How to make onigiri rice balls. Step-by-step recipe with photos

Do you want to pamper your family with something original and unusual, but you don’t have enough time to spend a long time searching for delicious recipes? Or do you need to come up with something like this for a snack during your lunch break? Or are unexpected guests about to arrive?

For such cases, the culinary inventions of the peoples of the world will come in handy.

In particular, pay attention to the dishes offered by traditional Japanese cuisine, which have already gained worldwide popularity.

We are talking about the famous sushi, which was invented in ancient times as a result of searching for ways to preserve fish.

The peoples of South Asia discovered that boiled rice can be used to preserve fish. In the process of lactic acid fermentation of rice mixed with fish, the latter became edible for a whole year or even more.

And for the Japanese, the combination of rice and various seafood has become a kind of national fast food, very much loved by the people engaged in hard agricultural work.

And already in the 19th century, when chef Yohei Hanai from Tokyo proposed serving fish raw, which reduced the preparation process of such a dish to a few minutes, sushi quickly gained popularity in snack bars and restaurants throughout Japan. In the 1980s, the fashion for this “practical”, tasty and unusual dish came to the USA and Europe.

Despite the impressive variety of types of sushi (there are at least 17 of them, differing only in the method of preparation), they have a common component - special sticky rice. The differences are manifested in the use of various fillings, spices, seasonings and the ways in which they are combined. At the same time, the same ingredients in different types of sushi are placed differently and always look beautiful, appetizing and exotic.

Sushi is valuable not only for its spicy and aesthetic appearance, but also for the balance of its components. A small amount of fat, and therefore calories, with a high content of essential amino acids, vitamins and microelements, makes sushi one of the ideal dishes for those who pay attention to their health and figure. By preparing rice and fish cakes for a special occasion, you will free yourself from worries about the extra calories that usually accompany festive feasts. Try it, and this amazing dish will become a decoration for your culinary collection and a “lifesaver” for many occasions.

To make sushi, you need fresh ingredients and the right tools, and of course, a fair amount of dexterity and skill. Therefore, it is better to start with simple types of sushi, for example, onigiri. These are a kind of pies where boiled unleavened rice is used instead of dough. A wide variety of fillings are placed inside them, and the top is wrapped in nori - a long sheet of dry seaweed.

Sometimes the filling is mixed evenly into the rice, and instead of nori they are used as a wrapper.
lettuce leaves, omelet pancakes or even sliced ​​ham. The shape of the flatbreads is spherical or pyramidal.

But they are made in such a size that they can be eaten in a couple of bites at most. In Japan, onigiri are very popular and widespread, so much so that there are shops that specialize only in selling them.

The name of the dish comes from the verb nigiru (meaning “to squeeze”), which very accurately reflects the way they are prepared: when you take warm rice in the palm of your hand, put the filling in the center of the flatbread and gently squeeze it, wrapping it in rice.

How to properly make onigiri at home?

If you want to make traditional Japanese rice balls, you'll have to purchase some pretty specific ingredients.

So, the filling for onigiri is usually:

• fish (conger eel, tuna, salted salmon);
• dried tuna flakes (katsuobushi);
• shrimps;
• salted plum (umeboshi);
• fish roe (from pollock or salmon);
• meat (usually fried or with mayonnaise);
• cucumbers (both fresh and pickled);
• sausages;
• kombu seaweed;
• paste made from soybeans and cereals (miso).

If for some reason you don’t have these products, it doesn’t matter, you can stuff these rice lumps according to the following recipes or come up with your own options and experiment based on what products you have on hand.

A simple recipe for onigiri

Try some non-traditional filling options:

• beef, broccoli, mayonnaise, tuna;
• hummus, cucumber, tomato, olives, carrots, greens;
• pickles (eggplant, cucumbers, daikon, etc.), cheese, sausage, ham;
• romaine lettuce, feta cheese, boiled chickpeas, cucumber, red onion, tzatziki sauce
• chicken salad (or whatever you like);
• tuna salad (combine a can of tuna with soy sauce, mayonnaise, miso paste (optional, just don’t make it too thin) and a couple drops of yuzu (or lemon));
• lightly salted salmon or trout, fresh cucumber, black olives, soy sauce, black sesame seeds, cream cheese, pickled ginger to taste.
• hummus, baked eggplant, olives, lettuce.

