Making onigiri brings me back evident memories when I spent 1 month in Japan travelling and exploring. I absolutely fell in love with the culture and more importantly the food. My morning routine included walking across my hostel to the 7-11. Purchasing an onigiri with the Lipton Milk Tea drink (iykyk). And then off I went to enjoy my day. This recipe is a super way to create onigiri in the comfort of your own home.
What is Onigiri?
Onigiri is an original Japanese snack. They are rice balls (often triangle shaped) made from seasoned sushi rice, filled with your choice of topping, and then wrapped with nori (seaweed). Onigiris are filled with everything from salmon, tuna, corn, to pickled plum. The combinations are endless.
Couple Tips
- Use fresh warm rice. This is important as it will affect quality of your onigiri plus using fresh and warm rice makes it much easier to work with!
- Wet your fingers prior to working with the rice. It’ll make your life so much easier- trust!
- Invest in an onigiri mold if you can, it’ll make your life much easier and speed up the process. Mine is linked here. If you’re super crafty and have access to a 3D printer, you can actually 3D print it super easily!
- Use a thick kitchen towel to help protect the rice from getting too hard over night. This was a pro tip actually from Just One Cookbook.
Easy Japanese Onigiri (rice balls) おにぎり
Equipment
- Onigiri Mold (optional)
Ingredients
Steamed Sushi Rice
- 2 cups sushi rice washed and drained x3
- 2 1/4 cups water
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp furikake
Onigiri
- steamed rice (cooked)
- 1 tbsp filling (tuna, corn, salmon)
- 6 nori strips (1" x 4")
Tuna Filling
- 1 can tuna 70g and drained
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise Kewpie
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
- 1 tsp gochujang (optional) spicy tuna
Corn Filling
- 1/2 cup corn kernels cooked if frozen
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
Salmon Filling
- 1 can salmon 70g and drained
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise Kewpie
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
- 1 tsp gochujang (optional) spicy salmon
Instructions
Steamed Sushi Rice
- Wash the rice in a colander and drain, repeat 3 times. Transfer the rice to a rice cooker or a pot if you're using a stove. Add in water. If using the stove top: cook at medium heat until it boils, then simmer for 20 minutes. If using a rice cooker: follow the instructions as directed. Once the rice is steamed, fluff with a rice scooper. Add in rice vinegar and furikake. Set aside.
Onigiri Fillings
- While the rice is cooking, prepare your fillings. For each filling, combine all the ingredients stated into a bowl and mix well.
Assembly of Onigiri
- Cut your nori strips into 1" x 4" strips. Set aside.
- Onigiri Mold: Wet your fingers. Scoop enough rice to make it about 1 cm in height in the onigiri mold (around 1/4 cup). Add in 1 tbsp of your choice of filling in the centre. Add in enough rice to fill the borders and top the filling (about 1/4 cup). Gently press together with the top of the onigiri mold. Gently remove the onigiri and smoothen the edges with your fingers. Wrap the onigiri with a nori strip as shown above.
- Bowl method: Wet your fingers, spray your small bowl with some cooking spray. Scoop out a handful of rice (about 1/4 cup). Add in 1 tbsp of filling into the centre. Scoop out more rice (about 1/4 cup) to fill the borders and top the filling. Gently remove the rice from the bowl. Press and gently mold the rice to a triangle shape. Wrap the onigiri strip with nori as shown above.
To Store
- You can individually wrap each onigiri with saran wrap. If you are keeping it in the fridge overnight, wrap a kitchen towel on top to help prevent the rice from hardening. Prior to consuming, remove from the fridge for ~30 minutes to allow the rice to soften prior to consuming.
Let me know how you enjoy this recipe in the comments below! Stay tuned for more recipes!
xx, CWC
