Featured Comment:
“So so good, I made these for my lunch today and I was not disappointed at all.”
– ShyFoodLover
What is Chicken Onigiri?
Chicken Onigiri is a Japanese rice ball dish where ground chicken’s sweet and savory flavors meet the simplicity of freshly cooked Japanese rice.
This seasoned chicken is expertly mixed with the rice, ensuring every bite contains a harmonious blend of flavors. The mixture is traditionally shaped into a triangle, creating a handheld treat that’s both satisfying and convenient.
The beauty of Chicken Onigiri lies in its simplicity and the contrast between the unadorned rice and the flavorful chicken. It’s a perfect example of how a few ingredients, combined with care and skill, can create a dish that’s both comforting and delicious.
Japanese-style pan-fried ground chicken (soboro) is popular for bento boxes and dishes such as Sanshoku Donburi.
How I Developed This Recipe
Having made my own bento since high school, I’ve become quite good at making onigiri. This experience was really valuable when I was putting this recipe for chicken onigiri together.
I spent a lot of time perfecting the flavor of the soboro until it met my standards for taste and quality. After making a few tweaks and doing some taste tests, I finally nailed the soboro flavor I was looking for.
The chicken is seasoned perfectly, with a delicious flavor that goes great with the rice without overpowering it. Why not give it a go for your lunch?
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Cooked Japanese Short-Grain Rice: Essential for authentic Japanese rice balls. With other rice types, it is impossible to form onigiri firmly. For guidance on choosing the right brand in the U.S. and cooking tips, see my How to Cook Japanese Rice Recipe.
- Sushi Nori Seaweeds: Perfect for wrapping rice balls. Onigiri isn’t complete without nori.
- Ground Chicken: You can use either ground chicken thighs or breasts. Ground turkey is also a suitable alternative.
- Soy Sauce: For Japanese brand recommendations, check out my soy sauce guide.
- Mirin: Opt for “hon mirin” (本みりん) if possible.
- Sugar: Regular sugar works, but I’ve been using light brown cane sugar lately.
- Sake: I use unsalted drinking sake in all my recipes. If using cooking sake, adjust the salt content. For more information, see my Sake 101 article.
Curious about the exact brands and products that bring my recipes to life? Discover the brands and ingredients behind my recipes at the Sudachi Amazon Storefront. Explore my handpicked pantry essentials and find your next kitchen favorites!
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsVisual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Chicken Onigiri at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
First, let’s heat up a frying pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add cooking oil and ground chicken.
Fry it until it’s nicely browned. It’s important to wait for the pan to get hot before adding the chicken for that perfect sear.
Next, add soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sake to the pan. Fry everything together until the liquid has fully absorbed.
Once done, remove it from the heat. This step is key for flavor!
Now, take a large bowl and add cooked Japanese short-grain rice and the seasoned chicken. Mix them thoroughly.
I always divide them into equal portions afterward. This ensures each onigiri has the same size and taste.
Prepare your mold and then shape the rice. If you’re shaping by hand, check out my article on ‘How to Shape the Perfect Rice Ball.’
For seasoned rice like this chicken onigiri, I personally prefer to use mold to make rice balls stay in shape. This is because the moisture in the mince makes it harder to shape.
Once your onigiri are shaped, wrap them with nori. You can eat them immediately or pack them in your lunch box with an ice pack.
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsHow to Store
For optimal flavor, enjoy rice balls fresh and avoid storing them at room temperature or in the fridge. To store, freeze them by wrapping them in plastic (excluding nori) while warm, then transferring them to a freezer bag after cooling.
Frozen onigiri lasts about a month but tastes best within two weeks. Microwave for defrosting.
FAQ
Onigiri is made with short-grain white rice and formed into a triangle or ball. In English, they are called rice balls. Ingredients are either mixed in with the rice or stuffed in the middle.
To ensure onigiri keeps its shape, we use Japanese short-grain white rice, which is a bit sticky (the same kind used for sushi).
When a recipe on Sudachi calls for “sake,” it refers to pure, unsalted sake, not cooking sake. If substituting with cooking sake, adjust the recipe’s salt accordingly. Sudachi’s dishes are crafted using drinking sake. For a deeper understanding of sake in Japanese cooking, including selection and substitutes, consult the Sake 101 post by a seasoned chef with over 30 years in the culinary industry.
Sushi is made with rice mixed with vinegar, salt, and sugar, whereas onigiri is made with simple salted or flavored rice. They are also shaped differently, so no, onigiri and sushi are not the same.
I hope you enjoy this Chicken Onigiri recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Onigiri Recipes
Chicken Soboro Onigiri (Japanese Ground Chicken Rice Ball)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 600 g cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 100 g ground chicken
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sake
- 6 strips sushi nori seaweed nori
Instructions
- Heat up a frying pan on a medium high heat. Once hot, add 1 tsp cooking oil and 100 g ground chicken and fry until browned.
- Add 1 tbsp soy sauce, ½ tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp sake to the pan and fry everything together. When the liquid has fully absorbed, remove from the heat.
- Add 600 g cooked Japanese short-grain rice and the seasoned chicken to a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Once evenly distributed, I recommend dividing into equal portions to ensure all the onigiri are the same size.
- Shape the rice in a onigiri mold. If shaping by hand, see my article how to shape the perfect rice ball.
- Once your onigiri are shaped, wrap them with nori. Eat them straight away or put them in your lunch box with an ice pack.
- Enjoy!
ShyFoodLover
So so good, I made these for my lunch today and I was not disappointed at all.
Yuto Omura
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Kyameron
I had to do some substitutions because I don’t use alcohol even in my cooking, and despite that this was very good and definitely something I will do again. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Yuto Omura
Hi Kyameron,
Thank you for trying the recipe, glad you enjoyed it!
Would you mind sharing your substitutions? It would be useful for other readers who don’t use alcohol in their cooking.
Thank you again!
Anh Pham
Well thought out and description of recipe. Thanks for the perfect recipe layout on this site.
Yuto Omura
Thank you very much for your kind words!
Eliot
I’m very new to cooking meat (vegetarian for years) and this was my first ever time cooking raw chicken!! Super delicious meal and super easy substitutes for those who need gluten free diet:)
Yuto Omura
Hi Eliot,
Thank you for the comment! I’m so happy you liked the recipe! 🙂
Yuto
Wendy Ann
Just made this today and this is so easy to make and also very tasty.
Yuto Omura
Hi Wendy,
Thank you for making this recipe! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
Yuto