Brandon and I like to pack our lunches for work every day. I find that it's healthier and more cost-effective, and it's far less work than a lot of people think. Generally, I cook a huge batch of something on the weekend, then every morning while we're having breakfast, I throw a portion of it into two tupperware containers, which we reheat at lunchtime. It's a lazy approach, but it gets the job done.
Well, not this week. This week I wanted to get back into doing traditional Japanese bento lunches. So, we made a batch of dumplings a few days ago, and today we made a big batch of onigiri as well.
Onigiri is like the Japanese PB&J. It's just a really standard, comfort-food that is simple, yummy and filling. I'd like to walk you through how to make a couple different kinds of onigiri.
First, you need to make your filling. There are a number of traditional fillings, like pickled plums and salted salmon, but I make a slightly more Americanized filling. It has chicken, carrots and onion. You chop them up roughly and cook them in a skillet with soy sauce, brown sugar, and a dash of lemon juice.
It doesn't matter how you chop them, they're going in the food processor soon after.
You can play with the sauce if you want, but I prefer to season it very simply. I think this is an appropriate approach, since Japanese food is quintessentially clean and simple. Once the mixture has cooled a bit, put it through the food processor and get it chopped up very fine.
If you have excess sauce, you can pour it back over the finished mixture. The more flavor the better, there's going to be a LOT of rice at the end.
Next you need your rice! Nishiki, or sushi rice, is best. It's stickier than Chinese rice and is specifically made for this sort of thing. I use my rice cooker, but I know it can be done on a stove, it just takes a little practice.
The rice has to be hot when you use it.
You can make the filling ahead of time, but the rice absolutely must be fresh. It has to be hot and sticky in order to hold together properly, so make it right when you need it. If it cools to room temp, it's no good for onigiri.
The setup is a bit complex, but I'm also notoriously messy when I make onigiri, so that might be my fault. The main thing you will need is a bowl if warm salt water. You'll have to constantly dip your hands in the salt water so the rice doesn't stick. This can make a bit of a mess, so I keep a dish towel across my lap to catch drips of water and stray grains of rice.
Pajamas are totally appropriate onigiri-making attire.
If you want, you can use fancy onigiri presses, or you can just make them free-hand. Each approach has strengths and weaknesses. I'll show you how to do both.
Top right is traditional triangular onigiri. Top left is - I believe - a sushi press. Bottom two are for decorative "kawaii" onigiri shapes.
So let's start with a traditional onigiri. First, get your hands wet in the salt water. This is way more necessary than you might think.
Without the salt water, you will end up with rice-hands rather than onigiri. Trust me on this.
Then take a handful of rice - be careful, it can be extremely hot right at the beginning. Press it firmly into a ball.
Step 1.
Then do a "pinch-pot" sort of move with your thumb or fingers and create an opening. You want it to be large enough to spoon in the filling.
Does anybody remember pinch-pots except me?
It's okay if the ball starts to fall apart, just cradle it in your hand so it mostly retains its shape.
If I put this down, it would fall apart immediately, but that's ok! Because I'm not going to put it down.
Now spoon in the filling, making sure to keep it all in the opening. You want to use a tiny spoon, a teaspoon or smaller. The Japanese like their food to look very clean and plain, so try to keep the filling on the inside, so the outside of the ball is pure white when you're done. This part is tricky and takes practice, so don't worry if you don't get it right away.
I use the back of the spoon to smoosh the filling down, so it doesn't spill out when I try to close the ball.
By the way, at this point I've probably re-dipped my right hand in the saltwater at least about 5 times. You'll find yourself losing some grains of rice in the water bowl, that's okay. The important part is that you don't have rice sticking to your hands, and your onigiri aren't falling apart.
Once you have the filling in, you want to close the rice around it. If you've overstuffed the onigiri (which I do very often) you can grab more rice to cover the gaps. Once everything is covered, you can carefully shape the ball until you like it.
This would be a traditional triangle shape.
Today I just did traditional triangles and plain spheres, but in the past I've done some really fancy shapes. This is a photo from a few years ago:
Diggin' things up from the blog archives!
As you can see, I added the seaweed early on. I learned very quickly that this is a bad move, it makes the onigiri taste fishy. So, as cute as it can be, leave the seaweed off until it's time to eat them. In any case, all the onigiri in that photo are hand-made! So, the fancy shapes can be accomplished without an onigiri press. But it does make things quicker. So here's how I use mine:
First, put a tiny bit of rice, and try to make a well for the filling with your finger.
These are going to be more like snack onigiri. They're very small.
Add the filling,
Some of the filling will show on the sides, it's sort of unavoidable with these molds.
Then top them off,
Pile it high for a better result.
Then replace the lid and squeeeeeeeeeeeze!
Trying to look excited even though I'm exhausted.
The end result is adorable!
The hand-made onigiri are more dinner-size, whereas these are more lunch- or snack-size.
Lastly, you can make onigiri with rice seasoning (furikake) mixed throughout rather than filling spooned into the center. I use a mason jar to get the seasoning mixed evenly throughout the rice. If you do it right, you can mix the rice ball right there in the mason jar. It's tricky though, I've only gotten it to work once or twice. You have to shake it at just the right angle for it to arrange neatly into a ball.
On the right is egg-flavored (tamago) and on the left is salmon.
Ready to rock! Or shake, as the case may be.
Done! And oh-so pretty!
Since there is no protein and no vegetables in this type of onigiri, it's definitely meant as a side dish. But it can be a fun, decorative alternative to putting your stir fry over rice.
The veeeery last step is to cut up some seaweed to put over the onigiri. This adds some crunch and flavor, but mostly, it keeps the rice from sticking to your hands.
It comes in square sheets for wrapping sushi, but for onigiri you just need small strips.
"... Can I eat it now?"
Now THAT is a happy customer.
I'll show you guys some photos of our bento lunches later in the week!
