If you’ve ever been to Japan you have probably come across onigiri, most likely in a convenience store! Onigiri are rice balls filled with a variety of ingredients and formed into shapes such as triangles or ovals. They are classically filled with things like umeboshi (pickled plum), salted salmon and kombu, but nowadays, there are hundreds of different varieties.
Onigiri was created centuries ago to make rice easy to eat and portable. Basically, onigiri is the original Japanese picnic food! They are a fantastic alternative to sandwiches for kids’ lunches, and also make perfect snacks.
We’ve made two varieties, one where you flavour the rice with dashi, soy, sake and mushrooms, and the other, a classic onigiri of plain rice and salted salmon. The tip is to work with the rice while it’s warm, and make sure you have wet hands, so the rice doesn’t stick to them. Also, only wrap the rice in the nori when you are ready to eat them, as it goes soggy really quickly. We eat ours with quick pickles of whatever vegetables we have around, umeboshi, and for a complete lunch, some warming miso soup.
Mushroom and Salmon Onigiri ingredients. Recipe – Julia Busuttil Nishimura & Norihiko Nishimura, Styling – Lucy Feagins, styling assistant – Nat Turnbull, photo – Eve Wilson.
Mushroom and Salmon Onigiri with Pickles. Recipe – Julia Busuttil Nishimura & Norihiko Nishimura, Styling – Lucy Feagins, styling assistant – Nat Turnbull, photo – Eve Wilson.
Norihiko demonstrates rolling mushroom onigiri! (Julia says, try rolling yours in glad wrap if you struggle with bare hands). Styling – Lucy Feagins, styling assistant – Nat Turnbull, photo – Eve Wilson.
Salmon, nori and rice ready to roll! Recipe – Julia Busuttil Nishimura & Norihiko Nishimura, Styling – Lucy Feagins, styling assistant – Nat Turnbull, photo – Eve Wilson.
Julia and Nori at home in Melbourne. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
