Yaki Onigiri Grilled Rice Balls
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Onigiri or rice balls are a traditional and popular Japanese snack that you may have already seen in your favourite manga, anime or drama. Onigiri come in different shapes, with different fillings and can sometimes also be called nigiri or omusubi. In Japan, you can find a variety of onigiri in convenience stores and supermarkets wrapped in nori seaweed and usually filled with tasty ingredients such as salmon, tuna mayo, Japanese umeboshi pickled plum and many others. The roots of onigiri go back to the early stages of Japanese history where simple ingredients were combined with rice to make a quick meal. Many Japanese people consider onigiri a comfort food, something that mum used to prepare for a bento lunchbox.
Yaki onigiri or grilled rice balls are simply grilled with various Japanese sauces to make a delicious type of onigiri with crispy rice on the outside and soft, fluffy rice on the inside. This recipe will explain how to simply prepare your own yaki onigiri rice balls easily at home!

1 person 10 minutes 15 minutes save

Ingredients

• Japanese Rice – Approx. 65g of uncooked rice per onigiri
• Soy Sauce – three to four Tbsps
• Sesame Seeds – optional
• Onigiri Rice Mould – optional

How to prepare

Let’s first prepare the rice following our online recipe for sticky rice if using a saucepan, or by using a rice cooker if you have one.
Once the rice is ready, preheat your oven to 190°C.
Grab some hot rice and mould it into a triangular or round shape with your hands, making sure to compact the rice as much as possible to stop the onigiri from falling apart when you grill it. If you cooked your rice the night before and it has become cold, just warm it up a few minutes in the microwave. Keep at least one side flat so you can grill it easily. If you don’t trust your hands, you can use an onigiri mould.
Adding a filling to your yaki onigiri is optional, but if you do, simply create a small dent in the centre of the rice and add your chosen ingredient before covering with rice. Be careful though, putting too much filling inside may make your onigiri break apart too easily.
Try using cooked tuna or salmon chunks, umeboshi pickled plum even sundried tomatoes.
Grease an oven pan with a little cooking oil and place the onigiri on the pan before putting in the oven. Grill the onigiri for 10 minutes, turning once half way so that both sides are evenly cooked. Be careful when you turn the onigiri over so it doesn’t break apart.

Don’t turn off the oven yet! After grilling for 10 minutes, take the onigiri out and use a cooking brush to cover both sides with soy sauce. Once you have done that, put the onigiri back in the grill for an additional three to four minutes (turn it over halfway for the best result).
Now simply sprinkle some sesame seeds over your onigiri and enjoy!
To enjoy your yaki onigiri even more, here are some suggestions for Japanese drinks to enchance the experience.:

• Enjoy some traditional Junmai Sake to get the feeling of being in an authentic Japanese izakaya bar. Junmai Sake is made with rice, water and koji which is brewed using the traditional kimoto technique where the starter mash is ground into a paste first. It is a full bodied, deep, mildly fragrant, dry sake.

• The traditional and popular Japanese green tea is a perfect accompaniment for those who don’t drink alcohol but still wish a full Japanese experience.

Tips and information

• Use a paper towel to grease your oven pan with cooking oil.
• Keep your hands wet when moulding the onigiri as the rice is sticky!
• Try using utensils such as cookie cutters to create unique onigiri shapes.
• If you don’t have a cooking brush, add some soy sauce to a plate then just dip each side of the onigiri in the soy sauce slightly.
• Try a miso flavour instead of soy sauce with one and a half teaspoons of miso, one teaspoon of mirin and one teaspoon of soy sauce. As miso has a stronger taste, just brushing it on one side of the onigiri should be enough!