First time making onigiri, it was good but a little too bland for my taste ! But i already have a LOT of idea to improve them. I’ll do some more soon. They were hard to form so they endend really big !

by Lussarc

10 Comments

  1. lemonethan

    They look very good!

    What ideas did you have to improve them? 😮

  2. It looks like you put plenty furikake, I wonder how it could be bland? Too little salt on your hands? Will you try filling next time? Might help. Looks good to me though!

  3. Oh and filling was tuna with mayo and onions. I did wet my hands and use salt when forming the onigiris it really helped

  4. TheOneMary

    I have always been too lazy for hand forming so I use a mold and then squeeze them together a little more. Yours look better than I could ever produce by hand, heh

  5. CatoftheSaints23

    They’re beautiful! Nice work! Size? More to love, more to eat and share! Arigato, Cat

  6. AnchoviePopcorn

    Oh you’ve gotta try making the rice with a little lard and soy sauce. Brad Leone has a recipe on his YouTube.

    I get clarified beef lard from a local BBQ joint and the rice I make with it is … mwah *kiss*

  7. sawariz0r

    My biggest tip, also coming from my local onigiri shop. It’s all about the quality of the rice. Top quality rice cooked perfectly (rice cooker is a must) makes a fantastic onigiri

  8. shadowtheimpure

    A good trick for onigiri is to generously salt the cooking water, as it will preseason the rice and boost the overall flavor.

  9. I don‘t want to tell you what to do, but please abandon the idea of buying molds!

    For a first try, these onigiri already look great! It is way more satisfying to shape them by hand and achieve a nice result like yours. Besides, a mold is not a guarantee to achieve good results. And, once you got a little practice shaping them by hand, it is a lot faster than using a mold.

    If you‘re a woman, you have an advantage, too. I found that with my big hands, with a slightly bowl-shaped palm, it is more difficult to get straight-sided triangles; my wife makes perfect, small onigiri, with her small hands.

    Furthermore, onigiri with a filling need to be bigger than those without, to contain the filling.

    Apart from that, I like slightly bigger onigiri, since they stay warm a little longer, which I prefer.

    Regarding the flavour:
    Try mixing the rice with furikake before you shape the onigiri, instead of sprinkling furikake on top. It makes a lot of difference.

    Also, there‘s nothing wrong with plain onigiri, if they‘re a side dish for something flavourful like meat or fish. If they come as a stand alone snack, you can make them more flavourful by adding more furikake or other spice.

    Just my (rather invested) two cents, regarding this wonderful Japanese everyday food…

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