Onigiri
Filled rice balls wrapped in nori seaweed: Japan’s pocket lunch, in every konbini and every bento box. They’re filled with salmon, umeboshi plum or tuna mayo.
Ingredients
- 400 g Japanese short-grain rice
- 480 ml water
- Salt
- 1 salmon fillet (or tinned tuna with mayonnaise)
- 2 sheets of nori seaweed
- Sesame seeds (optional)
How to make it at home
- Rinse the rice until the water runs almost clear and leave it to drain for 30 minutes.
- Cook it covered with the water over a low heat for 12 minutes and leave to rest for another 10 without lifting the lid.
- Grill the salmon with salt and flake it.
- Wet your hands, rub them with salt, take a portion of hot rice, make a hollow, add the filling and close it into a triangle, without pressing too hard.
- Wrap the base with a strip of nori just before eating, so it stays crisp.
The trick: Water and salt on your hands: that way the rice doesn’t stick and it’s seasoned.