Onigiri

Onigiri (お握り or 御握り; おにぎり?), also known as omusubi (お結び; おむすび?) or rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or oval shapes and often wrapped in nori (seaweed). Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume (umeboshi), salted salmon, katsuobushi, kombu, tarako, or any other salty or sour ingredient as a natural preservative. Ingredients

• 2 lb short-grain rice (Japanese short-grain rice)
• Salt to taste
• 3-4 sheets of toasted nori or seaweed, cut into rectangular squares 12 x 5 cm

Possible Fillings:

• Sour plum or umeboshi , ½ tsp per rice ball
• Salted salmon, 1 tsp per rice ball
• Dried bonito flakes mix with little soy sauce, 1 tsp per rice ball
• Kanimayo or minced crabstick with mayonnaise, 1 tsp per rice ball
• Chopped unagi, 1 heaped tsp per rice ball
• Strips of salted dried kelp or shiokonbu, 1 heaped tsp per rice ball

Directions

1. Wash rice gently under running water until the water runs clear.
2. Leave to drain for an hour before cooking the rice in a steamer.
3. After the rice is cooked, remove from heat and cover the rice with a towel to absorb any moisture and leave to stand for 20 minutes so it won’t get too hot when you want to hand-shaped the rice.
4. To prepare the rice, sprinkle some salt onto the palm of one hand and take a handful of rice.
5. Flatten it by making a depression in the middle to put in the chosen filling before molding it back to enclose the fillings and have it shaped into a triangle.
6. Wrap a piece of nori and moisten the end a little bit to seal.

Onigiri is best served at room temperature. If you happens to have the plastic mold of making onigiri, it will make your preparation work much easier. Right after you’ve put in the fillings, mold it a little bit to form a distorted rice ball before fitting it in the plastic onigiri mold and close it on both sides. Voila! You’ll have a triangle onigiri in no time!