Onigiri

Ingredients

Rice

• 500 gJapanese short-grain rice
• 600 mlwater

For shaping

• a bowl of water
• 1 tbspfine salt

Fillings

• 1salted salmon fillet, grilled and flaked
• 4umeboshi, pitted
• tinned tuna mixed with Japanese mayonnaise
• tarako or mentaiko, cod roe
• kombu tsukudani

To wrap

• 4 sheetsnori, halved

Optional

• furikake
• toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Wash the rice in several changes of water, swirling with your hand, until the water runs almost clear.
2. Wash it properly, four or five changes. Surface starch makes the rice gummy and onigiri should be firm and separate-grained inside. Soak the washed rice for 30 minutes, then drain it for 15 minutes.
3. Cook it in a rice cooker, or in a heavy pot: bring to a boil, cover, cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes, then rest off the heat for 10 minutes. Do not lift the lid during cooking or resting, because the steam is doing the work.
4. Shape the onigiri while the rice is still quite warm, close to hot. Warm rice holds together and cold rice will not bind at all. Wet your hands thoroughly in the bowl of water, then rub a pinch of salt across both palms.
5. Take about a handful of rice, make a hollow in it with your thumb, and put a small amount of filling in. Use less filling than you think.
6. Press firmly enough that it holds and no more. Compacted onigiri turns into a dense brick, and it should stay light enough that the grains separate as you bite it. Wrap a half sheet of nori around the base of each triangle.
7. Add the nori at the last moment before eating if you want it crisp, or wrap ahead if you prefer it soft. This is exactly what the 1978 convenience-store wrapper solved: it keeps the nori sealed away from the rice until you open it, so it stays crisp.

Technique

• Umeboshi and salted salmon were originally chosen as preservatives as much as flavours.
• Yaki onigiri is grilled with soy sauce until the outside crisps.
• A plastic onigiri mould makes uniform triangles and is not cheating.

Substitutions

• Any short-grain sushi rice.
• Tinned tuna with mayonnaise, which is the most popular modern filling.

Variations

• Yaki onigiri, grilled and brushed with soy.
• Onigirazu, a flat rice sandwich version.
• Wrapped in shiso leaf or pickled greens instead of nori.

History

A hand-formed ball or triangle of rice, often wrapped in a strip of nori seaweed and filled with ingredients including pickled plum, salted salmon or tuna mayonnaise, documented across Japan for well over a thousand years, with early versions dating back to ancient Japan when compressed rice balls served as a practical, portable food for travelers, soldiers and laborers well before refrigeration or modern food packaging existed. Its portable, hand-held format, requiring no utensils and holding up well without refrigeration for several hours, reflects onigiri’s long-standing practical role in Japanese daily life, and the dish remains ubiquitous today, sold in enormous variety at convenience stores across the entire country. Onigiri remains one of the most essential and universally recognized foods in Japanese daily life.

Frequently asked questions

What is Onigiri?

Onigiri is a snack from Japan: nori-wrapped rice balls filled with salmon, umeboshi or tuna-mayo. A hand-formed ball or triangle of rice, often wrapped in a strip of nori seaweed and filled with ingredients including pickled plum, salted salmon or tuna mayonnaise, documented across Japan for well over a thousand years, with early versions dating back to ancient Japan when compressed rice balls served as a practical, portable food for travelers, soldiers and laborers well before refrigeration or modern food packaging existed. Its portable, hand-held format, requiring no utensils and holding up well without refrigeration for several hours, reflects onigiri’s long-standing practical role in Japanese daily life, and the dish remains ubiquitous today, sold in enormous variety at convenience stores across the entire country. Onigiri remains one of the most essential and universally recognized foods in Japanese daily life.

How long does Onigiri take to make?

Onigiri takes 25 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 rice balls. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Onigiri?

Yes, within limits. Any short-grain sushi rice. Tinned tuna with mayonnaise, which is the most popular modern filling.

What is the most important thing to get right in Onigiri?

Cook it in a rice cooker, or in a heavy pot: bring to a boil, cover, cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes, then rest off the heat for 10 minutes. Do not lift the lid during cooking or resting, because the steam is doing the work.