Description
Onigiri are Japanese rice balls. They’re fun to make and are a staple of Japanese lunchboxes (bento). You can put almost anything in an onigiri; try substituting grilled salmon, pickled plums, beef, pork, turkey, or tuna with mayonnaise.
Ingredients
- 4 cups uncooked short-grain white rice
- 4 ½ cups water
- 1 cup water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup bonito shavings (dry fish flakes)
- 2 sheets nori (dry seaweed), cut into 1/2-inch strips
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Instructions
- Wash rice in a mesh strainer until water runs clear. Combine washed rice and 4 1/2 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat
- stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; cover
- and simmer rice until water is absorbed
- 15 to 20 minutes. Let rice rest for 15 minutes to continue to steam and become tender. Allow cooked rice to cool.
- Combine remaining 1 cup water with salt in a small bowl; use to dampen hands before handling rice. Divide cooked rice into 8 equal portions. Use one portion of rice for each onigiri.
- Divide one portion of rice in two. Create a dimple in rice and fill with a heaping teaspoon of bonito flakes. Cover with remaining portion of rice and press lightly to enclose filling inside rice ball. Gently press rice to shape into a triangle; wrap with a strip of nori and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat with remaining portions of rice.
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Servings: 4