Japanese Food Japanese rice balls (onigiri)

Hi, Rayc, lexico & Doc!

I'd like to add some more information on how nori is used in Japan.

If you look at the photo in lexico's post, there are two nori sheets of different shades of color. The darker green color is untoasted nori. The brighter green one is toasted, which must be done to use. The Japanese today don't like the hassle of toasting each sheet and buy pre-toasted nori. However, I buy untoasted nori (which is hard to find nowadays) and toast it myself each time (over cooking stove fire). This gives the nori a subtle but wonderful fragrance (which many people describe as "smell of the sea").

The large sheet type is used for making sushi rolls. It is cut into pieces to wrap onigiri. Smaller pieces are used as an independent side dish, dipped lightly in soy sauce and eaten with freshly cooked white rice.

There is also flavored nori (precut into small pieces) used as a side dish, served most often at breakfast like this:

I think this is what Doc is talking about. You see it wrapped in plastic in the photo. I personally don't like it served like that. I unwrap them and place them on a small individual plate.

I learned that the Koreans brush each nori sheet with sesame oil and sprinke salt on it before toasting. This adds wonderful aroma. I like eating it this style, too. Great with white rice.

Nori is an excellent source of vitamin A (carotene), minerals and iodine and is very low in calorie and virtually cholesterol-free.

Miko-Kokoro said:

Hmm...I've always wanted to make Riceballs...I know I could but, I'm wondering, do you have to use Nori for all rice ball recipes?

Click to expand...

You can also use toasted sesame seeds, bonito flakes for other variations; you can just roll rice balls around to coat. My grandmother used to make ones with miso paste on them, they were good but could be very salty.

lexico,
The seasoned seaweed mentioned by epinege; is it called 'kim-pa'? Korean friends of mine made them for me, and I would like to learn how to make it.
Do you have or know the recipe I can use?

Hi, misa.j!

I don't know about "kim-pa", but my mother learned from a Korean friend to use a cooking brush dipped in sesame oil and brush one side of nori lightly, sprinkle that side with salt and toast carefully over cooking stove fire. When I was a kid, I used to beg my mother to make it. Even if it's different from "kim-pa," I'd recommend this style to everyone don't like to eat unflavored nori as a side dish.

Thanks epinege!
I think I will try to make my own following your directions, but my only concern is toasting the seaweed on the stove part.
That is what I do when I make my sushi; I kind of swish nori right over the direct fire but with sesame oil, wouldn't it get burned?

Yes, you're right! I've burned nori before this way!

A solution is the "yaki-ami" you normally use to grill fish. It will keep uniform distance from the fire to prevent burning. Still you have to be careful! And make sure the net doesn't smell of fish!

Hello, epigene, misa.j! This thread is getting exciting!

misa.j said:

lexico,
The seasoned seaweed mentioned by epinege; is it called 'kim-pa'? Korean friends of mine made them for me, and I would like to learn how to make it.
Do you have or know the recipe I can use?

Click to expand...

The untoasted laver, the plain toasted laver, and the seasoned & toasted laver are all called "kim," while the sushi is called "kimpap."
But once you wrap it around the rice, which is "pap," it becomes "kimpap," so what you say isn't bad, Misa.J.

epigene said:

use a cooking brush dipped in sesame oil and brush one side of nori lightly, sprinkle that side with salt and toast carefully over cooking stove fire.

Click to expand...

That's exactly how Koreans do it. After you have finished the oil-brushing and salting, have two sheets back to back with the seasoned sides on the inside. That way the salt doesn't dissipate, and there's less chance of burning the laver while toasting. Because the toasting over a low flame/heated coil on the stove is a little tricky, you might want to get a hold of a ﾂ湘??堋ｫ窶禿 Gridiron, a held-held folding mesh/grill that looks like this.

misa.j said:

That is what I do when I make my sushi; I kind of swish nori right over the direct fire but with sesame oil, wouldn't it get burned?

Click to expand...

Right, burning the laver is a big concern. You just have to be more careful. You have better luck if you use an elecritic stove. With a gas stove, it's a little trickier, but somehow people seem to manage!

Once you're done with the toasting, just cut it in small size and serve it up on the table. (I guess that's obvious.)

EDIT: I just had an unconventional idea about the toasting thing. How about using one of the following ?

1) frying pan: I think this has been done before !
2) micro-wave oven: adjusting temp. & time may be tricky !
3) toaster with the tray (horizontal type): even trickier !
4) a blow dryer: highly unconventional !

If you should want to try any of these strange ways, I would say 1) frying pan would work decently. The pan may heat up a bit, so don't use your best frying pan ! I would say 4) would also work quite well if you don't mind the strange looks on your neighbors' face I they saw you doing it !
The thing is having absolutely no burns at all might take away some of the flavor that gives the laver its distinct "wild sea smell" that epigene mentioned.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kimpap: the Korean Sushi

In case you want to do the real "kimpap"="sushi" then the toasting process is pretty much the same but you do not season the laver at all. Some commercially made "kimpap" have some oil brushed onto the finished rolls before slicing. This can make them look good, and prevents getting too soggy.

