Lightly salted rice, most often in the shape of a triangle, wrapped in nori seaweed. This is the basic onigiri. In Japan, you can find them in almost every store. It’s an ideal snack on the go. Onigiri can vary in shape and fillings.
What Is Yaki Onigiri?
The word “Yaki” means grilled or baked. So the basic white rice onigiri is fried on the grill or pan. It is usually coated with some type of sauce based on soy sauce or miso paste while baking. They remain crispy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside.
This recipe is an easier version without the sauce, you just need to grill onigiri with a few drops of sesame oil. The filling is more common in basic onigiri. Yaki onigiri are usually without the filling. Typical fillings include, for example:
- Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum)
- Katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
- Tuna
- Seaweeds
- Salmon
Yaki onigiri filled with cheese
Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix soy sauce, dashi powder, mirin/sugar with bonito flakes. Then put this mixture in cooked rice and mix well. Rice should be freshly cooked. Cut the cheese into smaller cubes.
- Start to form balls from the rice. Don't forget to put one cube of cheese inside. Then gently press the ball to create a pancake shape. They should not be completely round, as they will be fried in the pan on each side. There will be about 4-5 of them, depending on how big you make them. If the rice sticks too much to your hands, it will help if you sprinkle them with a little water. Or you can use baking paper to shape the "pancakes". Put rice on a square of paper, a cube of cheese in the middle and wrap it as if you were going to shape a ball.
- When onigiri pancakes are ready, fry them in a pan on each side with a little sesame oil.
Itadakimasu! [itadakimas]
