Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls)

Japan’s iconic portable rice triangle. Endless filling variations.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked short-grain Japanese rice (slightly hot)

Salt

• Filling options — choose any: 1) Tuna mayo (canned tuna + kewpie mayo), 2) Salmon (flaked cooked salmon + salt), 3) Pickled plum (umeboshi), 4) Kombu (seasoned kelp)
• Nori sheets, cut into strips

Directions

1. Season hot rice with salt to taste. Let cool slightly until handleable.
2. Wet your hands with water. Sprinkle salt on your palms.
3. Take a golf-ball amount of rice. Make a well in the center.
4. Place filling in the well. Close rice around it, enclosing completely.
5. Shape into a triangle by pressing with both hands, using the index finger and thumb to define the three corners. Rotate and press 5-6 times.
6. Wrap with a strip of nori just before eating.

Notes

Wet, salted hands prevent sticking and season the exterior. The shaping requires some practice — watch a video the first time. Onigiri should be firm enough to hold shape but not compressed into a hard ball.