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    Home » Recipes » Bento

    3 Ways to Shape a Perfect Onigiri (Japanese Rice Ball)

    Published: Jun 24, 2021 · Modified: Feb 21, 2022 by Yuto Omura

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    Onigiri is a Japanese rice ball that comes in many different flavours. It's tasty, filling and great for on the go. The best thing about onigiri is how customizable they are! If you want to try making your very own onigiri but don't know where to start, you're in the right place. I'm gonna tell you everything you need to know about onigiri and teach you how to achieve the perfect shape!

    3 ways to shape an onigiri rice ball

    Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Sudachi Recipes is part of the amazon associates programme and earns a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. See disclaimer for more info.

    Onigiri

    What is an onigiri?

    In short, an onigiri is a rice ball. It's made from sticky Japanese white rice, the same kind that we use to make sushi. Onigiri are most commonly shaped into a triangle with rounded corners, but they're sometimes completely round too.

    Salmon onigiri rice ball

    What flavour is onigiri?

    Just like a sandwich, onigiri is so customizable and it can be any flavour you like. There's different ways to flavour them too!

    • Seasoning - The most basic onigiri of all - salt. And it's one of the most popular types too! The salt helps preserve the rice and adds great flavour. It's easy, no fuss and you could add other seasonings like black pepper, aonori, sesame seeds or herbs!
    • Mixing - Another easy way to flavour onigiri is to mix the ingredients into the rice before shaping. I use this technique for my salmon onigiri and soboro chicken onigiri. Just keep in mind the water and fat content of your ingredients, if it's too wet or greasy the rice might lose it's stickiness and your onigiri might not hold its shape.
    • Filling - A little bit more tricky to do, but an extremely common way to flavour onigiri is to place a filling in the centre. This is great for ingredients that are too wet to be mixed into the rice. I use this technique for my tuna mayo onigiri recipe.
    • Cooking - Cooking the rice with other ingredients such as meat, vegetables or in stock instead of water, adds great flavour to the rice ball! Great flavour, but might be harder to shape.
    • Frying - We even have a fried onigiri called yaki onigiri. You can even deep fry them too!
    Holding Okaka Onigiri
    Okaka onigiri is flavoured with bonito flakes that have been soaked in tsuyu sauce.

    Onigiri Fillings

    The sky is the limit when it comes to flavouring onigiri. You can keep it simple, you can make it elaborate, it's totally up to you! Here are some popular fillings to give you a few ideas.

    • Salmon
    • Tuna
    • Ikura (salmon roe)
    • Pickled plum (umeboshi)
    • Kombu (seaweed kelp)
    • Shrimp
    • Chicken
    • Spam
    • Edamame
    two devil's onigiri rice balls with tenkasu and aonori
    A fan favourite, Devil's Onigiri (with aonori and tenkasu)

    What kind of rice do I use to make Onigiri?

    As I mentioned earlier, onigiri is always made with Japanese short grain white rice. This rice has a sticky texture so it's easy to make shapes that hold together by themselves. In fact, Japanese people love this rice and we eat it nearly every day.

    Because of it's stickiness, it clumps together and is easy to eat with chopsticks or shape into rice balls. Not to mention it's the most delicious kind of rice in my opinion!

    a close up of sushi rice on a rice paddle

    We usually cook the rice in a rice cooker, but if you don't have one, check out my post on how to cook Japanese style rice on the stove.

    Can I use brown rice?

    If you want to use brown rice, you will need to find Japanese short grain brown rice instead. It's the same type of rice but still has a layer of bran that adds flavour and nutrients to the grain. Japanese brown rice has the same sticky texture as the white variety, but it can be hard to find. Also, it needs 2-3 hours of soaking time.

    You can't use regular long grain brown rice to make onigiri, the grains don't stick together so it will only fall apart.

    two onigiri on a wooden platform

    You could try mixing a small amount of brown rice or multi-grains in with the white rice so that the onigiri can hold its shape, just be aware that in most cases you will need to cook them separately because the cooking times are different.

    Watch how to make onigiri step by step video

    How to shape onigiri

    There are three main ways to shape onigiri. I'm going to go through each method in detail.

    1. Shaping by Hand Only

    The simplest way to make onigiri is using your hands. Here are some pro's to making onigiri by hand.

    • No need for extra equipment
    • No waste (good for the environment)
    • Easy to make different sizes

    STEP ONE Set up a station with your cooked rice, a bowl of ice cold water and a small dish of salt.

