The other day, I sat and watched an episode with my boys. The characters were eating a picnic lunch, and raving about the doughnuts they were eating. Brock was all like, "I especially love the jelly-filled ones!" or something like that.
(image courtesy of http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:Donuts.png)
I had to laugh. Because what they were eating was clearly NOT doughnuts: it was onigiri, a type of Japanese snack. Onigiri are basically balls of rice, often stuffed with fish or vegetables, and topped with a strip of seaweed and sesame seeds. I REALLY don't think you'd want to stuff them with jelly. :P I wonder why they decided to translate "onigiri" as "doughnuts" and not just "rice balls" or something more accurate.
In any case, it had been a long time since I'd thought about onigiri. I'd had them a couple of times before. The first time, I was a freshman in college. A bunch of my classmates and I met up at the house of one of our Japanese TA's to plan for a skit we would perform for the Japanese department's bunkasai (cultural festival). Our TA was a native Japanese, and while we were at her house we all helped make some onigiri. If I remember correctly, I think the rice had been cooked in chicken broth and there were cooked carrots in it. They were delicious!
I tried making onigiri again at home a few years later, but I don't remember much about it.
Anyway, after seeing those "doughnuts" on Pokemon I decided I wanted to try making them again! I looked up a couple of recipes, and using those as a reference, I gave it a try.
First, I bought some rice. One recipe I read said to use short grain rice, and another said to use medium grain. I bought a bag of medium grain. I measured out a cup of the dry rice, poured it into a fine mesh strainer, rinsed it under the water till the water ran clear, then dumped the washed rice into my rice cooker with two cups of water. Then pushed "cook" and waited a while. :)
In the meantime, I got the rest of the ingredients together. I found nori (seaweed) at the store that came in big sheets, used for making sushi rolls. I used some clean kitchen shears and cut one sheet into several strips, approximately 1" by 4" each.
Once the rice was finished cooking, I dumped it into a bowl. I shook a little (maybe a couple teaspoons' worth) of rice vinegar onto it, for flavor, then fluffed the rice.
Next came the fun part. Time to play with my food! I poured some salt onto a plate and added warm water. Before handling the rice, I dipped my hands into the salt water to help keep the rice from sticking. (And it really worked; I forgot one time and the rice stuck to me, well, like white on rice *ta-dum-ch!*) After dunking my hands, I filled my palm with warm rice.
Next comes the filling. One recipe I read said to shape the rice ball first, then make a divot for the filling that is then covered with the strip of seaweed. The other said to just shape the ball around the filling. I tried both methods and liked the latter method better. I used about a teaspoon or two of fish for each onigiri.
Most onigiri I've seen are shaped like triangles. To do this, flatten one side against your palm while squeezing the other two sides with your other hand. Turn the triangle and repeat, pressing firmly, until you had a nice triangle shape. Be sure to press firmly enough; otherwise your ball will come apart after you put it down (I had one of mine try that on me... it was a shady little sucker.)
Once you have your rice triangle, grab a strip of seaweed and moisten one side in the salt water.
Then wrap it around one side of your triangle. After this, if desired, you can sprinkle some sesame seeds onto the onigiri (but I forgot this time. Dang.)
I ended up making 11 rice balls with the amount of rice I'd cooked.
Onigiri really are a tasty little snack. It tastes quite similar to sushi (it IS made with pretty much the same ingredients!), and it's pretty healthy too. Have you ever made and/or eaten onigiri? If so, what are your favorite fillings? Let us know in the comments!
****UPDATE****
So, something highly amusing happened as I was preparing this blog post. My two young sons saw the picture of Brock at the top of this page and said, "Oh look!! It's Brock and the doughnuts!" I chuckled and told them I'd made those "doughnuts" and they were in the fridge. I then attempted to explain to them that the "doughnuts" were actually onigiri and were made of rice and fish... but they were too busy running to the fridge and getting into onigiri to pay any attention. The next thing I heard was, "Ewwww....". LOL. My kids are picky eaters, and I'm sure it was a shock to eat fish and rice instead of the doughnut you were expecting!
ONIGIRI (Japanese rice balls)
(Recipe adapted from http://www.earthpoweredfamily.com/2016/01/14/onigiri/ and http://www.food.com/recipe/basic-onigiri-60398)
Makes 11-12 onigiri.
- 1 cup medium grain rice
- 2 cups water
- Fillings: a packet of tuna or salmon, an ounce of cream cheese cut into small cubes, avocado chunks, crab meat, shredded carrots, umeboshi (pickled plums), cucumber chunks, etc., etc. Whatever you'd like!
- Rice vinegar, if desired
- A sheet of nori (seaweed), cut into 1" by 3" or 4" strips
- A dash of salt and some water, for shaping the onigiri
- Sesame seeds or Chinese five spice, for topping, if desired
Cook the rice in a rice cooker or on the stove top. Once it is cooked, let cool until you can handle it. Mix the rice with a little rice vinegar, if desired. Fill your palm with rice, press a teaspoon or two into the center, and form the ball around the filling. Using the palm of one hand and your fingers and palm of the other hand, shape the ball into a triangle, pressing firmly. Moisten a strip of seaweed and wrap it around one side of the triangle. Eat immediately or refrigerate. Onigiri will keep for a day or two, tightly covered. To prevent sticking, place them in layers of wax paper.
