Onigiri (Japanese rice balls)

Australians eat a lot of sushi. There is always at least one sushi outlet in every food court, shopping centre, and often in strip shopping areas as well. Sushi first came to Australia in the 1980s. In 2011, it was estimated we ate 115.6 million servings each year. In the last 10 years, the popularity of sushi has only increased. So, I have to admit it seems odd that most Australians have never heard of onigiri.

In my earlier travels to Japan, I had seen onigiri in convenience stores on a shelf near the sushi, but I hadn’t really paid them much attention. That changed in June 2024, when I visited Japan and did a couple of cooking classes in Osaka. One of these classes was for onigiri. The class was held on the island of Awaji — such a wonderful venue to learn this ancient art. Archaeologists have found evidence of primitive onigiri in ruins dating back to the first century AD! Since then, rice balls have been used as rations for soldiers and portable meals for travellers.

In some regions of Japan, these wonderful rice balls are called omusubi.

Onigiri differs from sushi in that the rice is not seasoned with rice vinegar. Instead, onigiri is seasoned by wetting your hands slightly and sprinkling your palms with a little salt each time you mould one. The nori is wrapped around the rice ball immediately before eating to ensure it stays crisp.

Once I knew what I was looking at, I discovered small onigiri shops in all sorts of places in Japan, including department stores and train stations. These shops made the onigiri fresh to order — the slightly warm ball of rice with the filling of your choice wrapped in a crisp nori sheet was just amazing. My "local" shop was run by two older ladies. The display had about 25 different fillings to choose from.

Most of these were gluten-free—though the tempura prawn and bonito (softened in soy sauce) sadly were not. Traditional fillings include pickled plums and kombu seaweed. I tried these, but they were not my favourites.

The most common shapes to mould the onigiri are triangles, balls, or barrel shapes. You can purchase a wide variety of onigiri moulds in all sorts of shapes, including hearts, animal faces, and stars. I was able to pick up a traditional triangular-shaped mould at my local Japanese cookware shop for under $5. It certainly makes preparing these very quick.

When purchasing onigiri from department stores or convenience stores, they are wrapped in an ingenious wrapper designed to keep the nori separate from the rice. This way, the nori stays crisp and doesn't absorb any moisture from the rice. These wrappers are inexpensive and make the onigiri easy to transport for a picnic or in your lunchbox for school or work. I have purchased them from Wistos. They also have a handy English translation on how to wrap your onigiri and also how to unwrap them to eat 🙂 https://www.wistos.com/products/onigiri-film-wraps-100pc

There are a couple of onigiri stores starting to open in Melbourne. If you are not in the city, there is no reason not to make these meals for people on the go, as light snacks, or as a picnic dish at home.

I have included the recipe for my two favourite fillings, but you can experiment with whatever fillings you have at home.

Makes 9

• 300 g short-grain rice (sushi)
• 400 g water
• Nori sheets
• Salt

Fillings

#1 Rice seasoning

• 1 tsp rice seasoning
• Sea salt flakes

#2 Tuna mayo

• 95 g tin tuna
• 2 tbl Kewpie mayonnaise
• Sea salt flakes

Cover the rice with water and stir until the water turns white. Drain and repeat three more times, washing the rice four times in total. Cover with fresh water and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

Cook the rice in 400 g of water using the absorption method. Allow the cooked rice to cool slightly so it can be handled.

Each onigiri uses around 75 g of cooked rice.

#1 Rice seasoning:

Mix 150 g of cooked rice with 1 tsp of rice seasoning, stirring gently.

Wet your hands and sprinkle them with sea salt.

Place 75 g of rice in your left hand. Using your right hand, gently form the onigiri into a ball with light pressure, gently squeezing.

Place the formed onigiri onto a plate.

Serve with halved nori sheets separately to keep them crunchy, ensuring the shiny side of the nori is on the outside.

#2 Tuna mayo filling:

Drain the tuna. Mix well with Kewpie mayonnaise.

Wet your hands and sprinkle them with sea salt.

Place 75 g of rice in your left hand. Using your right hand, gently flatten the rice in your palm.

Place a tsp of the tuna mixture in the centre of the rice and fold the rice over to enclose the filling.

Form the onigiri into a ball with light pressure, gently squeezing.

Place the formed onigiri onto a plate.

Serve with halved nori sheets separately to keep them crunchy, ensuring the shiny side of the nori is on the outside.