Serves: 4
In my travels to Japan I have always loved grabbing some onigiri, or rice balls. These tasty little guys usually come with a filling covered in sushi white rice and then wrapped in seaweed. Some traditional fillings are pickled plum, mushrooms, or fish. I went simple and tasty with three different options but feel free to get creative!
Needs
Rice:
1 cup short grain brown rice – if you are not used to making these or sushi, I would recommend using a sushi white rice.
1 cup vegetable broth
2 stems of fresh parsley
1/8 cup black sesame seeds
Goodies: (3 different fillings below)
Mushroom & Capers:
1 maitake mushroom
1 tsp capers
1 tsp soy replacement – Coconut Secret’s coconut aminos original
Asparagus & Pepper:
half of a red bell pepper
8 stalks of asparagus
1 tbsp of teriyaki sauce – Coconut Secret’s coconut aminos version
Pickled Cabbage:
¼ cup kimchi – I like to use Ozuke’s napa & garlic flavor
Wrap:
organic nori sheets (seaweed)
*If you use short grain brown rice you might want to use a mold to form your onigiri. I purchased mine on Amazon for a good price. Our you can use plastic wrap to help you mold smoothly. When I use white sushi rice though I tend not to use the molds as the rice is sticky and moldable on its own.
Getting Started
Start by rinsing and draining your rice, then cook with vegetable broth. Parsley and sesame seeds will be added after the rice is cooked. I use a rice cooker, but you can also cook on the stove. While that is cooking start prepping your vegetables for any of the fillings you have picked up above in the ingredients list. Dice your vegetables small so that your able to have more of a variety in your rice ball. You won’t need a lot of filling as these are mainly rice.
Mushroom & Capers:
Capers will not need to be cooked or chopped unless you prefer. Once your mushroom is chopped up finely, place it into a pan with your soy sauce alternative. Cook until mushroom is tender. Mix in your capers when mushroom is off the stove.
Asparagus & Red Pepper:
It’s important that you chop up both of these vegetables finely so that they cook quickly and allow for a mix of the vegetables in each rice ball.
Once chopped, place in your pan with teriyaki sauce until asparagus is tender.
Pickled Cabbage:
You do not need to cook your kimchi but will help if you cut it up in smaller pieces so that the onigiri is easier to eat.
Once your rice is cooked, it’s time to add in the minced parsley and sesame seeds, place your rice in a mixing bowl along with these ingredients and stir together. When that is ready you can start forming your rice balls!
When forming the rice around your filling you will need to make sure your hands are wet with water. I like to get a bowl of water and set it next to me as I’m forming these so that my hands can stay wet throughout the entire process and I don’t have to keep traveling to the sink. If you want a little extra flavor you can also sprinkle a little salt on your hand as well. I skipped on salt since the rice is already cooked with vegetable broth.
Spread a layer of rice in the palm of your wet hand. You can be generous with the amount of rice. Around 1/4 - 1/3 cup is pretty good. Then place in the center of your rice layer 1tsp of filling. You can press the filling in a little so that its cupped into the rice. 2 tsp of filling should be the max for each rice ball, if you place to much in, the rice won’t be able to form around the filling well enough to stay together when eating.
Start to mold the rice around your filling with your hands. Be sure not to squeeze to hard when molding or the rice will just crumble between your fingers. It’s an easy process you just have to take it easy . It’s like when the dentist tells you to not brush your teeth to hard ha,ha! When you’re gentler with it and keep your hands wet it will mold easily for you.
If you are using brown rice or purchased molds, still complete these steps and then place into the mold to finish forming. If you decided to use plastic wrap, I would still wet your hands but use the wrap to complete the molding steps above.
As your rice balls are finished place onto a plate until the desired amount has been molded. Next will be wrapping the nori sheets.
Grab your nori sheets, you will see they have perforated lines running down them. Cut down every other line so that your nori stripes are about 1 ½ - 2 inches wide and run down the entire length of the sheet. Grab that bowl of water as you will need it while wrapping.
I like to leave the rice ball standing on the dish so that the pinnacle point is facing up to the ceiling. Start by centering the nori strip from the back and wrapping towards the center front. Once the ends have folded over one another in the front, dab a small about of water on your figure and rub on the nori’s back side (only on the end that will be on top of the other end). Keep rubbing gently until the nori has fused together.
You are all set and can eat right away! If you choose to eat these later, you will need to refrigerate. These will be good for a couple of days if refrigerated but I would hold on the nori wrap until ready to eat. This is also a wonderful mixed bowl!
If you love the way this recipe turned out for you, post a story and tag @carrotlifeandlove. Excited to see your recreations!
Love & Carrots,
- B
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