Onigiri Rice Balls

Name: Onigiri Rice Balls
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 6 cups cooked short-grain Japanese rice, still warm; 2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds; 1/2 cup water, for shaping; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 6 umeboshi pickled plums, pitted and torn in half; 3 sheets nori, each cut into 4 strips

Hand-formed triangles of salted short-grain rice with a pickled plum center and a strip of nori. They hold at room temperature for hours, which makes them a practical packed lunch.

Japanese

Vegan

Vegetarian

Gluten Free

Dairy Free

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

0 mins

Servings

1
Fluff the warm rice with a wooden spatula and fold in the sesame seeds. Let it cool until it is warm rather than hot, about 5 minutes.
2
Set out a small bowl of the water and a saucer of the salt. Wet both palms, then rub a pinch of salt over them before shaping each ball.
3
Scoop about 1/2 cup of rice into one palm. Press a piece of umeboshi into the center and close the rice over it.
4
Cup the rice with one hand and use the other as a flat lid, rotating a third of a turn between presses to form a triangle. Press firmly enough to hold, not so hard that the grains crush.
5
Repeat to make 12 onigiri, re-wetting and salting your hands each time.
6
Wrap a nori strip around the base of each one just before eating so it stays crisp. Store wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 hours.

Ingredients

6 cups cooked short-grain Japanese rice, still warm
2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
1/2 cup water, for shaping
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 umeboshi pickled plums, pitted and torn in half
3 sheets nori, each cut into 4 strips

Instructions

1
Fluff the warm rice with a wooden spatula and fold in the sesame seeds. Let it cool until it is warm rather than hot, about 5 minutes.
2
Set out a small bowl of the water and a saucer of the salt. Wet both palms, then rub a pinch of salt over them before shaping each ball.
3
Scoop about 1/2 cup of rice into one palm. Press a piece of umeboshi into the center and close the rice over it.
4
Cup the rice with one hand and use the other as a flat lid, rotating a third of a turn between presses to form a triangle. Press firmly enough to hold, not so hard that the grains crush.
5
Repeat to make 12 onigiri, re-wetting and salting your hands each time.
6
Wrap a nori strip around the base of each one just before eating so it stays crisp. Store wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 hours.