KCB 9.9: Japanese Rice-Balls (Onigiri)

Japanese Rice-Balls (Onigiri)
These traditional stuffed rice-balls, or onigiri, are quick and easy to prepare. They are served, as with all Japanese dishes, with great attention to colour and presentation. They are, in fact, not balls, but rather flattened triangular shapes. You will require two special ingredients to make onigiri, both available from Japanese or Asian specialty grocers: Japanese pickled plums (umeboshi) and yellow pickled daikon radish (takuwan).
Serve onigiri as a snack, or as part of a special picnic lunch, accompanied by yellow pickled radish, on a plate decorated with fresh green leaves. Allow 2 balls per person.
• PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes
• YIELD: 8 balls
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
• 5 cups (1.25 litres) unsalted short grain white rice, cooked to sticky consistency, and cooled
• 8 Japanese pickled plums (umeboshi)
• 2 tablespoons (40 ml) dry-roasted sesame seeds
• yellow pickled daikon radish (takuwan) as accompaniment
1. Mix the salt thoroughly with the sticky rice. Roll into 8 even-sized balls and flatten each ball into a wheel shape with a flattened perimeter.
2. Make a slight indent in the side of each wheel with the thumb. Press one umeboshi into each hollow, allowing the plum to be visible on one face. Form the wheel of rice into a triangle with two flattened paralled faces. The plum should be visible on one of the faces. Press toasted sesame seeds around the plum on the flat face where the plum is visible and stand the savouries up on one of their three sides. Serve with yellow daikon radish pickles, allowing 2 or 3 small pieces of pickle per person. Onigiri with pickled plum will last 2-3 days without refrigeration.
 

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