6 Authentic Style Rice Balls aka ONIGIRI Recipes You Can Easily Make!

In this video, I'll creating authentic onigiri using six of the most popular filling among Japanese people. First, let's cook the rice. For onigiri, I recommend using Japanese short grain rice. Any brand is fine. But I personally love tsuyahime rice. Here's a quick refresher on how to wash rice. If you're eager to get to the onigiri part, feel free to skip ahead. I usually add the rice directly to the rice cooker and wash it there. But some people prefer washing it in a bowl first. Once you've added the water, gently stir it once and then immediately drain it. Next, gently scoop up the rice and stir it like this. Avoid squeezing the rice too much as it can break. Then add water and rinse the rice. Repeat this process two to three times until the water runs clear. Once the water runs relatively clear, it's good to go. Add the required amount of water and press the start button. In my case, I like to soak the rice in water for an additional five minutes to remove smell from the rice. Even with the bag tightly sealed, rice tends to absorb surrounding aromas. So I find that soaking it in fresh water before cooking enhances the flavor. If you've opened the rice bag and it won't be used for a while, this step is especially recommended for better tasting rice. After soaking for 5 to 10 minutes, drain the water and add fresh water for cooking. Now let's prepare the first onigiri filling called Okaka. Okaka is a savory sweet concoction made by simmering bonito flakes in soy sauce. It pairs perfectly with rice and is highly recommended. Start by adding sugar, mirin, soy sauce, and water to a fry pan. Mix well and bring to a light simmer. Once simmering, reduce the heat and add the bonito flakes. Add 2 grams of bonito flakes. Stir continuously until the liquid evaporates completely. Okaka is consistently ranked among the most popular onigiri filling in Japan. If you have bonito flakes at home, you can easily make this filling yourself. I tried making it for the first time recently and my husband absolutely loved it. Here is a little insider tip about Okaka. In Japanese, bonito flakes are typically called Katsuobushi, not Okaka. However, when bonito flakes were first produced in Japan long ago, they were referred to as Kaka. The female servant working in the imperial place at that time would respectfully add the honorific prefix O to the word, calling it Okaka. There are several Japanese words that become more polite when the prefix O is added. Speaking of politeness, even the O in onigiri is a polite prefix. Once the liquid has almost completely evaporated, add the sesame seeds. Turn off the heat when the liquid has reduced to the point where a bit of soy sauce starts to caramelize on the edge of the pan. If you are worried about burning, feel free to turn off the heat earlier. Today we'll prepare three onigiri fillings first and then get to the actual onigiri making process. By the way, this video will showcase a total of six different onigiri fillings and two machine soups, so be sure to watch until the end. The second onigiri filling is tuna mayo. Have you ever made tuna mayo before? I think it's quite popular overseas too. Since this is all packed tuna, I'm draining the oil before transferring it to a bowl. I'll be using about 30g of canned tuna. Add mayonnaise. If you have Japanese mustard, add it in. Regular mustard works too, I think. Add a little soy sauce, sugar, and MSG. It's optional. Mix well. And there you have it. Tuna mayo is ready. Speaking of onigiri, I often buy tuna mayo onigiri from convenience stores in Japan. This tuna mayo recipe is inspired by the flavor found in Japanese convenience stores and other shops, so I hope you'll enjoy it. Next, we'll make a tempura musubi, which is basically an onigiri filled with shrimp tempura. I originally wanted to show you a mentaiko, cold raw onigiri, but I figured mentaiko might be hard to find overseas, so I'm introducing this instead. This shrimp tempura onigiri is also really popular in Japan. You often see it at slightly upscale onigiri shops with large shrimp tails sticking out. Today we'll be using frozen shrimp. I'm defrosting them. This is the sauce for the tempura. If you have a seasoning called mentaiko, use that. For those who don't have mentaiko, I'll show you how to make it yourself. