Onigiri Rice Balls is a popular favorite and is perfect for dinner parties and family gatherings.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Japanese rice.
• Strips of dried nori, preferably toasted
• Black sesame seeds (optional)

Fillings:

• Bonito flakes mixed with picked plums (umekaka)
• Bonito flakes moistened with soy sauce (okaka)
• Flaked cooked salted salmon (shiozake)
• Salted cod roe (tarako)
• Tuna mayonnaise
• Minced chicken stir-fried with soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar.

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Preparation:

1. Steam the rice and leave it in the steamer with the lid on for a short while in order to make the rice stickier.
2. Have a bowl of salted warm water ready to dip your hands in so as to stop the rice from sticking to them.
3. Take a small handful of the warm cooked rice in one hand.
4. With the other hand make an indentation, and into this stuff some of the chosen fillings.
5. Work the rice around the filling and shape into the traditional shapes: spheres, triangles or cylinders. If you apply too much pressure the filling will squish out.
6. Too little and the onigiri will fall apart. It takes practice to perfect the art of shaping the onigiri.
7. Wrap the shapes in the nori strips and sprinkle with black sesame seeds if using.
8. The fillings mentioned are some of the popular options, but there are many more possibilities.