How to make Onigiri

 Onigiri is a common treat in lunch boxes and at picnics. Also called musubi, onigiri is a rice ball made by cooking and filling sushi rice. You can eat the rice ball plain or with any filling you can imagine



What Ingredients Do I Need to Make Onigiri?

a) Steamed Japanese white rice.

b) A bowl of cold water.

c) Salt (you will need a pinch for each).

d) Stuffing (it can be tuna salad with mayonnaise, canned sockeye salmon, umeboshi (salted Japanese apricot) or whatever you have in your home).

e) Nori (Japanese seaweed).


Tips & Techniques of Making Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls):

1. Use Freshly Cooked Rice

Let the cooked rice cool just slightly before making them. It should be warm/hot when you make onigiri.


2. Wet Your Hands

It’s important to wet your hands with water to prevent the rice from sticking. Prepare a bowl of water next to your working station.


3. Salt Your Hands

Salt both your hands and rub to spread all around. This helps to keep the onigiri for a longer time as well as flavoring the onigiri.


4. Give Just Enough Pressure

Your hands should be just firm enough when pressing the onigiri so the rice doesn’t fall apart and shape into the typical triangle, ball, or cylinder shapes. You don’t want to squeeze the rice too tight.


5. Use Kitchen Towel to Save for Next Day

If you want to make onigiri for lunch the next day but don’t want to wake up early, here’s my tip. You can wrap the finished onigiri (in plastic wrap) with a thick kitchen towel to protect from being too cold in the refrigerator. Rice gets hard in the refrigerator but with this easy trick, your onigiri will be cool enough to stay safe.


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