all over it, and a clip to hold the two halves together. But I find I haven't got a big enough saucepan to put it in, so I've never used it. But it has a little chain and a hook, so I don't have to find a surface to put it down. It hangs up and I enjoy looking at it (and if I did use it it probably wouldn't be so shiny afterwards).