Onigiri – Rice Balls
O-nigiri (おにぎり) or rice ball, is made from white rice formed into triangular or round shapes and often wrapped in nori (dried seaweed). Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled plums (umeboshi), katsuobushi(bonito flakes), kombu(kelp), salted salmon, or any other salty or sour ingredient as a natural preservative.
Like sandwiches in the US, onigiri is considered as a quick snack or part of meal. My fond memories of childhood often come with onigiri. Although lunch was provided at school till Junior high school, my mom used to make a lunch box(obento-お弁当) for weekend sports activities or field trips, and I often found onigiri in it. When I ran around playing basketball all morning, and finally lunch time comes, then open my lunch box and eat the rice balls. There was nothing better than eating onigiri. It’s not luxurious food, but onigiri is still one of my favorite Japanese food.
It’s so simple to make it and you can take it to your work, picnic or hiking.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 1 cup uncooked Japanese short grain rice
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 sheet sheet nori seaweed
- 1 pickled plums (umeboshi)
- salt
- 2 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- black pepper
Ingredients
For Cooked Rice
For Onigiri
For Tuna Mayo
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- Put the rice in a large bowl and wash the rice gently and discard the water. Repeat this process 3-4 times. Drain and rinse until the water is almost clear.
- Transfer the rice into a fine mesh sieve and drain completely and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
- Put rice in a rice cooker or pot. Add the water. Let the rice soak for about 15 minutes. The length of time depends on the freshness of the rice. The older the rice, the longer it needs to soak. (Then, if you're using a rice cooker, just turn on the switch)
- (This step is for using a pot)Cover the lid and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Once water is boiling, turn the heat to the low setting and continue to cook covered for about 15 minutes.
- Remove the pot (with the lid on) from the heat and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Fluff the rice with a scooper.
- Drain canned tuna and put it in a bowl. Add 2 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise and salt. Mix it well.
- Remove the seed from pickled plums. If it's a big one, break it up into small pieces.
- Make sure that cooked rice is cool enough handle with your hand. Do not burn your palm.
- Wet your both of your hands with water so that the rice is not going to stick to your hands. With about 1/4 tsp of salt sprinkled on your hands, put about 1/3 cup of cooked rice on your left hand (if you're right handed. If you're left handed, probably you want to put rice on you right hand). Create a small indentation in the center of the rice. Put tuna mayo or pickled plum in the indentation. Then mold the rice into whatever the shape you like.
- Wrap the onigiri with nori (dried seaweed)
- Place a small amount of the filling on top of the onigiri so that we can tell what's inside.
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