Onigiri Recipes

VEGAN ONIGIRI - JAPANESE STUFFED RICE BALLS

Steps:

• Wash rice in a strainer. Add rice and 1 cup of water to a pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low. Cover pot and simmer rice for about 15 minutes, or until the water is fully absorbed. Let rice cool a bit.
• Meanwhile prepare your fillings. Using a food processor blend together peanut butter, bell pepper, ginger and seasoning, then add to a bowl. Mix together miso and walnut; cilantro and scallion; edamame and sesame seeds; avocado, lime juice and zest (all in separate bowls).
• Divide rice between the bowls and mix together with the fillings (keeping them still separate). Wet your hands, and scoop out a portion of rice, then gently shape rice into a ball or triangle.
• Wrap Onigiri with a strip of nori or avocado slices, or roll them over in a plate of toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!

ONIGIRI (RICE BALLS)

Steps:

• Sprinkle the salmon fillet with salt and let stand for 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, wash the rice thoroughly in cold water 30 to 60 minutes before cooking and let drain in colander. Place rice and water in a heavy, tightly covered saucepan over medium-high heat. When water just begins to boil, turn the heat to high and let it come to a vigorous boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice, about 12 to 13 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice stand, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes. Using a flat wooden spoon or rice paddle, fluff the rice with a cutting motion. Stretch a towel under the lid and cover tightly to keep warm until ready to use.
• Toast the nori sheets over a high gas flame, and cut crosswise into 1-inch wide strips, or use pre-toasted nori.
• Mix the bonito flakes with the soy sauce. Rinse the salt off the salmon, pat dry, and grill for 3 to 5 minutes. Use a fork to break the salmon into small pieces.
• Wet your hands with salted water to keep the rice from sticking to your hands. Cup one hand and place a handful of rice, about 1/2 cup, in your hand. Make an indentation in the rice and tuck in one of the fillings: a teaspoon of soaked bonito flakes, a few flakes of salmon, or a few pieces of pickled plum. Close the rice over the filling and mold it into a triangular shape. Mold the rice firmly, pressing just hard enough to hold it together. Set the rice triangle down on one of its sides and cover the top peak with a strip of nori, shiny side out, like a roof. You can also make cylindrical shapes and wrap the nori around the middle. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the rice shapes. These are great lunch treats.

BASIC ONIGIRI

Steps:

• Let rice cool to where you aren't burning your hands when you handle it.
• Wash hands!
• Rinse hands and leave wet, and rub palms with salt.
• Take a handful of rice and ball with hands, using palm of left hand to form the base, and the palm and fingers of your right hand to form the two sides of a triangle.
• Toss and rotate so that the side that was on your left palm is now rotated to one of the sides on your right hand.
• Repeat until you have a nice triangle shape.
• Repeat starting with rinsing hands and salting hands.
• Wet hands do not stick to rice, which makes shaping the rice much easier.
• The salt adds flavor and helps to sterilize any bacteria.
• Consistency is key with the shapes and size, this will come with practice!
• Now that you have a basic rice ball, you can flavor with any of the optional ingredients or a mix: Sushi Nori- Simply wrap a piece of sushi nori around the rice ball.
• This is a very basic rice ball, and is seen in many boxed lunches.
• Classic!
• Chinese 5 Spice- I will often add a dash of 5 spice to the salt I'm using to add aroma and taste.
• Don't over do it, 5 spice becomes bitter if used excessively!
• Toasted Sesame Seeds- Sprinkle on top for aroma and taste.
• Can also use prepackaged Japanese rice dressing, sold in glass bottles to be shaken over rice for flavor.
• Ume-boshi or cooked fish- In one of the two flat sides of the onigiri, press a divot into it with a finger, and fill with the desired stuffing.
• Leave open or cover with a strip of sushi nori- not the ume boshi though!
• You don't want to choke on the seed if you didn't know it was there!

EASY ONIGIRI - JAPANESE RICE BALLS

Steps:

• Pop your cooked sushi rice into a large mixing bowl. Add the furikake rice seasoning and mix through evenly. Note: if you feel like hiding something tasty inside instead, you can skip this step.
• Separate the rice into equal portions, approximately one large handful for each onigiri.
• Wet your hands with water and rub together with a pinch or two of salt. This stops the rice sticking to your hands and helps keep it fresher for longer.
• Pick up one handful/portion of rice. If you are hiding some fillings inside, here is where you make an indent, place the ingredients inside and fold the rice over, then lightly press into a ball.
• Using mainly your fingertips while resting the rice on your palm, start to press and squeeze the rice into a triangular shape, rotating as you go so it's even. According to our Japanese friends, you want to end up with one face of the onigiri having a small indentation from your fingers.
• Place a slice of nori on the bottom of the onigiri, rough side in towards the rice. Then fold it up towards to the middle of the onigiri.
• Repeat for the remaining rice portions.

