rice balls

Posted on April 30, 2007 by mariko

Hey, I actually did some sewing over the weekend! It was mostly hemming shirts and pants, though, so I won’t bother sharing the details with y’all. A couple of you asked about how to make rice balls. I found this little visual tutorial here. It omits a little bit of information: you want to wet your hands so the rice doesn’t stick to them. Most people also sprinkle some salt on their dampened hands for flavor enhancement. If you want to put something in the center of the rice ball, such as a pickled plum or seaweed, scoop the rice onto the palm of your hand and gently flatten the rice. Place the morsel in the center of the rice then sort of fold up the outer edges around the center before proceeding to number one of the tutorial.

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12 Responses to rice balls

  1. mary jo says:
    April 30, 2007 at 21:37

    Mariko, I just had a moment to read your blog. I’m so sorry to hear about your father. I hope that you are doing okay. You are in my thoughts.
    Mary Jo xx

  2. megan says:
    April 30, 2007 at 21:49

    make one with candy in it!

  3. melissa says:
    April 30, 2007 at 22:27

    thanks for posting the recipe – i didn’t ask you about them but i was wondering about them. they sound really yummy! oh yeah…and i had an uncle seth’s pink cookie today because your blog post about them planted a little evil seed in my brain…i saw one and was powerless to resist! 🙂

  4. jan. says:
    May 1, 2007 at 02:44

    yes. getting a bit of water on the hands helps and them pressing tightly on the the rice 2 or 3 times to form the ball….
    I make my onigiri round…. my kids keep asking for triangular rice balls but I just cant seem to get it.
    I wonder if using american long grain rice would not work so well…….

  5. domesticshorthair says:
    May 1, 2007 at 08:02

    Good book for rice balls: Fun & Fancy Sushi by Sieko Ogawa. Shows regional variations, as well as good how-to info. with tons of color pictures!

  6. cari says:
    May 1, 2007 at 08:15

    Mmmm…rice balls. I think I need to make some today.
    We’re hitting town this Saturday. Hope to see you!

  7. Stephanie says:
    May 1, 2007 at 11:04

    Oneof our favorite finds was Sailor Moon rice seasoning packets. We make rice balls with those. YUM! So easy yet so good.

  8. Teresa says:
    May 1, 2007 at 12:52

    hmm….I can’t get the link to work.

  9. emicat says:
    May 1, 2007 at 18:38

    I cheat using the onigiri molds you can get at asian markets (I recently got mine at Daiso) because I can’t seem to mold them tight enough in my hands that the rice ball falls apart :/
    So, in order to avoid that, I’ve been using the onigiri molds, where they have both barrel shaped and triangle shape. I usually fill the molds about 3/4 full, add whatever filling I want, then top off w/ more rice then put the top on and press down and voila! 🙂 It sure makes my onigiri making quicker (and uniform).

  10. Terry says:
    May 2, 2007 at 05:34

    There is a rice that is sticky and sweet, that is what dim sum places use to make their “Chinese tamales”, aka, sticky rice balls. I saw some pre-made rice balls at Nijiya market – beautifully packaged in a rip the tab open pack, nifty!

  11. Zuma says:
    May 3, 2007 at 14:24

    Martha Stewart has a yummy recipe for Pearl Balls, ground pork, scallions, ginger and soy sauce rolled in rinsed rice, then steamed. They are *sooooo* good.

  12. Rachael says:
    May 3, 2007 at 22:28

    Ooh I haven’t had onigiri since I lived in Tokyo, many moons ago. My favourite had seaweed wrapped around the outside, or plum inside. I’ll have to try making them next week. Just thinking aboyt them brings memories flooding back. 🙂

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