How to Make Japanese Onigiri (Rice Balls) おむすび
Omusubi, or onigiri, are a Japanese food made from rice wrapped in nori (seaweed). With many delicious fillings and flavour variations these little rice balls are the perfect portable little snack or bento box addition!
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- ½cup/310g rice (uncooked) (*1)
- 1 nori (seaweed) sheets ( *2 )
- 1 seeded umeboshi pickled plum
- 2 tbsp of bonito flakes (*or 2.5g if you have a kitchen scale)
- ½ tsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp mirin
- 95 g tinned tuna (*3)
- ½ tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 1 piece Salted salmon (*4 )
Instructions
- 1
Cook the rice according to your rice cooker or if you don’t have a rice cooker, follow the instructions here. *5
- 2
Transfer the cooked rice to a separate bowl to cool it down. I used a Japanese wooden bowl*6 for sushi making.
- 3
Prepare all the fillings that you are going to use and set aside. *7 see some suggestions
- 4
I used Umeboshi (pickled plum), Okaka (bonito flakes), and Tuna. For Umeboshi, deseed the plums then divide the flesh into three chunks. For Okaka, place bonito flakes into a small mixing bowl and combine with soy sauce and mirin. For Tuna, drain the brine or olive oil and mix with 1 tbsp mayonnaise.
- 5
Prepare seaweed sheet (nori). ＊8
- 6
Place plastic wrap over a rice bowl.
- 7
Place ⅙ of the cooked rice ( 3/4 cup or 120g) over the centre of the plastic wrap and make a well.
- 8
Put about 1tsp of umeboshi (or any fillings of your choice) on the centre of the rice then cover with the rice around.
- 9
Wrap the plastic wrap over the rice and squeeze and mould the rice into a triangle shape with your hands.
- 10
Remove the plastic wrap and cover the bottom of the rice triangle with a nori sheet and set aside.
- 11
Repeat the same steps as above to use rest of the rice with other fillings that you prepared.