Fried Onigiri (rice balls)

Rice balls in Japan are called onigiri, and they usually contain cooked rice and some flavoring, meat or vegetables.

These are crispy on the outside and scrumptious on the inside

After a trip to an Italian restaurant that served an Italian version of these, I got the idea of making fried Japanese rice balls. Both my wife and I loved these, though they’re not the most healthful things to eat.

What you’ll need to make these:

• Cooked rice (slightly sticky)
• Ground pork
• Sake
• Mirin
• Soy sauce (shoyu)
• Beaten egg
• Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• Oil for frying or deep frying

How to make fried onigiri:

1. Cook the rice (on stove or in rice cooker).
2. Sauté the ground pork until almost cooked through.
3. Add sake, mirin and shoyu to the ground pork, to taste.
4. Simmer until liquid is cooked away and absorbed by the meat.
5. Thoroughly drain any remaining oil/fat from the meat.
6. Mix meat and rice and form into “rice balls.” Alternatively, you can use an onigiri maker like the one pictured.
7. Freeze the onigiri so they do not deteriorate or crumble in the next steps.
8. After onigiri is completely frozen, dip each side of each one in the beaten egg(s).
9. Roll in panko until covered on all sides. At this point, they can be pan- or deep-fried. I’d deep fry them the next time.

To shape onigiri, you can use your hands or this device. The piece on the lower-right slides inside the tall piece. Slightly overfill with rice and press down with the remaining piece.

Serve with tonkatsu sauce, wasabi or hot mustard and pickled ginger.

Here’s a close-up of the finished project.