Onigiri Recipe: Onigiri is one of those Japanese foods that you will see all over Japan.

Onigiri by joo0ey / © Some rights reserved.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license

 

They are so popular and common that even convenience stores (コンビニ) sell them. The great thing about onigiri is that they are both tasty and nutritious.

Onigiri can be filled with a variety of ingredients and depending on the ingredients they get their names. Each Onigiri has a different amount of calories and nutrients but they all share the nutritions Rice and Nori (dry seaweed).

※ Nori are low in fat, low in protein, low in carbs, are a good source of vitamin C, Iodine (less salt intake), Potassium, Vitamin A, Magnesium, Omega-3, Omega-4 and are said to prevent hair loss in Men. 

None of the Onigiri have more than 200kcal except for the Tuna Onigiri:

Find more nutrition fact about Onigiri on Calories in Japanese Food

Onigiri are very easy to make. The only secret in making them is the rice. You will need short grain rice not the normal rice you usually use. The difference is that normal rice doesn't get sticky and fluffy after cooking it.

 

Ingredients

• Short grain Rice

• Salt

• Filling (Katsuobushi, Umeboshi, Salmon, etc. )

• Nori (dried seaweed)

1) First, make the rice. Take one cup of rice, place it in a bowl and wash and rinse it with water twice. The third time, pour water in the bowl and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. After 20-30 minutes, rinse again and put the washed rice in a stove.

The Rule of thumb is that for every cup of rice you use you will need one and a half cup of water.

1 cup of rice = 1 1/2 cup of water

2 cup of rice = 3 cup of water

After you pour the right amount of water into the stove, cook it at high heat for a minute and stir. Then, place the lid on the stove and reduce the heat to low. Let it cook for 15-20 minutes and you are done.

2) Let the rice cool down and then wash and wet your hands. Sprinkle some salt on your hands and shape the rice into a characteristic triangle. Once you are done, you can make a small well in the riceball and fill it with your favorite ingredients.

3) Finally, take a Nori sheet (maybe cut it to fit the riceball) and wrap it around it. Your onigiri is done (✧﹃ ✧)