January 24, 2012

Onigiri/おにぎり

Last Sunday, I made onigiri (rice balls) for my son.
日曜に、息子のためにおにぎりを作りました。

One important thing to remember when making onigiri is, "Make while the rice is hot."
おにぎりを作るときに大切なことの一つは、「ご飯が熱いうちに作る」ことです。

My way of making onigiri has changed over the years, and here is my present method:
0. Put some cold water in a container, and set aside.
1. Put some hot rice in a bowl.
2. Add a certain ingredient, mix well with a large spoon.
3. Wet my hands by dipping them in the container of water, scoop some rice with the spoon, and place it on my left hand.
4. Make the rice into a rectangle in my left hand, turning it with my right hand four times ONLY.
私のおにぎりの作り方は年を重ねるごとに変わって来ましたが、現在の方法は次の通りです。
0. 容器に水を入れて、置いておく。
1. ボールに熱いご飯を入れる。
2. 具を入れ、大きなスプーンでよく混ぜる。
3. 両手を水の入った容器に入れて濡らし、スプーンでご飯を取り、左手に置く。
4. 右手で4回だけ回しながら、左手でご飯を三角形にする。
5. Cut each sheet of nori lengthwise into four strips. Wrap each onirigi in one strip of nori.
6. Place one onigiri at the center of a sheet of plastic wrap.
5. 海苔一枚を縦に4枚に切る。おにぎりをそれぞれ一片の海苔で包む。
6. 一つのおにぎりをラップの中央に置く。
7. Wrap it this way first.
7. まずは次のように包む。
8. Then, wrap it this way.
8. それから、次のように包む。
Done!
完成!
My son took three of them with him. I had the rest for lunch that day.
息子は三つ持って行きました。残りはその日の昼食に私が食べました。

9 comments:

muskratbyte said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
muskratbyte said...

Here in Texas, when people talk about 'soul food' they usually mean southern-style cooking, made with lots of love, that they remember eating when they were kids. When I hear the term 'soul food', I think of onigiri, because my grandmother often made them for me. Usually they were simple rice, stuffed with umeboshi and wrapped in nori. To this day, every time I eat onigiri, I think of my grandmother. Thanks for sharing!

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, I love onigiri, but I am too lazy to make them in my hands since a friend offered me a plastic onigiri triangle shaper ;-) What are your onigiri with?

Hiroyuki said...

muskratbyte: Yes, onigiri are soul food for the Japanese!
The onigiri my mother used to make for me were rather big, tightly packed, and entirely wrapped in a generous amount of nori.
I wish I could have them again; I can't make onigiri the way she did.

Sissi:
1. Salmon flakes
2. Cod roe furikake
3. Yukari (red shiso) furikake
2. and 3. are shown here:
http://hiro-shio.blogspot.com/2010/03/furikake-etc.html
(Yukari in the photo contains sesame seeds, but I used sesame seed-less yukari.)

Such a "shaper" is superior for sanitation reasons, but I really have never wanted to use one to make onigiri. This may sound illogical, but I think many Japanese would feel the same way.

muskratbyte said...

Hiroyuki-san, I feel exactly the same way about making onigiri with your hands. :O)

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, I am too clumsy ;-) I have tried several times making onigiri with hands and my friend offered me this surprising tool (I had never heard about it before) because I kept on complaining about the horrible shapes I obtained with my hands.
Thank you for precising the additions. I even have shiso furikake I have never used!

Hiroyuki said...

muskratbyte: Thank you for convincing me that I'm not the only one.

Sissi: I don't think you are clumsy. Probably you just don't know how to use your hands to make rice into a proper shape. You will learn how to do it in no time.
I made onigiri for my daughter this morning, and I realized that I didn't make onigiri in the way I described here. I will correct the description later. (I thought I was clumsy with my wording! (laugh). It's sometimes difficult to describe what you do almost instinctively, right?)

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, maybe I'm not patient enough then... I am not famous as the most meticulous and accurate person in the kitchen ;-) (Some relatives laugh on me when they see the shortcuts I often make or when I skip certain steps).

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: Anyway, I explained how to make onigiri with filling in them in another post. I'm drunk and I'm no mood to provide detailed descriptions. I will add more text when I'm sober!