ONIGIRI (JAPANESE RICE BALLS)

Steps:

• Gather all the ingredients.

ONIGIRI AKA JAPANESE RICE BALLS OR RICE TRIANGLES

Steps:

• Rinse the rice in cold water at least 5 times and drain well in a fine-mesh sieve. If using a rice cooker, simply add the rice and cold water to the rice cooker and cook according to the cooker's instructions. To cook the rice in a pot on the stovetop, place the rice in a pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a very low simmer, cover the pot, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until all of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
• If using the sushi rice seasoning, while the rice is cooking, combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring, just until the sugar is dissolved. When the rice is finished cooking, stir the vinegar mixture into it until well combined.
• Transfer the rice from the rice cooker or cooking pot to a large bowl and let cool until it is cool enough to handle.
• Shape your onigiri while the rice is still warm. If using a mold, wet the inside of the mold and, using wet hands, fill it about halfway with rice. Make an indentation in the middle of the rice with your thumb and add your filling, about a tablespoon or so. Add more rice on top to fill the mold. Place the top half of the mold on top and press down gently. Remove the top of the mold and invert the bottom half over a plate. Press down on the button in the middle to help the onigiri slide out. Wet the inside of the mold again and repeat the process until you have used up all of your rice and filling or have made the desired number of onigiri.
• If shaping the onigiri by hand, use wet hands and shape into a ball, make an indentation in the middle, fill with about 1 tablespoon of filling, and close up the hole with a bit more rice. Leave it in a ball shape, or use your hands to form it into a triangular shape, if desired.
• If using individually-wrapped onigiri wrappers, leave the plastic wrap on them and wrap them around your rice balls. If using regular nori sheets cut into strips, wrap in plastic wrap. Onigiri can be stored at room temperature for several hours. If you wish to store them longer than that, store in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
• To serve, remove the plastic wrap from the nori wrapper, if necessary, and wrap the onigiri in the nori or simply remove the plastic wrap and serve at room temperature.

ONIGIRI - JAPANESE RICE BALLS (おにぎり)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, add dried bonito flakes and soy sauce. Stir until the bonito flakes absorb all the soy sauce. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 400ºF.
• Sprinkle salt on both sides of the salmon filet and transfer to a cooking tray covered with parchment paper.
• Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.
• Flake the cooked salmon with chopsticks or a fork and set aside.
• In a small pan over medium heat, add mushrooms, soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Cook until the mushrooms have absorbed the liquid (about 1-2 minutes).
• Turn the heat off and transfer to a bowl. Let cool to room temperature and mix in scallions. Set aside.
• Grab a sheet of nori and cut it into thirds. Set aside.
• Place a small bowl of water in your prep area. Wet your hands with water. This is to prevent the rice from sticking to your hands.
• Scoop between 1/3 to 1/2 cup of rice into the palm of your wet hand.
• Create a small indentation in the center of the rice by pressing with your thumb.
• Add about 1/2 tablespoon of filling to the center indentation and press gently.
• Shape the rice between your palms into round or triangular shapes by gently pressing. Don't press too hard (but hard enough that the rice can hold a shape).
• Sprinkle a little kosher salt around the exterior of the onigiri.
• Grab a piece of nori and wrap it around the onigiri, like you'd wrap yourself in a blanket.
• If making multiple flavors, top each onigiri with a little filling to indicate the flavor.
• Set it on a plate and repeat the same steps until all the rice is used. Serve.
• Sprinkle desired amount of furikake seasoning on the cooked rice and mix well. Shape rice into triangles or balls and serve.

ONIGIRI - JAPANESE RICE BALLS

Steps:

• Wash the rice in a mesh strainer until the water runs clear. Combine washed rice and 4 1/2 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; cover. Simmer rice until the water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Let rice rest, for 15 minutes to allow the rice to continue to steam and become tender. Allow cooked rice to cool.
• Combine 1 cup water with the salt in a small bowl. Use this water to dampen hands before handling the rice. Divide the cooked rice into 8 equal portions. Use one portion of rice for each onigiri.
• Divide one portion of rice in two. Create a dimple in the rice and fill with a heaping teaspoon of bonito flakes. Cover with the remaining portion of rice and press lightly to enclose filling inside rice ball. Gently press the rice to shape into a triangle. Wrap shaped onigiri with a strip of nori. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat to make a total of 8 onigiri.

ONIGIRI

Steps:

• Dissolve salt in a cup of water.
• Wet your hands with salted water, then take a 1/4 cup (50g) of rice and shape it into a thick triangle.
• Make a small indent in the center of the triangle with your finger and put inside a teaspoon of salmon and seal it by tapping the rice with your wet hands.
• Now, make three more onigiris this way.
• Dry your hands and wrap each onigiri with nori, so that one point of the triangle is peeking out.
• Eat immediately or store for later.