Prepare the ingredients for the filling and mix them. If the rice came with cooking instructions, cook it according to those instructions.

If not, then perform the following manipulations:

1. first rinse the rice in several waters until it becomes transparent;
2. pour the washed rice into a deep saucepan, pour 250 ml of water for each cup of rice;
3. Bring to a boil over high heat (this will take about 5 minutes);
4. after boiling, immediately reduce the heat to minimum and simmer a little more (10-12 minutes);
5. When the liquid is completely absorbed into the rice, turn off the heat and let it swell for another 15 minutes.

When the rice has cooled to a tolerable temperature (for your hands), you can begin to form rice “balls”. If you currently cannot get Japanese rice, use regular round rice, just soak it in water for 20-30 minutes before cooking. This will increase its stickiness.

Use a large cutting board (or wax paper) to form balls. Wet your hands in salt water (20 g of salt per glass of water) - this will make the rice stick to your hands less. Take some rice in your palm, squeeze it into a ball, make a hole in it and put the filling in it. Cover it with a layer of rice to cover it completely.

You can wrap the finished ball in a sheet of nori, but you don’t have to. Rice wrapped in seaweed is simply easier to handle and holds its shape better. But you can also show your imagination and decorate your pies with berries, pieces of fruits and vegetables, giving them the appearance of animals, funny faces, flowers, etc.

How to cook delicious onigiri - tips for beginners:

• To keep your onigiri out of the refrigerator for a while, don't use perishable fillings;
• making rice balls at home can be easier and more convenient using cling film, in which you need to put the finished flatbread with filling, and then press it, tightening the film;
• Japanese rice cakes with oriental seasonings and spices are very tasty;
• When packing a dish for a picnic or in a bento for breakfast, wrap it only in cling film; if you want to wrap it with nori, do it just before eating;
• try to spice up the taste of the dish with toasted sesame seeds, gomashio (a mixture of sesame seeds and salt), furikake (ground dried fish with spices);
• if not you, then your children will definitely love the dessert sweet recipe for rice balls with dried fruits, nuts and other yummy things;
• To accompany sweet rice cakes, be sure to serve high-quality green tea.

Serve onigiri on plain porcelain plates or on wooden boards - in the Japanese traditional minimalist style, wash it down with aromatic tea, and you will feel the sophisticated atmosphere of the land of the rising sun, in which people are able to feel the harmony and beauty of the world even amid the hustle and bustle, in the midst of everyday work.

Step 1: prepare the rice.

Take 1/2 cup of sushi rice, pour it into a small bowl, fill it with regular running water and rinse thoroughly, do this process for at least 10 times or until the water is crystal clear. Then we transfer it into a colander with a fine mesh and leave it in this container for 5 – 7 minutes to allow any remaining liquid to drain. Then transfer the rice grains to a non-stick pan with a thick bottom and proceed to the next step.

Step 2: cook and season the rice.

Fill the rice with 1 glass of clean water and place the pan on the stove, turned on at a high level. As soon as the liquid begins to boil, mix the rice with water with a wooden kitchen spoon, reduce the stove temperature to the lowest level and cook the rice grains 15 minutes.


Then remove the pan from the stove. Cover it with a waffle towel, put a lid on top of it and keep the rice in this form 10 minutes. Then remove the lid, towel and cool the finished rice to room temperature.

Step 3: prepare the filling and nori sheets.

We don’t waste time in vain; while the rice is cooling, take half a sheet of pressed nori seaweed and cut it into strips 2 - 2.5 centimeters thick and 5 to 7 centimeters long. A total of 4 strips or more are needed, the number depends on how you want to decorate your onigiri.


Then, one by one, remove the skin, rib and spinal bones from each piece of lightly salted salmon. Place the fish meat on a cutting board and cut into small pieces of arbitrary shape, their diameter can range from 2 - 5 millimeters to 1 centimeter. Transfer the slices to a deep plate and leave the seaweed on the cutting board.

