Cooked Japanese Short-Grain Rice: Essential for any kind of onigiri. For recommended brands in the U.S. and cooking instructions, see myHow to Cook Japanese Rice Recipe.
Sushi Nori Seaweeds: Essential for rice balls, making onigiri truly complete.
Salt: High-quality sea salt is recommended for the best flavor.
Ice Cold Water: Used for handling freshly cooked hot rice to stop it from sticking to your hands.
Instructions
Set up a bowl of ice water, 1/2 tbsp salt and 700 g cooked Japanese short grain rice .
Wash your hands thoroughly and then submerge them into the bowl of icy cold water for about 15 20 seconds. This will stop the rice sticking to your hands.
Rub 1 2 pinches of salt over the palms your hands. This not only adds the flavour to the rice ball, but also helps preserve the rice.
Take a handful of warm cooked rice and pressing the edges while turning to form a triangle shape. My technique is "press and turn" until the onigiri becomes a firm triangle shape. (Don't handle the rice for too long, quicker is better.)
Repeat until you’ve used up your rice (you should be able to make 5 6 rice balls) and then wrap each onigiri with nori.
Eat straight away or put in your lunch box with an ice pack. Best eaten the same day.
Simple Shio Onigiri (Salted Japanese Rice Ball) · Dinner Match Lab | Dinner Match Lab
