Recipe: Onigirazu! (Patreon)

Have onigirazu made it out of Japan yet? 

They were all the rage several years ago here. And there was a time I made them exclusively, giving up regular rice balls and even sandwiches for these fun flattened, square rice balls.  

With regular onigiri, tradition pretty much limits what you can put inside them. Umeboshi (pickled plums), salmon, tuna, konbu seaweed, or okaka (katsuobushi fish shavings with a sprinkle of soy sauce) are the usual biggies.

But then came the manga "Cooking Papa". In it the protagonist and cooking papa invented the onigirazu. Nigiru means to mould something in your hands. So onigiri is a rice ball formed into the standard round or perhaps triangle shape with your hands. 

But the Cooking Papa wanted to make something easier. Onigirazu basically means, *not* formed with your hands. They're kind of a cross between a rice ball and a sandwich. Despite being made with the typical nori-seaweed and white rice, the fillings are totally up to you. 

Here are some photos of my very first attempt at onigirazu.  

I had managed to find pastrami in the local supermarket (kind of a miracle) and some boring-looking sliced cheese, lettuce, and cucumbers (?).

(Note: I put some photos I found online of different ideas for fillings below. )

First, lay out some plastic wrap with a big piece of nori on top. Spread on a thin layer of rice. I kept putting on too much rice, too much filling, and then a top layer of too much rice, and it became impossible to close the nori around the filling. It took me several tries to figure it out.

Thinking about it now, at this point you can sprinkle the rice with sesame seeds, salt, I don't know, a little siracha maybe? 

Okay, next add your filling. Whatever your heart desires. Here's mine. 

It's not shown, but you'll want to add another thin layer of rice on top of this. 

Next, you'll need to fold it, bringing all four corners into the middle. There's a photo below that demonstrates that nicely.

Tadah!

Or a better tadah! 

Finally, cut that puppy in half and plate it or obento box it. 

Here's another photo I found. Looks like ham, two kinds of cheese, something green.

I remember doing cream cheese and smoked salmon; and tomato, basil, prosciutto, cracked pepper, and camembert cheese,  a lot, too. Didn't take any photos evidently.

Below is how the layering and folding should go. Like I said, it took me awhile to stop overfilling. I kept thinking this is supposed to be easier (!) that a regular onigiri?

Some ideas for fillings (below photo, top). 

1) Chicken, cabbage and mayo  

2)  Shrimp, wasabi mayo, lettuce, avocado, cheese

3) Basically a BLT, lettuce, bacon, tomato, cheese

4) Egg salad, ham, lettuce

1) Spam, lettuce, thinly cooked eggs

2) Lettuce and kinpira (a gobo and carrot salad that I'm not particularly fond of)

3) Chicken soboro (minced chicken cooked with sake, soy sauce, ginger and sugar), spinach, scrambled eggs

4) Ketchup rice, eggs (omu raisu)

Below is the cover of a cookbook with some ideas. Yakisoba fried noodles and the Hello Kitty caught my eye. 

Does anyone else make onigirazu? Any good filling ideas? I remember fondly these being great for on the go and picnics. Perhaps a picnic on my verandah? 

XO,

terrie