Step 4: Form the onigiri.

Now pour 4 tablespoons of clean, boiled and cooled to room temperature water into a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt to it and mix it with the liquid until smooth and until the salt grains are completely dissolved. Then we take a clean medium-sized bowl and place a piece of plastic cling film on its bottom, for example, a square with a diameter of 15 by 15 centimeters.


Pour 1 tablespoon of salted water into the middle of the film.


Place 1/4 of the total mass of rice on it.


With a clean finger, make a small, non-through hole in the center of the rice mound and put 1/4 of the total mass of chopped salmon into it.


Carefully collect the rice from the sides and pile it on top of the filling.


We connect the ends of the plastic film.


We roll them into a ball and give the rice mass the desired shape: triangle, ball or oval.


Afterwards, remove the film from the almost finished onigiri.


And we wrap the “rice cake” in a sheet of nori, placing it on the rice surface with the rough side.


If desired, several strips of seaweed can be glued onto the “rice cakes”. Use the same method to form the remaining onigiri, place them on a plate and serve.

Step 5: Serve onigiri.

Onigiri is served at room temperature or cold. As an addition to this dish, you can offer wasabi, soy sauce, pickled ginger, as well as tempura - vegetables or seafood fried in batter.


These delicacies are eaten with chopsticks and washed down with sake, green tea or plum wine. Enjoy!

Bon appetit!

The filling in this recipe is not important! You can use any stewed, fried, salted seafood, fish, vegetables, and very often onigiri is stuffed with red or black caviar or umeboshi - pickled salty and sour plum.

Sometimes finely chopped cucumber, avocado, stewed seaweed, green onions or sesame are added to boiled rice. Very often, formed onigiri are not wrapped in nori, but simply rolled in chopped nuts or sesame seeds.

Rice can be cooked in a cauldron.

Onigiri is considered one of the popular dishes of Japanese cuisine. These are filled rice balls. They are usually made in the shape of a triangle or oval, wrapped in nori seaweed on top. Rice bun or ball is the Russian name for onigiri. This dish is simple. You only need special products, which are also used to make sushi and rolls. Traditionally, they are filled with pickled vegetables, fish, seafood and even fruits. Figuring out how to cook onigiri is easy. Let's look at a few recipes.

Onigiri. Recipe with fish

For the base of the balls you will need: rice, sugar, salt. For the filling, use lightly salted red fish. Rice is the main ingredient for making onigiri. Sushi and rolls are made from a special type of Japanese grain, which is sold in supermarkets in special departments. You will find other ingredients there as well.

Method of cooking rice

Take a pan, pour rice into it. Pour water 1-2 cm above its level. Stir and drain the water. Repeat the procedure several times. Rice must be cleaned of dirt and starch. It is convenient to use a pan with a transparent lid to monitor the process. Pour 300 ml of water into washed rice (300 g). Bring to a boil and turn off the stove. Wait about 15 minutes. Do not open the lid. If suddenly the foam begins to actively rise to the lid, then lift the pan over the fire and wait a little.

In a separate container, mix sugar, salt and rice vinegar. Mix the finished rice with this mixture. Proceed carefully so that the grains do not get wrinkled. Cool the rice to 40 degrees. You can use something like a fan or fan to speed up the cooling process. The filling should already be ready. That is, the fish must be cut into small pieces in advance. There are special forms for onigiri. Their use significantly facilitates the formation of balls. If they are not there, then proceed with the help of your hands and plastic gloves (so that the cereal does not stick to your palms). Take some of the rice, roll into a ball, make a hole in it and put the filling there, then seal the hole with another part of the cereal so that the onigiri does not fall apart. The recipe, as you can see, is simple. Complete the process - wrap the bun in nori.

