Japanese dish onigiri. Recipe

One of the popular dishes of Japanese cuisine is onigiri. These are rice balls with stuffing. They are usually made in the form of a triangle or an oval, they are wrapped up in a seaweed nori. Rice bun or ball is the Russian name of onigiri. The recipe for this dish is simple. Only special products are needed, which are also used for making sushi and rolls. Traditionally, they are stuffed with pickled vegetables, fish, seafood and even fruits. Understand how to cook onigiri, simply. Let's look at a few recipes.

Onigiri. Recipe with fish

For the basis of balls you will need: rice, rice vinegar, sugar, salt. For the filling use salted red fish. Rice is the main product for cooking onigiri. Sushi and rolls are made from a special variety of Japanese cereals, which are sold in supermarkets in special departments. There you will find other ingredients.

Method of cooking rice

Take the pan, pour rice into it. Water pour 1-2 cm above his level. Stir and drain. Repeat the procedure several times. Rice should be cleaned of dirt and starch. It is convenient to use a pan with a transparent lid to monitor the process. In the washed rice (300 g), pour 300 ml of water. Bring to a boil and turn off the cooker. Wait for 15 minutes. Do not open the lid. If suddenly the foam begins to rise actively to the lid, then lift the saucepan over the fire and wait a bit.

In a separate container mix sugar, salt and rice vinegar. Mix the finished rice with this mixture. Operate carefully so that the grains are not wrinkled. Cool the rice to 40 degrees. You can use something like a fan or fan, so that the cooling process goes faster. The filling should already be ready. That is, the fish must be cut into small pieces beforehand. There are special forms for onigiri. Their use greatly facilitates the formation of balls. If they are not present, then act with the help of hands and polyethylene gloves (so that the groats do not stick to the palms). Take a piece of rice, roll the ball, make a hole in it and put the stuffing in it, then seal the groove with some of the groats so that the onigiri do not fall apart. The recipe, as you can see, is simple. Complete the process - wrap the bollocks in the nori.

A few tips

If you know a few secrets, it will not be very difficult for you to cook onigiri. The recipe for this dish can be adapted to different fillings. These can be ordinary canned fish, pollock roe or salmon, pickled cucumbers with soft cheese, shrimps or Japanese fillers - umeboshi, sea eel, natto, seaweed kombu. When making rice, do not delay the process. The longer it costs, the more sticky it becomes. Seawater Nori wrap the balls before serving the dish on the table. It is not necessary to leave onigiri for a long time, otherwise the nori will disintegrate and lose its appearance. If you need to leave the balls until the next day, wrap them in a bag and put them in the refrigerator. During the day, nothing will happen to them exactly.

Preparing rice for any of the recipes, consider your taste preferences. Sometimes you need to change the proportions. It will be easier to mold onigiri if you use an ordinary plastic bag. Cut off his corner. Put the right amount of rice in it, add the filling, top up. With the triangular edge of the package, give the rice the correct shape.