The rice needs to have less water when cooked, and seasoned while hot with some salt, sugar, a little vinegar (Japanese influence; my wife and my neighbor likes to add vinegar because it helps to water the mouth!) and a dash of sesame oil.

One lady making kimpap


Add certain vergetables as dakon, green spinach (boiled for 30 sceonds), thin carrots (fried 1 min), and one strip of thin omlette. These are for the colors as well as the taste and nutrition. The spinach and carrots should be pre-seasoned with some salt, oil, and a little sugar. You could add some fresh cucumber strips with light seasoning or strips of ham. Not all the ingredients are essential, and feel free to experiment.

There is a bamboo roller that helps to firmly and evenly press the insides together. It also helps to prevent bursting during and after rolling. When you are done rolling, slice the rolls in even thickness. You are ready to enjoy your meal now !

In this particular case, the cook applied some oil after rolling, and sprinkled some sesame seeds.


Here is one variant called Chungmu-kimpap. There is nothing else in the roll but rice. But you must have something to help; it can be the "regular kimchi" (kimochi) or the "squid kimchi." The squid kimchi is excellent. My mouth waters just thinking about it !

epigene said:

I think this is what Doc is talking about. You see it wrapped in plastic in the photo. I personally don't like it served like that. I unwrap them and place them on a small individual plate.

Click to expand...

Yep that's it! Of course the ones I had weren't in plastic, instead they were in a giant ziploc bag (don't ask me why), and had little black paper like things wraped around them (sorry I don't know what they are :sorry: ). Yep I really liked the taste of them. I don't know why everybody else was so afraid of them. Probably because they liked more down to earth foods like biscuits and other things that they had there. In all honesty I like Asian food more than I do with normal American style foods. Heck my Mother is still wants to take me to a Japanese restaurant for dinner one night. (Too bad my Father hates trying anything new.)

Doc

Sensuikan San said:

I must confess...

We all have strange things that immediately run through our minds when we see certain phrases or words .... and I've been resisting posting this for about a week! But, I've had a good Saturday - and just for a laugh - I have to let it go ...!

I was always told that "Rice Balls" .... was an affliction suffered by POW's during WWII, brought about by their terribly restricted diet ......

Apologies again, and regards,

ジョン :sorry:

Click to expand...

Hello, Sensuikan San!

What you say seems to make sense to me. I think I've heard similar wartime stories. In fact, rice ball equivalents were often used when people were away from home or to feed people away from home. It isn't necessarily a form of punishment, by the way. Although the hapless POW's will inevitably recall the horrible times just looking or hearing about the rice ball.

I'm not sure, but the "rice ball" may have been around for more than 2,000 years. Guess how the Chinese Warring States fought their war; eating what and how? They couldn't just put their arms down for lunch and go to the Chinese restaurant next door.

I'm sure if you dig into the historical records or books of archaeology, you would probably find the "rice balls" being carried around and eaten for lunch. Even during the peaceful years, the rice ball can be a relatively-easy-to-make-carry-and-eat-for-lunch kind of meal. Perhaps the fisher, the hunter, the trapper, or the woodsman were all carrying something like this?

Let me link you one, the history of the Japanese rice ball onigiri in Japanese Culture and Daily Life.

*drools*

those pics that you posted up there lexico are starting to make MY mouth water.....and I just ate breakfast. *laughs*

I have a question. on onigiri. I mean if you just make plain rice ball, do you add salt? or like do you put salt on your hands to make the plain rice ball or do you put salt in the rice and let it cook?

I mean I heard that you have to put vinegar(?) in the rice and let it cook and then you put salt on your hands to make the rice.

I'm so confused it isn't funny. :?

This forum is fabulous. One learns so much about Japan. In fact, the members are to be thanked for their excellent questions and posts.

I loved learning about the Bentoos.

Do post links wherever possible.

Thank you.

Some cute obento for little kids:
Kindergarten lunch boxes: http://www.geocities.jp/hasemari410526/benntou.html
Onigiris and flavored rice made in the image of anime characters Anpan-man, Pikachu, Go-Go Five & Tare-panda.

Kids in most elementary and junior high schools eat lunch prepared by the school. So, they don't usually have to take lunch boxes from home. However, kindergarten schoolers need lunch, and young mothers go to a great extent to make the lunch boxes fun for the kids! Bento-making comes back again for mothers when kids enter high schools. By that time, the focus is on making BIG lunches for boys and DIET-CONSCIOUS lunches for girls.
This is an example of a mother going all the way!! (Most mothers don't do that! )
That's going overboard, I say!

Addendum:
Because we celebrate the Girls' Festival on March 3, I will post a very pretty sushi lunch that is made for special occasions like today:

Malaika said:

*drools*

those pics that you posted up there lexico are starting to make MY mouth water.....and I just ate breakfast. *laughs*

Click to expand...