    Set up of rice, water and salt for making onigiri rice ball

    STEP TWO Wash your hands thoroughly and then hold them in the icy water for 15-20 seconds.

    dip your hands in the icy water for about 20 seconds

    STEP THREE: Rub 2 pinches of salt over your palms and pick up a small handful of rice.

    Rub salt over your palms

    (If you're adding a filling, flatten the rice out on your palm and make an indentation with your fingers, place the filling in the middle and fold it over before shaping.)

    adding filling to onigiri

    STEP FOUR Cup your hand and push the rice into your folded palm, then turn the rice ball and push again. Once you have 3 edges, keep pressing and turning until your rice ball is firm and holds it's shape.

    shaping a salted onigiri by hand

    2. Shaping with Plastic Wrap

    Shaping an onigiri using plastic wrap is a common method in Japan. You can also use the same plastic wrap to wrap it up and put it in a lunchbox and keep it intact.

    Here are a few benefits to shaping with plastic wrap.

    • Mess-free
    • Hygienic
    • You can re-use the plastic and wrap it for later

    STEP ONE Break off a piece of plastic wrap and lay it on a flat surface.

    Using plastic wrap to make onigiri

    STEP TWO Sprinkle the plastic wrap with 2 pinches of salt and place the rice in the middle.

    • Salting plastic wrap in preparation to shape onigiri
      Sprinkling salt
    • Placing rice onto the plastic wrap to shape into onigiri
      Placing rice

    (If you're adding a filling, flatten the rice out, make a dent in the middle and place the filling in the dent. Fold it over before shaping.)

    STEP THREE Wrap the rice up and cup your hand. Push the rice into your folded palm, then turn the wrapped rice ball and push again. Once you have 3 edges, keep pressing the edges until your rice ball is firm and holds it's shape.

    Shaping onigiri with plastic wrap

    3. Shaping Onigiri with Molds

    If you're not confident in your onigiri shaping skills, I have some options here for you! Here I will explain how to use onigiri molds.

    Plastic Mold

    Plastic onigiri molds usually come in two or three sizes and are especially great for when you're adding fillings. I bought mine at Daiso (100 yen shop in Japan) but you can find them on Amazon here. (Affiliate link)

    Plastic onigiri rice ball molds

    Here are a few pro's for using plastic molds.

    • Fast
    • Hygienic
    • More consistence shape and size
    • Different shapes for fun bentos

    STEP ONE Mix salt into the rice before first.

    Mixing salt and rice

    STEP TWO Push the rice into the mold about ⅔ of the way up. (The lid needs to be touching the rice when we place it on.)

    Filling plastic onigiri mold with rice

    (If you're adding fillings, add half the rice, push it down, add the filling and then the other half of the rice.)

    STEP THREE Press the lid firmly down and then take it off.

    Pressing the lid of the onigiri mold

    STEP FOUR Remove the rice ball from the mold by pushing the tab at the back. Pull the mold away and the onigiri is complete.

    Pressing the tab of the onigiri mold
    Pressing the tab
    Onigiri rice ball shaped with plastic mold
    The rice ball comes out

    Wooden Mold

    A bit more old fashioned, but a lot sturdier is the traditional Japanese wooden onigiri mold. I bought this in a hardware store in Japan, and I can only seem to find them on Amazon Japan here.

    wooden onigiri mold

    The pro's to using a wooden mold are:

    • Fast
    • Consistent shape
    • Wooden molds are sturdy and less likely to break

    There are usually multiple slots so that you can make more than one onigiri at a time too!

    STEP ONE Soak the wooden mold in warm water for 10 minutes, this is to prevent the rice from sticking.

    Soaking wooden onigiri mold in water

    STEP TWO Mix salt into the rice

    Mixing salt and rice

    STEP THREE Place rice into the slots and press it down. (Make sure to push enough rice into the corners.)

    pushing rice into a wooden onigiri mold

    (If you're adding fillings, make an indent in the middle with your fingers. Place the filling in the dent and then pinch the rice around the edges over the filling, closing it up.)

    STEP FOUR Flip the mold over, press the onigiri firmly down and pull the mold up and away.

    Check out my Onigiri Recipes

    I've got lots of delicious onigiri recipes for you to check out.

    • Salmon and Spring Onion Onigiri
    • Okaka Onigiri with Bonito Flakes
    • Tuna Mayo Onigiri
    • Soboro Chicken Mince Onigiri
    • Yaki Onigiri
    • Devil's Onigiri (with aonori and tenkasu)
    Basic salted onigiri rice ball
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    Thanks for visiting Sudachi Recipes. My name is Yuto and I'm a Japanese guy with a passion for food. Here I share tasty and accessible recipes so that you can bring a taste of Japan to your own kitchen.

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