Easy Rice Balls (Onigiri)
- Ethnicity: Asian
- Base: Other
- Course: Appetizer
- Prep Time: 30-60 Minutes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serving Size:
Ingredients:
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 3 c | just-cooked California rice (white or brown), still warm |
| 1 1/2 T | minced pickled daikon or other pickle |
| 2 T | white or black sesame seeds, dry-roasted and coarsely ground |
| 2 ea | large umeboshi plums |
| 1 ea | sheet toasted nori |
| 1/4 c | Black Kombu Relish |
| 1 pn | sea salt |
| 3 T | bonito flakes or store-bought seaweed paste |
| 1 ds | wasabi |
| 1 pk | pickled ginger |
| 1 ea | soy sauce |
Directions:
1| Prepare the fillings while the rice finishes cooking: Pit the umeboshi plums and divide each plum in two if using medium plums or into quarters if using larger plums. Set aside. Divide the relish or paste into 8 equal portions and set aside on a plate.
2| In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons bonito flakes with 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Heap the remaining bonito on a small plate. Divide the pickle into 4 equal portions and set aside. Place the sesame seeds on another small plate. Cut the nori into narrow strips or into 2-inch squares. Dip briefly in soy sauce, then set aside.
3| To shape the rice balls, wet both your palms and sprinkle one lightly with salt (or use salted water to wet your palms). Scoop up about 2 tablespoons rice, place in your salted hand (if using salt), and make a hollow in the center. Fill with an umeboshi half or quarter, cover it with the rice, and shape into a ball, a cylinder, a flattened round, or a flattened triangle. Place on a platter. Repeat with remaining umeboshi. Wrap a soaked nori strip or square around each of the umeboshi balls if you wish. (Moisten the overlapping ends to help the nori stick.)
4| Use the same technique to make 8 balls (or cylinders, rounds, or triangles) filled with kombu relish. Add to the platter.
5| Repeat the technique to make 4 bonito balls, filling each with one quarter of the bonito mixture and rolling the finished balls in the remaining bonito flakes. Place on the platter.
6| Shape 4 balls, filled with the pickle. Roll the pickle onigiri in the sesame seeds and place on the platter.
7| If any rice remains, mix with toasted sesame seeds, whole or ground (1/4 teaspoon per ball), and shape into balls or triangles. Wrap a nori strip or square around each sesame onigiri.
8| Arrange all the pieces decoratively on the platter and serve, accompanied by pickled ginger if you wish and a dipping sauce of plain soy sauce or soy sauce flavored with a dash of wasabi.
9| Makes about twenty rice balls.
Alternatives:
You can also grill onigiri lightly, until slightly browned and crisp, then brush the grilled balls with a little soy sauce or a very small amount of brown miso. Grilled onigiri can make a simple soup more interesting: Place one ball in each soup bowl, top with minced scallions or a little mitsuba or flat-leaf parsley, and then pour hot broth over.