Cooking class captivation. The Funny Little Woman was the story that went along with this week’s tasty tale lesson at the co-op kitchen.
Then they made sweet and savory onigiri! The savory ones were stuffed with two different vegetarian fillings – Japanese sweet potatoes with miso and mushrooms with tamari. And the sweet ones were filled with mango.
And then they rolled them in furikake and/or held them with seaweed wrappers to enjoy.
Needless to say, there were no leftovers to take home for my kids. 😛
Here’s the recipe for sushi rice and instructions for inari and onigiri making.
- 2 cups sushi rice
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp salt
Rinse the rice very well, about 5 times until the water runs clear. Strain and let dry for 15 minutes.
To use a rice cooker, simply add the 2 cups water and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions. To cook on the stove top, bring the 2 cups of water and rice to a boil for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook another 10 minutes. Don’t peek under the lid, just remove from heat and let the rice rest for 15 minutes.
While the rice rests, combine the vinegars, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
Place the rice in a large bowl. Traditionally they use a wooden bowl with a flat bottom and straight sides but a big salad bowl will work as well. Drizzle 1/2 a cup of the su (vinegar mixture) over the rice with a spatula in between waving back and forth so it doesn’t all dump in the same place and disperses more gently all over. Fold the su into the rice while fanning it to help dry. Taste the rice and add more su if you want.
Once the rice has cooled you can use it to make inari or sushi. Keep it covered with a damp towel while you prepare the rest of your meal so it doesn’t dry out.
To make inari: moisten your hands and take about 2 tbsp rice and shape it into an oval and tuck into the inari packet. Top with a sprinkling of sesame seeds or radish sprouts. To make flavored inari, add some avocado to the packet before the rice or mix cooked veggies into the rice before shaping.
To make onigiri: you will need the cooked sushi rice, seasonings (optional), fillings, and coatings. These little rice balls are a super simple way to use leftovers.
If you want, you can season the rice with chives, sesame seeds, or furikake. Otherwise you can reserve it for a coating after you’ve shaped the onigiri. Make sure anything you add to the rice isn’t too large or the rice won’t stick together.
For the fillings, you can use any leftover cooked meat or veggies, tuna salad, umeboshi, whatever! If it’s not very seasoned, feel free to mix in a sauce (teriyaki or tamari) but not too much or it will be too wet.
Wet your hands and take a handful of sushi rice and place it in a plastic wrap. Make a divot in the center and put in a small amount of filling, no more than a teaspoon. Then use the plastic wrap to pinch the top closed and twist it to form a ball. Take it out of the wrap and roll in the coatings you want before placing it on a plate. You can also wrap nori around them.
If you want, you can shape them by hand (without plastic wrap) or use different molds for the rice.
Store them wrapped tightly or in a well sealed container. If they dry out a little you can make yaki (grilled) onigiri by frying them in a little oil.
To make fruit onigiri: season the rice with 1/2 the vinegar and 1/2 the salt. Mix sesame seeds and coconut flakes into the rice before shaping them and then fill with chopped fruit like mango or strawberries.
Hooray!
Enjoy 🙂
