Onigiri are small rice-based snacks very popular in Japan, we can compare it to the club sandwich in France, its most famous form is the triangle one but there are many others! Presentation:
- Onigiri, small snacks rooted in Japanese cuisine
- A large choice of toppings
- Its different shapes
- Its variations
Onigiri, small snacks rooted in Japanese cuisine
Onigiri おにぎり, literally hand-molded, is as its name suggests a rice ball that is usually wrapped in a sheet of nori (seaweed). Its shape is small and very convenient to eat because it fits in one hand. Indeed, it is intended to be carried for picnics, for the day, for the snack, at school ect… theonigiri can be compared to our sandwiches. However, it does not replace a meal, it is a small snack.
A large choice of fillings
They are made to be preserved for a long time, that’s why you will find inside some ingredients usually salted like umeboshi (salted plum), the katsuobushi (dried bonito), tarako (salted roe) or shiojake (salted salmon). Of course there are hundreds of different varieties, including the mixture with furikake (Japanese seasoning) which is very present.
In Japan, you can easily find them in combini (local supermarket), often wrapped in plastic for about 100 to 140 yen a piece, really cheap! There are also stores specialized in onigiri, called onigiri-ya. As usual, you will have the choice of tastes thanks to a menu or sampuru (plastic dishes) in the window. Here is an example:
Its different forms
Onigiri can come in different forms and therefore its name is different:
If you want to make them at home, we recommend our very simple recipe to make onigiri. There are a lot of utensils to make onigiri, and also utensils to cut the nori
sheet to make original shapes.
Its variations
You can make some pretty cool graphic shapes with utensils or your imagination!