Onigiri: Japanese Rice Balls

I found a mold to make Japanese rice balls at a Korean grocery store. What fun! With a bit of seaweed, sushi rice and some fillings you can make a batch of snacks for the week. Traditional fillings include tuna, flaked cooked salmon or umeboshi (pickled plum). You can toast these in a frying pan before noshing if you like them warm.



Onigiri: Japanese Rice Balls
From JustOneCookbook

2 cups short-grained sushi rice, rinsed and drained
2.5 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
4 sheets nori seaweed, cut into thirds
1 can tuna, drained
2 Tblsp mayonnaise
1 tsp tamari sauce

Cook the sushi rice in a rice cooker with the salt. This will take about 35 minutes.

To make the tuna filling, combine the tuna, mayonnaise and tamari in a bowl. Fill half the mold with rice, add a knob of filling (1-2 tsp) in the center, add more rice to fill and press into shape with the mold. Wrap the rice ball with a strip of nori.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.