Salmon Onigiri (おにぎり)

Onigiri is Japanese rice ball most commonly formed into triangle or oval shapes and wrapped in seaweed. Traditionally, the onigiri is filled with pickled ume fruit, salted salmon, katsuobushi or any other salty or sour ingredients.

Ingredients (4 pcs):
1 cup Short Grain Rice
Water
½ pc Seaweed (Nori) - optional
100 gm Salted/Smoked Salmon

Directions:

1. Wash rice until the water is running clear and cook it following the suggested amount of water on the packaging.
2. Meanwhile, divide seaweed into 4 pieces.
3. Pan-grill the salted salmon and flake it using a fork.
4. While the rice still hot, mix it together with salmon flakes. Divide and form into 4 equal size rice balls. Use a plastic wrap over a kitchen towel to shape and compress the rice ball as is is very hot.
5. Wrap each rice ball with seaweed if desired.

Cook's Notes:

1. Soak rice for 10 minutes before cooking and let it stand for 10 minutes with power off soon after it is cooked. The rice will have bouncy texture, soft but not mushy.
2. Shape the rice ball whie the rice still hot, it will stick better and easier to shape.
3. If you prefer using the onigiri mould without compressing it first, wet the mould with water before using to prevent sticking. Well, I recommend the plastic wrap method to cut down the washing.