Onigiri

Onigiri is the japanese word for rice balls. Its a very simple recipe that we can play around with different ingredients for the fillings. Most importantly it is a very convenient way of carrying it around. Simply wrapped it with cling wrap and off you go for school or work. 

I had done many versions of Onigiri, with different ingredients, different shapes, different style. One of my favorite would be Salmon with Spinach Onigiri and Deep Fried Breaded Onigiri. Not only I love it myself, my kids n colleagues love them too. 

The tricky part of doing it its the size n shape of the Onigiri. I used to find it hard to shape it to a triangular shape with my bare hands. Thus, in the beginning its always big round balls I had done. After long practicing and watching YouTube, I finally could do some simple triangle Onigiri. 

In this post, I will put up 2 different recipes for my Onigiri. 

Salmon and Spinach Onigiri

Makes 8-10 Onigiri

Ingredients

- 1 bunch of Spinach - chopped finely

- 400g of Salmon Fillet

- 2 cups of Rice (either Calrose or Jasmine will do)

- 1 cup of Barley

- Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

- Wash and cook Spinach with Rice and Barley

- Pan-fried Salmon Fillet till crispy and golden brown

- Peel the Salmon Fillet to small pieces

- When Rice is cooked, mix the Salmon in

- Add in Salt and Pepper to taste

- Roll small balls of Rice mixture in balls (size depends on individual)

- Place each Rice balls onto clingwrap and wrap up

- Mould them into triangular Onigiri

- Serve Hot

Fried Breaded Onigiri

Ingredients

- 2 Cups of Rice

- 1 cup of Barley

- 1 can of Tuna in Olive Oil

- 2 Eggs whisked up

- 500g Bread Crumbs (best to use Panco)

- Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

- Cook Rice and Barley together

- Peel the Tuna into small pieces

- Mix Rice mixture with Salt and Pepper to taste

- Roll small balls of Rice mixture in balls (size depends on individual)

- Place Tuna into center of each Rice ball

- Place each Rice balls onto clingwrap and wrap up

- Mould them into triangular Onigiri

- Dip Rice balls into Egg mixture

- Then dip it into Bread Crumbs

- Dip fry the Onigiri till golden brown

- Place them onto cooling rack or kitchen towel to absorb excess oil

- Serve Hot

It really depends on individual preference on ingredients. I did not take pictures of the Deep Fried Onigiri, will do it next time. I really love both of it, both actually wins kids over. The crispy-ness of the Salmon and the Spinach gives a balance diet for them. The Deep Fried will give them a little excuse to have some junk food. Have fun!!!

P/S: Picture on the right would be the Salmon and Spinach Onigiri. Yes, you can wrap seaweed over, i use the Crispy Seaweed (Snack) for kids, as for normal Seaweed it will taste wonderful too.