Some tips

If you know a few secrets, you won't have much trouble making onigiri. The recipe for this dish can be adapted to various fillings. It can be ordinary canned fish, or salmon, pickled cucumbers with soft cheese, shrimp or Japanese fillings - umeboshi, natto, kombu seaweed. When making rice, do not delay the process. The longer it sits, the stickier it becomes. Wrap the balls with nori seaweed before serving. You should not leave onigiri for a long time, otherwise the nori will spread and lose its appearance. If you need to leave the balls until the next day, wrap them in a bag and put them in the refrigerator. Nothing will happen to them within 24 hours.

When preparing rice according to any of the recipes, consider your taste preferences. Sometimes you need to change the proportions. Making onigiri will be easier if you use a regular plastic bag. Cut off a corner of it. Place the required amount of rice into it, add the filling, and seal the top. Use the triangular edge of the bag to shape the rice into the correct shape.

Onigiri is a national Japanese dish made from boiled rice with the addition of filling. In Japan, onigiri is extremely popular, no less than sushi, rolls or miso soup. They come in different shapes, but most often they are molded into the shape of plump triangles, and pressed on the sides with a small sheet of dried nori seaweed. In our country they are often called rice balls or rice balls.

A variety of ingredients can be used for the filling. Traditionally, various varieties of lightly salted fish, shrimp, fish roe, and edible algae are used. Boiled or fried chicken meat, pickled cucumbers and even sausages are also used. The dish is usually served with kikkoman soy sauce. This is the perfect seasoning for onigiri and no additional garnish is needed. The exception, perhaps, is pickled ginger.

Today we will talk to you on this page www.site about how to cook onigiri, we will look at a recipe for making it at home, and more than one. In general, preparing this dish is easy and pleasant. If everything is done correctly, you will get a tasty, light, dietary cold appetizer. Here are some popular, easy onigiri recipes:

Homemade onigiri dish with lightly salted salmon (salmon, trout)

To prepare you will need: 2 cups of rice (it is better to take special one for sushi), a small piece, about 100 g of lightly salted fish fillet, 2 fresh cucumbers, canned pitted olives, soy sauce, 1 tbsp. l. roasted sesame seeds (black), 2-3 sheets of dried nori seaweed, a little melted cream cheese. You will also need pickled ginger.

Preparation:

Boil the rice until done. Leave in a colander to completely remove any remaining water. Let the rice cool well and transfer to a clean bowl.

Wash the cucumbers. If the skin is very rough, cut it off. Cut the cucumbers into medium-sized cubes and place in a separate cup. Also cut the fish into cubes and place separately.

Pour salted water into a wide bowl. You will need it to wet your hands when preparing the rice balls. For one and a half glasses of water, take 1.5 tbsp. l. salt.

Now wet your hands with salt water, take a small amount of rice in your palm and form a ball. Use your finger to make a hole where you can place a cube of fish, cucumber or olive. Place a fish cube and a piece of cheese in another ball. So combine the filling as you wish.

Shape the onigiri into a triangle, wrap it in a piece of nori, place it on a wide plate, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with soy sauce and thinly sliced ​​pickled ginger root.

How to make onigiri at home with canned tuna?

For this type of onigiri we will need the following products: 2 cups boiled rice, 2 sheets of nori, the contents of a can of tuna (pieces), drain the liquid from the can. Also take thick mayonnaise, a mixture of finely chopped onion and parsley, and salt if necessary.

Preparation:

Keep the cooked rice in a colander until all the liquid has drained. Then transfer to a bowl and cool. Prepare salt water to wet your hands (as described in the first recipe). Remember the tuna with a fork, mix with a small amount of mayonnaise, add herbs, mix.

Take the required amount of rice in your palm, but not much so that the onigiri can be eaten immediately. Use your finger to make a depression where you place about 1 tsp. fillings. Seal the hole. Shape into a triangle or bar, wrap with a cut piece of nori sheet. Place the finished onigiri on a plate. Serve with soy sauce.

With fried chicken, daikon and salad

Prepare the ingredients: 2 cups boiled rice, 1 fried chicken breast or chicken fillet, medium sized daikon, medium ripe tomato, pickled ginger, fresh lettuce leaves.

Preparation:

Wash the lettuce leaves and dry on a paper towel. Place on a platter. Peel, wash, and cut the daikon into thin slices. Cut the washed, dried tomato into small slices. Chicken - cubes.

