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Onigiri for Beginners初心者向けおにぎり
Onigiri for Beginners 初心者向けおにぎり
Onigiri, Japanese rice balls, are now very popular. They are perfect for lunch on the go, a snack, or a picnic. But making them at home can be tricky for beginners—how to use the nori seaweed, how to create an onigiri shape, etc. But no more worries, we show you a simple step-by-step method, so you can make these tasty rice balls with confidence every time. In this episode, we prepare two fillings with two popular onigiri shapes. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Method
- Prepare the Japanese rice. Refer to our "Japanese White Rice" episode for details but for 2 cups of rice, add 2 and 1/5 cups of water. The rice may start boiling earlier than 7 minutes, but turn the heat to low once it starts boiling. Once all the water is absorbed, turn the heat up for 10 seconds, and then turn off the heat. Leave the rice covered for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the salmon flake filling. Refer to our "Salmon Fried Rice" episode for details of creating this delicious filling.
- Spread the cooked rice on a shallow plate to cool. You can fan the rice to cool it down faster, if you wish. Ideally, the rice should be hand warm when forming the onigiri shapes. Cover the rice loosely with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.
- Cut the square nori sheet into a half to make 2 rectangles.
- Flatten some plastic wrap on a cutting board, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Place some rice on the sheet. Add a spoonful of salmon flakes to the center of the rice. Then add more rice on top. Wrap the plastic sheet around the rice ball, and begin to shape it in the palm of your hands into a triangular shape. Don't press the rice too hard as you make a nice, even triangle shape.
- Remove the onigiri from the plastic wrap. Place it in the center of the rectangular nori sheet, making sure the rough side of the nori sheet touches the rice. Carefully wrap it around so the nori and the rice stick together – and done. Your first triangle onigiri with salmon flakes filling is ready!
- As an alternative, you can mix the salmon flakes and the rice together before wrapping with the nori. To do this, add the salmon flakes and rice with 1 tsp of white sesame seeds and 1/4 tsp of salt, and mix all together evenly in a bowl.
- You can shape this mixture into the triangle shape described above, or try creating a barrel shape, which in Japan is called "tawara-gata". For this barrel-shaped onigiri, cut one of the nori rectangle sheets lengthwise in half, and carefully wrap just around the middle of the onigiri – your first barrel-shaped onigiri with salmon flakes is ready!
- Now, we make the ginger beef onigiri filling. First, grate or finely chop a small piece of ginger.
- Slice 1/4 pound beef into thin strips.
- In a small saucepan, add 2 tbsp of sake, 2 tsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, and the grated ginger. Bring to a boil, and then add the beef, simmering until most of the liquid is gone and the meat is cooked.
- Transfer the cooked beef to a dish to cool, and add 1 tsp of white sesame seeds, and mix together.
- Once the ginger beef has cooled a little, make 2 triangle onigiri and 1 barrel-shaped onigiri using our methods described above.They are ready! We hope you enjoy your "TOKYO FLAVORS, NEW YORK STYLE" meal! Itadakimasu!
Notes
- When making onigiri, the rice should not be hot. Slightly warm rice is the best for shaping and wrapping with nori.
- You can make onigiri as large or small as you like. As a guide, for the 6 onigiri I made here, I used half of the cooked rice from the 2 cups of uncooked rice.
- If shaping a triangle is too difficult, just start with a nice round shape. As you get used to it, you will be able to form the triangle and barrel shapes.
- When taking onigiri outside, to retain its shape, wrap each one carefully in aluminum foil, or place them safely in a bento box.
- Use your imagination and enjoy creating your own combinations of shapes and fillings!
