Yes, You Can Nail This Japanese Classic: Onigiri | Make This Tonight

"The rice is fluffy, the filling is creamy, and the nori is crunchy! Rika shares her tips for making the perfect homemade Japanese Onigiri right at home.
RECIPE:
Ingredients:
2 cups (450 grams) Japanese short-grain rice
2 1/3 cups (560 milliliters) water, soft water if possible
sea salt (for each onigiri, use 1/5 teaspoon (1 gram) salt
2 sheets nori, each cut into 4 pieces
For the filling
Tuna Wasabi Mayo Onigiri with Nori 4
2 oz (60g) tuna, canned
3 tablespoon Japanese mayonnaise
Sea salt
1 teaspoon wasabi

Bonito flakes and sesame oil onigiri
1 pack bonito flakes
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Sea salt
Equipment Needed:
Heavy pot
2 bowls
Miso soup cup
Chopsticks
Method:
1. First, cook the rice. In a bowl, pour fresh water on the rice. Drain the water.
2. Gently rub the rice with your hand. Add water, mix gently, and drain. Repeat this process 4 times.
3. In a pot, add the rice, water, and let it sit for 30 minutes, which will allow the rice to absorb water.
4. Cover with a lid, and bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Once the water starts to boil, turn the heat to low and cook for 13 minutes. Turn off the heat.
5. Make the fillings. For tuna, wasabi and mayo, place the ingredients into the bowl and mix well. For the bonito flakes and sesame oil, mix the bonito flakes, soy sauce, and the sesame oil and mix lightly.
6. To make the Tuna mayo onigiri, wet both hands with water. Apply a pinch of the salt to one hand, then rub it on both hands.
7. Pick up rice, about the size of a tennis ball. Place the tuna mayo inside, gently roll the rice in your hands 7 to 8 times to form it into a triangle.
8. The secret to perfect onigiri is to shape the rice gently as if you are holding something precious in your hands.
9. Place the rice ball in the center of a piece of nori. Fold the nori, and it's done.
10. Do the same with the bonito flakes and sesame oil onigiri. Place two onigiri on a plate.

To accompany the onigiri, I recommend you to make 1-minute miso soup.
You simply put granulated dashi powder,
miso paste,
ground sesame seeds,
chopped spring onions, and
hot water to a cup.
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 4
Anecdotes/Related Tips/Why Should People Make This?:
Onigiri, Rice Balls
Konnichiwa. I am Rika Yukimasa.
I am a cookbook writer, and I flew from Tokyo to be your host for this episode.

Today, I am going to introduce you to one of our soul food, Onigiri, the rice balls.
They are a savory combination of rice, filling, and nori seaweed. Japanese enjoy the as breakfast,
portable lunch and picnic food.

There are two essential ingredients for onigiri.
Short grain rice and water.
The short-grain rice is more moistures and fluffier than the long grain rice.
It's best cooked with softer, pure water with less mineral content.
When I cook the rice, I use the water pitcher with a filter.

You can put any kind of filling in the onigiri.
Today, I am making tuna mayo wasabi and the bonito flakes.

Let’s get started and grab someone’s heart by cooking delicious onigiri.
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