As mentioned above, use your hands moistened with salt water to form rice balls. Place a piece of chicken meat and a thin slice of pickled ginger in the middle of each. Seal the hole. Wrap the onigiri in a piece of nori and place on lettuce leaves. Garnish the edges with daikon slices and tomato slices.

With crab sticks

We will need: 2 cups of boiled rice, fresh cucumber, hard-boiled egg, a pack of crab sticks, finely chopped green onions. You also need mayonnaise.

Preparation:

Let's prepare the filling: cut the cucumber and egg into cubes. Cut the crab sticks into pieces. Combine ingredients, green onions. Add a little thick mayonnaise, mix everything carefully.

Make balls from rice as described above. Fill each with the prepared filling. Give the desired shape, wrap the nori, place on a plate. Serve with soy sauce.

With canned seaweed

This recipe is very simple. Drain the liquid from the jar of cabbage. Place the kelp itself in a bowl. Next, do everything as described in the recipes that we have already reviewed. Stuff the center of the rice ball with seaweed. Shape it, wrap it in nori, and sprinkle with parsley. Place on a platter and serve with soy sauce. Bon appetit!

Onigiri is a traditional Japanese dish that is often confused with sushi and rolls. Its main ingredient is rice, but it is not salted, vinegar or rice wine, sugar or soy sauce are not added to it. The product must be fresh. Rice is formed into balls or triangles, a base of seaweed is made for them and served. They came up with the idea of ​​making such rice balls so that it would be convenient to eat rice and take it on the road, using it as a snack. The name of the dish comes from a Japanese word that translates to “squeeze.” This is due to the technology of preparing onigiri: the rice was pressed by hand, forming koloboks. Filling is not a necessary ingredient in onigiri, but it is what they are most often made with. To prepare sushi or rolls, you need to have a certain skill, but any housewife can make rice balls.

Cooking features

The technology for preparing onigiri is extremely simple; even a novice cook can easily master it. You just need to know some points, otherwise the result will be very different from what you expected, and not for the better.

• Onigiri requires sticky rice. Any variety of this grain intended for making sushi is suitable. You can also use regular short-grain rice, after soaking it for half an hour in cool water.
• When cooking rice for onigiri, do not add salt to the water: this dish requires a fresh product. However, the filling should be salty or savory enough to balance the flavor of the finished dish.
• When cooking rice for onigiri, the rice is washed 7 times and placed in already boiling water. First, cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, then cook for 10 minutes over low heat, then let stand under the lid and reach the desired state for 15–20 minutes. By this time, the temperature of the product will be just such that it allows you to work with it with your hands without the risk of getting burned.
• The traditional technology for preparing onigiri involves forming a small ball (for 2-3 bites), in which a hole is made with a finger, the filling is placed in it, then it is pressed with rice.
• Seafood is most often used as a filling for onigiri: tuna flakes, salmon, shrimp, caviar. One of the most favorite fillings for 40% of Japanese people is salted plums. It is acceptable to use fresh and pickled vegetables, meat, chicken, and seaweed.
• You don’t have to place the filling inside the rice ball, but just mix it with the rice, and then form the resulting mass into figures of the desired shape.
• You can form onigiri by hand or using cling film. It will be even easier to do this by using special molds.
• If you are making onigiri without filling, you can add a little soy sauce and sesame oil to the rice.
• Before serving, onigiri is wrapped in strips of seaweed or made into a base. Seaweed can be replaced with lettuce leaves or pancake omelet. The main purpose of the mat is to prevent the sticky rice from getting on your fingers. Additionally, it helps maintain the shape of the onigiri.
• Onigiri is wrapped in seaweed before serving. If you do this in advance, the nori will become soggy.
• Japanese women often decorate onigiri with pieces of seaweed, fruits, vegetables, and sesame seeds, giving the rice products a resemblance to funny faces.

Onigiri is served on white porcelain plates or wooden boards. You can serve green tea or sake with the dish.

Onigiri with salted plum

• sushi rice – 0.2 kg;
• nori seaweed – 6–8 pcs.;
• salted plums – 3–4 pcs.;
• water – 0.3 l.

