Onigiri, also known as o-musubi or rice ball, is a Japanese food staple that you can find in Japanese restaurants or grocery stores. It’s an easy way to transport rice and this makes it the perfect on the go snack!
The rice
To clarify, onigiri is not made with sushi rice like inari sushi. Onigiri is made by lightly seasoning the rice with salt, whereas sushi rice is made with a seasoning of vinegar, sugar, and salt. To start your onigiri, you need to cook short grain Japanese rice and then add salt by paddling it in the bowl. Traditionally salt is added during the hand forming step, but I like to use molds and want to make sure all my rice is salted well. I like to start with about two cups to make eight onigiri. Each onigiri measures to about half a cup of rice.
Onigiri fillings
Tuna with Kewpie Japanese Mayo
Make the tuna filling by mixing a can of tuna and some Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise in a small bowl. Add some soy sauce to season this filling, too. I like to add about 1 ½ tsp of tuna filling into one onigiri.
Flaky salmon
To make the flaky salmon, you need to pat dry a salmon filet and then sprinkle a generous amount of salt around the salmon. Leave this to marinate for about one hour before baking at 350 °F for 15 minutes, and broiling for five additional minutes. After broiling, use a fork to gently flake, but not mash the fish. I add about 1 ½ tsp of salmon filling into one onigiri.
Okaka (bonito flakes and soy sauce)
One of the easiest fillings to make is okaka, which is bonito flakes and soy sauce. I bought bonito flakes at my local Japanese grocery store. Mix one package of bonito flakes with soy sauce thoroughly. You want the flakes to be dampened, but not drenched with soy sauce. For one onigiri, I mix half a tablespoon of the okaka filling with ½ cup of rice directly and add some black sesame seeds to make one onigiri.
Other onigiri filling ideas
There are also other fillings that are super easy to make too!
Ume (pickled plum): I use one to two pickled plum in each onigiri.Kombu tsukudani (simmered and seasoned seaweed): I use two teaspoons of kombu tsukudani with ½ cup of rice for one onigiri. Furikake: I like to add two to three teaspoons of furikake mix with ½ cup of rice per onigiri. Shrimp tempuraVegetable tempura Salted cod roe Salted pollock roe
How to form onigiri: by hand vs onigiri mold
Now that you’ve got your rice and your fillings, it’s time to make onigiri! Traditionally, onigiri is made by dipping your hands in salt water and forming the rice balls manually. However, I prefer using onigiri molds because it makes the rice balls uniform in shape and size, and it’s less of a mess! There are different ways to add the filling into rice balls, you can mix it directly with the rice and form the balls or you can add the fillings into the middle. For traditional onigiri, I like to add about ¼ of a cup of rice into the mold, then add the filling, and top with another ¼ of rice. For fillings that are mixed with the rice, I like to add mix them in a bowl with a spoon. After adding the rice to the molds, the rice should be level to the brim of the mold. Use the top of the mold and press down to firmly shape the onigiri. Press the other end of the mold and release the onigiri ball onto a plate.
Wrapping onigiri
Once you’ve formed your onigiri, you can choose to wrap nori around your rice ball. Onigiri was created in Japan during the 11th century, but the addition of nori was not until the 17th century. I like to add nori to help carry the onigiri and keep the rice ball from being too sticky. There are many ways to wrap the nori around the rice ball. For example, you can wrap the entire ball in large strips of nori, rolling the onigiri in sesame seeds, or shiso leaves to add extra flavor.
How to serve
You can take this onigiri to go or eat as a quick snack, but I like to eat this with chicken karaage and takoyaki (Japanese octopus balls), too. Ideally, onigiri is meant to be eaten the day that you make it. While you can refrigerate this and try to heat it up in the microwave, I would not recommend it because the rice can dry out. For a more Americanized version of onigiri, you can also make Spam musubi in a similar fashion. Frequently asked questions about onigiri:
What type of rice is used for onigiri?
Onigiri is made with short grain Japanese rice (but you can also use medium grain) that is lightly seasoned with salt.
How do you make rice balls stick together?
Onigiri balls are formed by the stickiness of the short grain rice. To further form the triangle or round shapes, you can use nori to wrap the onigiri.
How long do rice balls last in the fridge?
I would eat the rice balls as soon as possible, but you can save them for the next day as well. The longer you wait the rice will dry out and the nori will lose its crispiness.
Why do my rice balls fall apart?
If you find your rice balls not keeping its shape, you need to make sure to use the correct type of rice. Ongiri is made with short grain Japanese rice, which has a good amount of stickiness to keep its shape.
