Here is our recipe for onigiri, a typical Japanese snack:
Onigiri, quick and practical
The onigiri are snacks that are well rooted in Japanese culinary traditions. They are small dishes that are eaten for picnics or throughout the day, they are mainly made of Japanese rice and filled with meat, fish, dried bonito, umeboshi (salted plums), dried bonito and so on. The whole is surrounded by a sheet of seaweed of nori.
You will recognize them thanks to their triangular or round shapes and they are easily found in the conbini (local supermarkets). Our recipe is quite simple and fast, for that we use a plastic mold which is very convenient to make your onigiri in 5 minutes! Let’s go!
Onigiri recipe
Equipment
- 1 onigiri mold
- 1 rice spoon
Ingredients
- 1 bowl Japanese vinegared rice for sushi
- 1 sheet of grilled nori "yakinori
- 1 bag of furikake "Japanese condiment"
Instructions
- You can also take a large sheet of nori, 10 cm wide, and wrap it around the onigiri.
- Mix the ingredients in the bowl, here rice and furikake with a rice spoon. Using a rice spoon is very important so that the rice does not stick to the spoon.
- Wet the onigiri mold. This will make it easier to remove your onigiri from the pan.
- Place this mixture, rice and furikake in the mold. I made another raw salmon and rice. I'll give you more ideas for filling below.
- Place the other piece on top and press gently without crushing the rice too much. Remove this piece, then turn the pan over onto a plate.
- Turn out the onigiri by pressing the triangles in the middle of the pan (on the right in the picture).
- Don't rush to remove the mold, you might damage your onigiri.
- Using a pair of scissors, cut a small strip of nori, about 4cm, and wrap it around your onigiri.
Enjoy your meal! You can now put them in your bento.
The appearance is not the best, but I did my best with my son in my arms who kept on wiggling! I will do better next time!
Tips and tricks to make your onigiri
Ongiri can be eaten cold and kept in the fridge under cellophane for 1 to 2 days maximum.
You can also find onigiri molds of various shapes such as animals, characters etc… very cute, they will be perfect for your kids!
You can also lightly grill the nori leaves, in this case they are called yaki-nori, then you just have to coat your onigiri with soy sauce with a brush on both sides and grill them for 2 minutes on each side.
Here are some other ideas for toppings:
- Umeboshi The rice topping is a salted plum that you place in the center of the rice. This filling is very popular in Japan.
- Furikake This is a Japanese condiment. It gives an extra taste to your onigiri. There are many flavors. We advise you to make them yourself with our homemade furikake recipe.
- At katsuobushi dried bonito. The flakes go well with the rice.
- A can of tuna and kewpie mayonnaise.
- Raw fish, salmon, tuna… combined with avocado.
- With meat, sautéed pork, sautéed chicken…
- Shrimp and cucumber
- Shrimp and avocado
- salmon, avocado and furikake…
I always recommend cutting your topping into small pieces so that they mix well with the rice. If you think that with the topping your rice won’t be sticky enough, opt for the second option by wrapping a large sheet of nori around your onigiri. This will hold everything together.