Onigiri

In my recent post in Life in the New Republic I mentioned onigiri rice balls, & in the comments section Kristina mentioned that her Charlie might like them, so I thought I put the recipe here. Onigiri are traditional kids' lunchbox food in Japan. The book "The Folk Art of Japanese Country Cooking" by Gaku Homma waxes enthusiastic about them (he calls them omusubi) & their place in children's lives in Japan. If you have seen the Miyazaki movie "Spirited Away" you have seen Sen/Chihiro eating onigiri. Our Japanese teacher, Tomoko, taught me to make them by hand last fall & I have since found some very kawaii & appealing onigiri moulds that make them even easier to put together.

The base for onigiri is, of course, rice, but japanese-style sticky rice must be used or they won't stick together. A friend who has spent time in Japan recommended the Kokoho Rose brand to me as the best of the american-grown short-grain rices, so that's the brand I buy (in 10 lb. bags...). I also have a rice steamer, which simplifies things, but there are directions for stove-cooking on the package. The rice is lightly salted before moulding into onigiri. Traditionally you also need fillings for onigiri: fish, fish roe, pickles, & the like are traditional. We have very specific preferences in our house, though. C likes tuna salad as his onigiri filling. I prefer pickles, shiitake cooked in shoyu & mirin, or crab salad in mine (or just half a honeyed umeboshi plum stuck to the outside). B likes them plain with no filling. You can wrap the outside with a strip of nori (toasted seaweed used for sushi) or sprinkle on some furikake (there are many kinds, usually with a goma- sesame seed- base). There are 2 main shapes for onigiri, triangular (if you've ever seen the "Fruits Basket" manga or anime, the triangular character that represents Tohru is an onigiri) & barrel-shaped, but I've seen round balls in pictures, too, so I expect there are regional variations. The onigiri in the picture above are both made with a mould, the one on the left has umeboshi on the outside, & the one on the right has goma shio sprinkled on it (the other half of the umeboshi is inside :).

To make them, lightly salt some cooked/steamed rice while it's still warm. Tomoko taught me to use plastic wrap to make shaping the sticky rice easier, & to protect hands from hot rice. So, place approx. 1/2 cup of the salted rice on a sheet of platic wrap that is draped over the palm of your hand. To add a filling, flatten the rice a bit, make a depression in the middle, & add about 1/2 tbsp. of filling. Then fold the rice around the filling, wrap the plastic wrap the rest of the way around the rice, & mould into shape by squashing it gently between your palms. Try not to let the rice touch your hands at this point. Also, try to keep the filling in the middle & not let it squirt out of the onigiri. When it's nearly the shape you want, dip your hands into water, remove the onigiri from the plastic wrap, & finish shaping with your wet hands. You can add nori (slightly wet one end so it'll stick) or sprinkle on furikake now. If you can't serve them immidiately, do not refridgerate- the rice will get hard & nasty. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap & set aside for no more than a few hours (this will depend on the filling- pickles will sit safely much longer than tuna or other fish products).

I get most of my ingredients at the local asian market, but what I can't find locally I get online at Asian Food Grocer. I found some of my onigiri moulds at eKitron.

I should mention here that onigiri are finger-food, so no hashi or fork & knife are required :) One nice thing about the onigiri, even the plain ones, it that they can make boring food look much more appetising. I often make fun-shaped onigiri for B's school lunch, add some cooked edamame for colour & nutrition, some carrots cut into rounds or flowers, & finish it with cookies & fruit. One of B's teachers microwaves it briefly (~20 seconds) for him so that the onigiri are softer. We made onigiri for B's buddy who prefers to eat only white food & he loved them.

Enjoy!!