Hehe...same here, all the time! I guess that means I'm healthy.

Malaika said:

I have a question. On onigiri. I mean, if you just make a plain rice ball, do you add salt? or do you put salt on your hands to make the plain rice ball, or do you put salt in the rice and let it cook?

I mean, I heard that you have to put vinegar(?) in the rice and let it cook, and then you put salt on your hands to make the rice.

I'm so confused it isn't funny. :?

Click to expand...

I'm a newbie to the word onigiri myself, and this is what the onigiri gurus are telling me.
Add salt during mixing AFTER cooking the rice, BEFORE moulding the balls. The rice can be boiling, so be careful btw! And epigene-san tells me the vinegar is for the sushi, not for onigiri! I was confused there too! But no one to stop you if you want some vinegar. It waters the mouth, which is good. * singing* Just a spoonful of vinegar helps the onigiri go down ~ in the most delightful way ~


But I guess in case of an emergency. You could add the salt WHILE moulding the balls. I've heard some people putting a tablespoon full of salt or Ume (pickled apricots) INSIDE the balls during war times, but what you say about adding the salt ON the surface could be even faster!!

I once tried adding salt BEFORE cooking the rice, but the result was not so good. It somehow takes away the wonderful taste of the rice, which happens to be best if left bland for maximum enjoyment. When camping at high-altitudes, in outer space, or on a moon base where atmospheric pressure is low-low, I guess you could add a dash of salt to lower the water's vapour pressure, but I wouldn't use too much!!

There are some nice onigiri recipe's and info earlier in the thread, but I'll repeat those that still work for all you newbies here!!

Thanks all for the wonderful links, and have fun either cooking, eating, or just watching the salivating pictures!!

eh....lexico.

Some of the links or mostly some of them don't show and say that its an error. Also...I don't really read japanese in kanji....hehehe.

do you think there is another way that I can click on a link where I can read english and that it doesn't have an error on it?

also thank you for clearing that up for me on the onigiri, now I made my own mouth water and already coming with ideas....*drools*

That's odd. I only included those that worked at the time...these pages come and go I noticed.

Try O-Nigiri RIce Balls. ;-)

you know...I might just try to master the art of the onigiri and other quick little tag-along foods, and if that happens, I'll replace my usual lunch or greasy fast food with them. like someone said in an earlier post, these food and recipe threads are friggin amazing! The stock in my freezer is taking on an Asian influence...

Feeling hungry and dumb

Mmmm, this onigiri sounds good, but sadly I am not the best cook in the world. :sorry: Also, this may sound like a stupid question, but can you eat nori or is it just decoration ☝ :? ? I have only been to a Japanese restaurant once so I am pretty ignorant of certain things . Do you know if there is a Japanese Cooking for Dummies Book?
*grumble grumble*
I'm experiencing an earthquake in my tummy from the delectable pictures.
"Can't...hold...on...much...Longer!!!"

As I noticed some people put break crumbs to make it hard..



Also they put it in water to make it stick together,It will really look like a ball.



here is quick recipes



I might sound crazy but wasabi would be good to burn your mouth.



dont stuff with umeboshi It tases nasty

yep, always salt the rice when making onigiri. my fave are mentaiko onigiri!

i love rice balls, and my girl puts in EVERYTHING.. hahaha.. she puts things in every kind of food..

i will ask her if she knows some try peanut butter? or chocolate? haha just an idea ... sweet for kids

Yummy!
All these posts about rice balls is making me hungry and I love trying new food.
I'll let you all know how my rice ball experiment goes!

peanut butter and rice? hmm ,, actually i'm thinking about sausage and rice XD~ it's quite difficult to find nori or umeboshi here ..
i can't shape my onigiri >,<
the rice's not sticky enough >,<

Are there different kinds of flavored nori?

I had a bag of ajinori from Kobe and it was fabulous. I'd love to get my mitts on some of that again - if any Kobe resident reads this and wants to send me some, please contact me.

Can anyone recommend a good commercial onigiri mix?

Thank you.

Wow, all that got my appetite worked up!
So I tried it myself.
Should'nt have..
Well.. good experience though, we had some smoked salmon sitting in the freezer, after de-frosting it I grilled it in a pan.
Made the rice, not necessarily the "goooey" type of rice, but I thought it was slimmy enough to make a ball out of it.
Um.. maybe not sticky enough, I made the ball anyway instead of throwing it all away. I then put the roasted smoked salmon in it, closed the ball and let it sit there for like 15 minutes.
I just took the bite, the ball did'nt hold at all, broke down. I took a real big bite and got to the middle where the salmon was.
Wow, good taste, too bad it did'nt hold. I was missing the leafs and sesame stuff.
Anyway, I'm not a cook by trade, so I'm not too ashamed of my skills
Thanks for the idea!
Cheers!
Matt

Ooh...I'm getting hungry. Are the rjapanese rice balls same like the Chinese rice balls? They look the same to me...