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine mirin, soy sauce, sugar, dashi powder, and water. Mix gently and microwave for about 30 seconds to dissolve the sugar and dashi powder. Pat the shrimp dry throughly and coat them with flour. I got a bit lazy and started this step while the shrimp were still slightly damp, which caused some oil splatter when I fried them later. To make the tempura batter, simply mix flour, potato starch, and water. Since I'm only frying these 4 shrimp today, I've made a very small amount of batter. Here's my usual recipe, how large your batch. Before we continue, let me introduce a soup that pairs perfectly with onigiri. Today we'll make a healthy ramen-style creamy soup. This time, we won't be using any noodles or meat. Meat-based soup will come later, so stay tuned. Prepare your favorite vegetable and atsuage, thick fried tofu. Of course, you can also substitute meat for atsuage. Pork belly or ground pork are particularly good options. Place the atsuage and carrots in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the carrots are tender. Now let's season the soup. Add ginger, garlic, chicken stock powder, I used shantung, miso paste, and soy sauce. This is also where we'll add the beans part. I love buying onigiri from convenience stores and pairing them with cup noodles. It's not the healthiest option, so I only do it occasionally. This soup features bean sprouts that mimic the texture of noodles, allowing you to enjoy a healthier version of the onigiri and ramen combo. Plus, bean sprouts are packed with fiber, so they are good for your gut too. Simmer the bean sprouts for about 2 minutes. Once the soup is simmering, add the komatsuna and milk. Feel free to use any vegetable you like. Adding milk and garlic is my secret to achieving that creamy tonkotsu ramen flavor. I tasted the soup and found it a bit bland, so I added some shantung for depth of flavor. I also seasoned with salt and pepper. To finish it off, I drizzle a bit of rayu chili oil for an extra kick. I think using pork belly or ground pork instead of tofu or atsuage would add even more richness and flavor to the soup due to the natural oil in the meat. Now let's get back to making the onigiri. Dip the shrimp into the tempura batter we prepared earlier and fry them. You can use a small amount of oil. I fried them for about 2 minutes per side, being careful not to splatter the oil. Once they are golden brown, they are done. While the tempura is still hot, dip it into the sauce we microwaved earlier. I recommend dipping the tempura in the sauce just before assembling the onigiri. Place about 60g of rice on a sheet of plastic wrap. Top with the tempura. Add another 40g of rice for a total of 100g. Gently shape the rice into onigiri. I recommend transferring the rice from the rice cooker to a bowl and letting it cool for a few minutes before shaping the onigiri. Here is the okaka filling we made earlier. If you eat it right away, the onigiri can be a little warm, of course. However, if you are packing it in a vendor box or wrapping it in a plastic wrap to take with you, make sure the onigiri is completely cooled before doing so. Here is the tuna mayo onigiri. Some people might not like seaweed, so feel free to eat this onigiri without it. With or without seaweed, I recommend sprinkling a tiny bit of salt around the onigiri before eating for an extra burst of flavor. Wet your hands and spread a small amount of salt on your palm. Gently shape the onigiri, imagining coating the rice with the salt. Since the filling already has plenty of flavor, you only need a light sprinkle of salt. This method significantly enhances the flavor of the onigiri, so I highly recommend it. If you prefer to shape the onigiri by hand without using plastic wrap, start by spreading a small amount of salt on your palm. Then pick up a handful of rice, place the filling on top, and add more rice to cover it. I find it easier to create a neat shape by first shaping the rice using plastic wrap and then applying salt at the end. To clearly indicate the filling of each onigiri, add a topping. This step is not necessary if you are packing the onigiri in a vendor box. In onigiri specialty restaurants and other establishments where onigiri are served for dine-in, they are typically presented in this manner. I'll also sprinkle a bit of salt on the okaka and tuna mayo onigiri before wrapping them in seaweed. Now let's move on to the second half of the recipe. In this part, we'll introduce three more onigiri fillings and one soup. The first filling is kombu. Since large pieces of dried kombu can be expensive, I always keep shio kombu, seasoned kelp straps, on hand at home. Today we'll be using shio kombu for this recipe, but you can also use regular unsalted kombu. Since the shio kombu is already quite salty, we'll rinse it with hot water to remove most of the salt. We'll discard the rinsed water, but we'll reserve a small amount of the dashi that it creates. Mix the shio kombu gently and set aside 2 tsp of the dashi. Discard the remaining dashi. Transfer the rinsed kombu to a frypan. Leave the heat off for now. Add the reserved dashi to the pan. Add sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. Mix well and turn on the heat. Simmer until the liquid has completely evaporated. This filling is very similar to the okaka we made earlier, but the kombu has a distinct umami flavor that differs from the bonito flakes. My husband is a huge fan of dashi-based flavors, so he really enjoyed both the okaka and kombu onigiri, which both utilize dashi as a key ingredient. These fillings are often purchased at supermarkets and not made at home, but I'm so happy with the delicious recipes I've developed that I'm planning