Onigiri is rice shaped with your hands. It can
be really simple, a ball of rice. The version I've seen
most often is an equilateral triangle with
a strip of nori on one flat end. They can have fillings
in the center, or have other stuff mixed in with the
How you make onigiri: cook some sticky
rice. Let it cool to the point that it won't burn
your hands, but it's still warm. Wet your hands, then
grab some rice and form it into a shape with your hands.
Traditional shapes include triangles and flattened spheres,
but anything you like is fair. If you're making larger
onigiri or adding fillings, you can make the process
easier by covering one hand with plastic wrap, dishing
the rice and filling onto that, then wrapping the plastic
around the rice and shaping the onigiri inside the plastic
wrap. You can also buy rice
presses that will shape it for you. If you like nori, then
wrap the rice ball with a strip or encase it, or
make pretty patterns on the surface with bits of nori.
Some people get fancy and make little nori faces
or designs on their onigiri. I usually don't bother
with such frivolity, but I have been known to make rice
ball eyeballs by sticking nori pupils on top. (I imagine
this would be a hit for kids' lunches right around Halloween.)
Nori can get chewy if it's left on the rice ball
for any length of time. Some people, me included, like
it that way. If you don't, you can store the nori
separately from the rice and assemble it at lunchtime.
Fillings - You can
either make a hole in the center and stuff filling in,
then cover it again before you squeeze the onigiri into its
final shape, or mix something in with the rice
so it'll be all throughout the onigiri. If you put in
filling, squeeze the rice ball well around it and possibly
wrap the whole thing in nori, or it might fall apart
when you eat it.
Fillings/mixes I've used:
- Smoked salmon - as a center filling.
- Furikake - mix it into the rice or sprinkle
it on after the ball is formed.
- Umeboshi - either in the center or torn up and
mixed into the rice. I prefer the latter.
- Leftover filling meat from steamed
buns - either as a filling or mixed in.
- Tuna & mayonnaise. Drain some canned tuna
well, mix mayo liberally in, and add other spices like
wasabi if you like.
- Anko - sweet red bean paste for a more desserty
onigiri. (Doesn't go well with nori!)
- Naturally Fresh ginger salad dressing. Delicious
when mixed in with rice!
Onigiri - You can grill onigiri to give it a
crispy, nonsticky crust. It sounds weird, but it's actually
pretty appealing. First, make your onigiri. It should
have flat sides, as opposed to being a round ball, for
ease of grilling. Lightly grease a frying pan, heat
it to medium, then set the onigiri down on it and let
it grill for a few minutes, until the rice on the bottom
is very lightly browned. Turn it over and brown the
other side in the same way. If your onigiri have more
sides than this - wide flat edges on a triangular onigiri,
for example - you can grill those. (I don't usually
bother.) Now turn the heat down to low, brush the top
with soy sauce, and turn it over to fry the sauce-y
side. Brush the other side with soy sauce and, after
a few minutes, turn the onigiri over to grill the second
soy side for another few minutes. Again, if you want
to grill the edges, go ahead. What you will end up with
is an onigiri with a flat, crunchy, soy-infused crust
that won't fall apart or stick to your fingers. Nori,
seen in the photo, is optional.
You can make yaki onigiri with fried
rice too. It's best to use
fried rice in which the non-rice elements are cut into
very little bits, otherwise they will compromise the
onigiri's structural integrity and may cause it to fall
apart in the pan. Aside from that, the process is just
the same as making regular yaki onigiri, except you
need to heat the rice up so it'll stick together, and
you skip the soy sauce, as fried rice is already seasoned.