Onigiri |Cooking With Amanda

Onigiri rice balls are the best seller of any convenience stores in Japan. Japanese people love onigiri rice balls and eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and for snacks. They are super easy to make and can be eaten on the go.

You can have plain rice balls or fill the rice balls with a variety of ingredients. The most common and popular fillings are pickled plum, tuna mayonnaise, and grilled salmon. I am going to show you how to make onigiri rice balls with furikake rice seasonings.

Usually when we make plain onigiri rice balls, we wet our hands with salty water so that the rice grain does not stick to your hands and also gives the plain rice a little bit of a salty taste. The rice itself does not have much taste so the fillings need to have a strong flavour and taste.

There are a lot of different flavoured rice seasonings available and you can buy them from any Asian grocery shops or buy them online.

Shaping onigiri rice balls into a triangle might be a little bit of challenge if you have not done this before. It does take a little bit of practice. You could also buy a triangle rice ball mould if you prefer, but it is fun to make your own rice balls by hands.

My students definitely enjoy making rice balls in lessons and request to have the rice ball-making lesson often. When I make rice balls with my students, I use cling wrap to shape the rice balls. The rice balls stay clean because your hands do not make contact with the rice and it is also less messy because the sticky rice will not stick to your hands.

To have nicely shaped rice balls, you need short grain glutinous rice. The long and dry rice such as Basamati or Jasmine will not suit making rice balls because the rice grain will not stay together and when you grab it, it will crumble and break.

Rice balls are easy, cheap and fantastic alternatives to bread. Hope you enjoy making your own rice balls.

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