Onigiri おにぎり
The humble rice ball is one of the simplest meals to create in Japan. It is very much a part of everyday life, found in kids’ lunchboxes and salarymens’ bentos it makes good use of any leftover rice from the previous night’s dinner. Like most things here, if you spend enough time searching, you will find people who dedicate their lives to their craft and onigiri is no exception as I found out one night in Nagasaki. A memorable night for multiple reasons. Firstly, I was amazed to find a restaurant with such a simple concept and only one menu item for which the staff clearly had great respect and took extremely seriously. Secondly, it was the first time in my life where a meal out consisted of visiting three separate restaurants consecutively. Thirdly, it was the night I asked my father in law’s permission to marry his daughter (somehow in very broken Japanese.)
When I was first introduced to Onigiri five years ago I couldn’t quite work out what all the fuss was about. I mean a ball of rice is not my idea of an ideal snack and even now I can’t say I get excited by it but I am beginning to understand why onigiri is so popular and has its rightful place in Japanese food culture.
The turning point was probably that night in Nagasaki. I had my first real glimpse of the ideology that underpins Japanese society, the search for perfection and a respect for everything no matter how insignificant it may seem.
Then of course there is the functionality of it. Its cheap, pretty robust when transporting and you can pretty much flavor it with anything. It even usurps the sandwich at convenience stores and service stations in Japan, something which if I’m being honest left me a little disappointed to begin with!
Onigiri at Home
As you can see from the pictures and video above a wooden mould was used for shaping the rice but it really isn’t needed for making a small quantity.
Below are a few pointers for making onigiri at home.
1) Ideally the rice should still be slightly warm as its easier to work with.
2) Lightly wet your hands with cold water before shaping to avoid the rice sticking, too much and it will wash away the starch from the rice and you’ll find it difficult to shape.
3) You want to shape the rice with your hands using your index and middle finger to push the rice into a triangular shape. If you hold up your index and middle finger together this will give you an indication of the desired depth of the rice ball.
4) Fillings - you can be adventurous as you like here. We often go with umeboshi (sour preserved Japanese plum) or leftover fish to give you some ideas to start (something with a strong taste is recommended as this is essentially the main flavor of the snack.) Use your thumb to make an indentation into the centre of the rice ball, place the filling inside and carefully work the rice back over to bring it back to the original shape. Alternatively you can mix chopped cooked meat, fish or vegetables through the rice to begin with and then shape after so the flavor runs throughout. This is where you would typically season the rice with furikake* too, an added seasoning.
5) Wrap in a nori sheet. Place the rice ball on the nori sheet using dry hands fold over the edges on either side and pinch. Slightly wet (if necessary) the overlapping edge of nori and stick down to the rice ball.
*When it comes to furikake in Japan there is a huge choice available in any local supermarket and although this isn’t the case in the UK you can get hold of it relatively easily from asian supermarkets and independents such as Wycombe chefs table(click here). Traditionally made from dried fish, seaweed and sesame it is also easy enough to make your own. My favorites are probably some of the simpler options, dried salted shiso and salted black sesame.