to make homemade okaka and kombu again soon. Once the liquid has reduced to this extent, add the bonito flakes and sesame seeds. The bonito flakes are optional. After adding these ingredients, turn off the heat and mix well. By the way, kombu onigiri is one of my favorites. If I had to choose two onigiri flavors from a convenience store, I'd go for tuna mayo and kombu. Please let me know your favorite onigiri fillings in the comments. This looks really good. The next ring is salmon. Salmon onigiri was ranked number one in the list I saw of Japanese people's favorite onigiri fillings. It's also one of my top favorites, along with tuna mayo and kombu. Sprinkling a bit of sake on the salmon before grilling will help it cook evenly and retain its moisture. Since we don't have a lid, cover the pan with aluminum foil. If you're using plain, unsalted salmon, sprinkle a bit of salt on it before cooking. Cook the salmon for 3 to 4 minutes over low to medium heat. Then flip it over and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Interestingly, the Japanese word for salmon is also sake, just like the alcoholic beverage. The pronunciation is slightly different, though. Once the salmon is cooked, remove the bones and skin. Now let's move on to making the soup. The second soup we'll make to pair with the onigiri is tonjiru, pork and vegetable miso soup. For this soup, I recommend using root vegetables like carrots, daikon radish, and gobo. I wanted to add konjac too, but I forgot to buy it. Since all of these vegetables take longer to cook, cut them thinly. Burdock root, in particular, has tough fibers, so I cut it small and thin to make it easier to digest. Today we're using pork fillet. Pork belly is also a great option as it adds a rich umami flavor to the soup. We've been enjoying healthier options lately, so we're sticking with pork fillet today. I'm marinating the pork fillet in a bit of shiokoji before adding it to the soup. This should help tenderize the meat and enhance its umami flavor. But feel free to skip this step if you prefer. Add all the vegetables to a pot, cover with water, and simmer until the hard vegetables are tender. This should take about 10 minutes. Once the vegetables have softened somewhat, add the pork fillet. Add the shiokoji marinade as well. When the meat is cooked through, add the miso paste. A general guideline for miso is 1 tablespoon per 200 ml of water, so I'm adding 3 tablespoons. However, if you're using shiokoji like me, it's better to reduce the amount of miso slightly. Miso paste varies in saltiness, so taste as you go and adjust accordingly. By the way, I blend two types of miso, but you can use just one. It was a bit salty, so I added a little water. The depth of flavor from the shiokoji was delicious. It pairs perfectly with onigiri, so please make tanjiro whenever you make onigiri. Now let's get back to making the onigiri. Remove the skin and bones from the salmon and cut into bite-sized pieces as shown. Don't add too much, or it will be difficult to shape the onigiri. So I'll use this amount. Feel free to adjust the amount of rice and filling to your liking. By the way, you can easily find onigiri molds online or in stores these days, so it might be a good idea to get one. I also bought a mini onigiri mold recently, so I'm planning to use it for making bento boxes soon. This is the kombu. And you don't have to make your onigiri in a triangular shape. You can also make them round. My mom used to make them round. The last onigiri filling is umeboshi, pickled plums. Umeboshi is the easiest filling to prepare since it doesn't require any cooking. Remove the seed from the umeboshi, cut it into small pieces, and place it on the rice. Umeboshi is quite salty, so this small amount is enough. The most standard type of umeboshi is salty, but there are also varieties sweetened with honey for a slightly sweet flavor. I haven't bought any recently, but those are also delicious. For pairing with rice, salty umeboshi might be the better choice. As I explained earlier, sprinkle a bit of salt on the onigiri before wrapping it in seaweed. Do you like seaweed? I love it. It goes well with various ingredients, and I also love the combination of natto, rice, and seaweed. Speaking of seaweed for onigiri, some people prefer it to be crispy, while others prefer it to be soft and moist after sitting in a bento box or other container for some time. It's amazing that you can always enjoy crispy seaweed with onigiri from Japanese convenience stores. There's a technique that can be used at home to create a crispy seaweed and onigiri set that's just as portable as those from convenience stores. I'll show you how to do that in a future video. Which onigiri looks the most delicious to you? Please try making various onigiri at home. Thank you so much for watching our video. Please subscribe to our channel. If you are already a subscriber and would like to support our channel, please join our membership. Membership feedback will be reflected in content creation. See you in the next video!