Wannabe Writer's Ink

Wannabe writer with hobby of art. Stay and you'll glimpse a small piece of my heart.

Japanese Rice Balls "Onigiri"

One of the traditional staple on-the-go foods in Japan, Onigiri is one of several rice-based dishes Sergey and I started incorporating on a regular basis. It took us a while to get it right and while we might experiment with different fillings or tweak how seasoning is added in the future, we think we're on the right track.

Nutrition: 2260 calories

Ingredients:

  • 2 ½ cups rice
  • 2 ¾ cups water
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • ½ lb your choice of protein (catfish, salmon, bonito flakes, tuna, sardines)
  • Seaweed “Nori” sheets
  • (Optional) seasoning of choice for the protein or rice
  • (Optional) sesame seeds for topping

Directions:

  1. Wash and rinse the rice a few times.
  2. Soak rice in water for 30 minutes.
  3. Drain for 15 minutes.
  4. Add rice, 2 ¾ cup of water, and salt to a pot. Stir vigorously. Cover pot with lid and bring to a boil over maximum heat. Preheat a second burner on low heat.
  5. After water is boiling, transfer pot to second burner and cook covered for 12-13 minutes on low heat. Try to keep the steam in.
  6. Take pot off the stove and let sit for 10 minutes while it steams.
  7. Rub seasoning of choice onto the protein. Pan-fry the protein (if it’s raw) in butter. Remove and let it cool. Aggressively flake it into little pieces.
  8. Open the rice pot and transfer rice to bowl. Spread it out so it cools quickly and let it sit for 3 minutes. Fold the rice together and repeat twice more so it doesn’t burn your hands.
  9. Cut the nori sheets into thirds so you have several long strips.
  10. Dip hands in water until they are thoroughly wet. Repeat between every rice ball.
  11. Fill your palm with rice. Make a divot in the rice and put your protein there. Wrap the rice around it like a ball.
  12. Shape the rice ball between your hands into a thick, rounded triangle.
  13. Put the rice ball in the middle of the nori strip, one flat side matching the middle edge, and wrap the nori around and down, bending the last bits under the bottom.
  14. Set the rice ball aside and repeat steps 10-13 until you have no more rice.
  15. (optional) Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Adapted from Justonecookbook

When picking Japanese rice, the koshihikari variety is the most popular in Japan.