Onigiri (or omusubi) is one of the popular traditional Japanese dishes with ancient history. Onigiri are first mentioned in connection with military campaigns in the Heian era, they were prepared for soldiers to eat on the go. And it really was convenient and did not interfere with movement, because this food resembled small sandwiches or pies. The Japanese still love to snack on them, and not only they: how to cook onigiri, nowadays they know on many continents.
Ingredients
- long grain rice or special sushi - 1 glass;
- nori - 8 pcs.;
- rice vinegar - 2 tsp;
- lightly salted salmon - 200 g.
Instead of salmon, you can use any other fish (salted, smoked, pickled) and not even necessarily fish, but products more familiar to Russian cuisine - boiled chicken, fried minced meat, mushrooms, etc.
Preparation
Rinse the rice. Do this for a long time so that it has time to collect enough moisture. Put the washed rice in a saucepan (a cast iron or double bottom is ideal), cover with water and put on high heat. Do not use a lid. Once it boils, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Then remove from the stove, cover the pan with a clean waffle towel, close the lid and let sit for 10 minutes. Attention! - Traditionally, onigiri rice should be cooked without salt. If you do not agree with this option, you can add salt to taste, or put soy sauce next to it when serving.
After the rice has cooled down a little, add the vinegar to it and mix well. Next, moisten your hands in cold water, rub a small amount of salt in your palms and start sculpting the onigiri blanks. First, form a small ball with your hands, and then squeeze it with your palms on all sides, ensuring that it becomes dense and does not crumble. In this way, make balls of all the cooked rice.
Next stage. Use your finger to make a depression in each ball for the filling and start filling them with salmon, which has been cut into small pieces with a knife. Put half a teaspoon of rice on top of the filling and press it so that it sticks to the ball, covering the filling, but without breaking its integrity.
You can add finely chopped herbs or spices to the main filling. Some people use lemon or sour plum. Adapt to your taste or the gastronomic preferences of those for whom you are cooking.
Then take a sheet of nori and, cutting off the rectangles necessary to size, wrap them (the rough side inward) over the rice balls, lightly pressing down with your fingers so that the algae sticks well. By the way, onigiri comes from the word "nigiru", which just means "squeeze". Thus, the name of the dish exactly matches the process of its preparation.
Serve ready-made onigiri with soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger and tempura - batter-fried vegetables or seafood. The Japanese love to have plum wine, sake, or beer on the table with onigiri.