Cooking method:

• Rinse the rice until clean.
• Boil water, put rice cereal in it.
• Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
• Reduce the flame intensity and continue cooking the rice for 12 minutes.
• Turn off the heat. Leave the rice in the pan, covered, for 15 minutes.
• Divide the rice into 6-8 servings.
• Cut the plums in half.
• Cut a piece of cling film and place it on the board.
• Place one portion of rice on the film and place half a plum in the center.
• Lift the edges of the cling film and use it to form a triangle out of the rice so that the plum is in the center.
• Remove cling film.
• Wrap a strip of nori around the triangle so that it runs along its edges.
• In the same way, make onigiri from the remaining portions of rice and plums.

Instead of halved salted plums, you can use pieces of pickled cucumbers or other vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes, olives or black olives.

Onigiri with salmon and cream cheese

• sushi rice – 0.4 kg;
• water – 0.5 l;
• lightly salted salmon (fillet) – 0.2 kg;
• cream cheese – 150 g;
• sesame oil - to taste;
• nori – 12 pcs.

Cooking method:

• Rinse and place rice in boiling water. After cooking it over high heat for 5 minutes, reduce the flame intensity and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
• Leave to swell and cool, covered, for 20 minutes.
• Add oil, stir.
• Finely chop the lightly salted salmon fillet, add cream cheese, mix thoroughly.
• Place a large spoonful of rice on a piece of cling film and smooth it out slightly.
• Place a small spoonful of filling in the center.
• Lifting the ends of the film, form the rice into a ball. The filling should be in the center.
• Remove the film. Wrap a strip of seaweed around the rice ball. Place on a plate.
• Use the same method to form balls from the remaining rice.

When serving, rice balls can be sprinkled with sesame seeds. In Japan, onigiri stuffed with salmon fish are very popular. Europeans also like their taste.

Onigiri with tuna

• coarse grain rice – 0.4 kg;
• water – 0.6 l;
• canned tuna – 0.25 kg;
• mayonnaise – 50 ml;
• lettuce leaves - as needed.

Cooking method:

• Rinse the rice until the water is clear, cover with clean water, and leave for half an hour.
• Place on high heat and bring to a boil.
• Reduce flame, simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove rice from heat. Cool to a comfortable temperature.
• Wet your hands with salt water and form the rice into balls about 3.5cm in diameter.
• Place the tuna in a bowl, mash with a fork, add mayonnaise, stir.
• Make a hole in each ball with your finger and place the tuna filling in it. Crimp so that the filling is inside.
• Wash and dry the lettuce leaves. Wrap rice balls in them and place on a plate.

If you are not ready to eat unleavened rice, even with tasty filling, you can boil it in salted water.

Onigiri in an omelet

• chicken egg – 3 pcs.;
• corn starch or flour – 20 g;
• mayonnaise – 20 ml;
• rice – 0.2 kg;
• water – 0.3 l;
• pollock or cod caviar (punched, salted) – 100 g;
• vegetable oil - as much as needed.

Cooking method:

• Combine eggs, mayonnaise and starch. Whisk to obtain a homogeneous mass. You can lightly salt and pepper, add dried herbs.
• Heat a frying pan, grease with oil. Fry the omelette into thin pancakes, pouring the batter into the pan in small portions.
• Once the omelet pancakes have cooled, cut them into strips.
• Boil rice in unsalted water and mix it with caviar.
• Form the rice into balls or triangles. This can be done using cling film or by hand. To prevent rice from sticking to your palms, soak them in salt water.
• Wrap the onigiri in an omelette, sprinkle with fresh herbs, finely chop them first, and serve.

Omelet pancakes can be used instead of seaweed when preparing onigiri with any filling.

The traditional Japanese dish onigiri does not have a specific taste; it will appeal not only to fans of Asian cuisine. Preparing this dish is not difficult; even an inexperienced housewife can cope with the task. You just need to know how to cook rice correctly. The filling for onigiri can be prepared according to your taste from meat, seafood, and salted vegetables.