Pork-Wrapped Rice Balls (Nikumaki Onigiri)

Divide 300 g cooked Japanese short-grain rice into 50g pieces (approx 1/3 cup). Wet your hands and shape each portion into a barrel shape. Press the rice firmly enough to hold its shape but be careful not to crush the rice.

Wrap the barrel lengthways with one slice of pork belly and trim the excess with scissors.

Wrap the excess and one half of another slice in the other direction until the rice is completely covered. Each rice ball should use 1 and a half 12 inch pieces of pork belly.

Dust a plate with 1 tbsp cornstarch and coat each pork-wrapped rice ball with a thin layer. Dust off any excess before adding them to the pan.

Heat a large frying pan on medium and add ½ tbsp cooking oil. Place the rice balls in the pan and fry. Turn occasionally until golden and lightly crispy all over.

While you wait, take a small bowl and mix 3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 3 tbsp sake, 2 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp grated ginger root and 1 tsp grated garlic.

Once the pork is crispy and cooked through, use kitchen paper to wipe up the excess oil in the pan.

Increase the heat to high and pour the sauce into the pan. Turn the rice balls frequently until coated in sauce. Once the sauce has thickened and the rice balls are fully covered, remove the pan from the heat.

Sprinkle the top with 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds and wrap each rice ball with a perilla leaf. Enjoy!