Yaki Onigiri - Catherine Zhang (2024)

FAQs

Why does my yaki onigiri fall apart? ›

Ingredients for Yaki Onigiri

These cultivars have a higher ratio of amylopectin to amylose, which gives them a stickier texture. This enables the cooked rice to bind together into a rice ball. If you try and do this with other varieties of rice, your onigiri will most likely fall apart.

How to reheat yaki onigiri? If you have any leftover onigiri you can heat them up for a couple of seconds in the microwave, over a grill, or in the air fryer! Don't heat them up for too long as the rice will get dry and hard.

If you want to make onigiri for lunch the next day but don't want to wake up early, here's my tip. You can wrap the finished onigiri (in plastic wrap) with a thick kitchen towel. The kitchen towel protects the rice balls from being too cold in the refrigerator.

Consider letting the rice soak in a pot of water before you cook it. Some people find that letting the rice soak in water helps it become stickier in the end. Try soaking it for 30 minutes to 4 hours. Drain the water once the rice has finished soaking.

Tips for making moist-until-you-eat-them onigiri

See the Looking at rice post if you're not sure what rice is what. Make sure you are making them with freshly cooked rice, that's still hot, not cooled. Don't make onigiri with room-temperature rice..it will not stick together well and will dry out fast.

Onigiri will keep for several hours at room temperature and are often prepared in the morning for lunch. But use your best judgment, since their shelf life depends entirely on their fillings. Onigiri filled simply with umeboshi or kombu will keep for much longer than onigiri filled with tuna, mayonnaise, and salmon.

You can individually wrap the Yaki Onigiri in plastic wrap and cover them with a thick kitchen towel and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The towel will prevent the rice from getting too cold and keep the food cool but not cold.

Wrapping your onigiri in nori right before eating prevents the seaweed from becoming soggy. To fully wrap the onigiri in nori, cut your nori sheets into 7- by 4.5-inch rectangles. Place the onigiri on the bottom of the sheet with the top of the triangle pointing towards you.

The word "yaki" (meaning, basically, "cooked over direct. heat") shows up in the names of many well-known Japanese dishes. Some of the best known include teriyaki (meat or tofu cooked in a glistening.

It all depends on the size of the onigiri. Cold onigiri is softer and does not have that appetizing crunch. But, if you have tuna inside, the taste of the onigiri is more powerful when it is cold. However, meat eaters usually prefer to eat hot onigiri, because the fat of the pork and beef spreads into the rice.

Can you microwave onigiri with plastic? ›

Onigiri Rice Ball Seaweed Wrappers Nori & Sushi Rice Mold

A: If you take off the plastic wrappers around the seaweed first, you can. It makes the seaweed soggy if you microwave it though. Generally I microwave the rice ball by itself first --> wrap the seaweed around it --> Take off plastic wrap --> Eat.

Using wet hands, cup your hands around the onigiri to press it more firmly into a triangle. (It is essential to press firmly to make sure the grains stick to one another and the onigiri can hold its shape.)

Should you choose to make your onigiri the night before serving, cover them with plastic wrap or keep in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. Even stored this way, your onigiri will taste best within 24 hours, as the rice will begin to dry out.