Onigiri
The most basic Japanese food — rice shaped in the hands, eaten for breakfast, on the train, in a school bento. The simplicity demands precision in three places. The rice is shaped warm, because cold rice will not hold. The hands are wet and salted, since the salt in onigiri goes not into the rice but onto its surface. And the press is firm but brief — three movements, because rice squeezed too long turns into a dense, rubbery lump.
Your own work in that: 25 min.
- Rice 50 min
- Filling 15 min
- Shaping 20 min
- Nori 5 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneRinse the rice until the water runs nearly clear
Rinse the rice in a bowl, rubbing the grains with your hand and changing the water 4–5 times, until nearly clear. Drain and leave 20 minutes. Excess starch turns onigiri into sticky paste instead of separate, glossy grains.
Ingredients: 450 g short grain rice · 540 ml water · 2 tsp salt
Four or five changes of water — the grains must stay separate.Cook the rice and rest it covered
Cook the rice in the water, covered: bring to a boil (about 5 minutes), lower the heat and cook 12 minutes, then rest 10 minutes without lifting the lid. Add no salt or vinegar — onigiri is not sushi.
Ingredients: 450 g short grain rice · 540 ml water · 2 tsp salt
Salt the salmon and grill it
While the rice cooks, salt the salmon generously on both sides and leave 10 minutes. Then cook under the oven grill (top element, about 250 °C) for 8 minutes, skin side up, until the skin crisps and the fish is cooked through. Cool and flake with a fork, removing skin and bones.
Ingredients: 200 g salmon · 1 tsp salt · 80 g tinned tuna · 2 tbsp mayonnaise · 1 tsp soy sauce
Make the second filling
Drain the tuna thoroughly and mix with the mayonnaise and a teaspoon of soy sauce. Fillings must be dry — wet ones seep through the rice and the onigiri falls apart in the hand.
Ingredients: 200 g salmon · 1 tsp salt · 80 g tinned tuna · 2 tbsp mayonnaise · 1 tsp soy sauce
Wet your hands and salt them
Set out a bowl of water and a saucer of salt. Wet your hands, then rub a pinch of salt over them. Wet hands prevent sticking, and the salt on your palms goes onto the surface of the rice — the only salt the rice gets.
Ingredients: 450 g short grain rice · 540 ml water · 2 tsp salt
Shape a triangle in three moves
Divide the rice into 8 equal portions (about 130 g). Take a portion of warm rice, make a hollow, add a heaped tablespoon of filling (the salmon is enough for about 5, the tuna for 3), cover with rice and press into a triangle with your palms — three times, turning. Firm but brief: rice squeezed too long turns dense.
Ingredients: 450 g short grain rice · 540 ml water · 2 tsp salt
Three firm presses, turning — no more.Coat some with sesame
Roll one side of some onigiri in toasted sesame or bonito flakes, so you know what is inside. Marking the tops like this is a simple way to tell the fillings apart at the table.
Ingredients: 3 pcs nori · 1 tbsp sesame seeds · 2 tbsp bonito flakes
Wrap the nori only before eating
Cut the nori into strips and wrap the base of each onigiri just before eating. Wrapped earlier, nori absorbs moisture from the rice and turns rubbery. Crisp nori on soft rice is the whole pleasure.
Ingredients: 3 pcs nori · 1 tbsp sesame seeds · 2 tbsp bonito flakes
Nori at the last moment — earlier it goes rubbery.
Before you start
Japanese rice only
Onigiri needs short grain japonica rice, which sticks when cooked yet keeps the shape of its grains. Long grain will not hold, and glutinous rice makes a rubber ball. Sushi rice is the right choice.
Umeboshi is the classic
One of the most classic fillings is umeboshi — a salted, pickled Japanese plum, intensely sour and salty. It has traditionally been valued for helping rice stay fresh on a journey. If you find it, try at least one onigiri with umeboshi.
The same day
Onigiri are best on the day they are made. Keep them out of the fridge for 2 hours at most — cooked rice, fish and mayonnaise spoil quickly. For longer, wrap each tightly in film and refrigerate; eat within a day, warming them for a few seconds in the microwave first, because the rice hardens in the cold.
