‘Yaki’ means grilled, while onigiri means ‘rice ball’. I love this very simple recipe of yaki onigiri. It is clean, dense, filling and lovely as a meal. The crisp and browned sides of the onigiri makes them look very tempting and inviting to eat even though it’s just rice and nothing else. If desired, you can also plump it up and press the rice together with some savoury ingredients such as tuna, salmon, corn, cheese slices, sesame seeds, roasted seaweeds etc. They can be smoked or canned or boiled. Very flexible, accommodating and easy to make.
Remember to grill it on the plate with a mixture of miso paste, mirin and sake sauce so that they become umami and unforgettable.
Ingredients:
- Sushi rice (short grain rice): 2 cups (200g)
- Water: 1.8 cups
- Kombu (dried kelp): 1
- Potato starch: 1 tbsp
- Miso paste: 1 tbsp
- Mirin: 2 tsp
- Sake: 2 tsp
- Sugar: 2 tsp
- Chive: 1 stalk, finely chopped
- Sesame seed: 2 tsp
- Butter: 1 tbsp
Method:
- Wash and rinse sushi rice 6 to 7 times till water becomes clean & clear. Leave to soak in water for 10min.
- Place rice, water and kombu into rice cooker and set to cook.
- Transfer cooked rice into sushi oke or any flat trays. Discard the kombu.
- Mix potato starch into rice. Stir to combine evenly.
- Divide rice into 6 portions. Shape into triangle using cling wrap.
- In a separate bowl, combine miso paste, mirin, sake, sugar, chives and sesame seeds.
- Heat butter in pan. Brush miso paste mixture onto onigiri. Pan-fry side with paste for 1min till lightly browned and crisp.
- Brush miso paste onto top side of onigiri. Flip to grill this top side.
- Remove onto serving plate. Top with sesame seeds and/or seaweed to serve.
Serving:
6 small onigiri
