Shake Onigiri (鮭おにぎり, salted-salmon rice ball)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rice cooker, or a heavy pot with a tight lid
• •Shamoji (rice paddle), or a broad spatula
• •Fish grill, toaster oven, or broiler
• •Small bowl of water for shaping

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Rinse the rice in several changes of water, stirring gently with your fingers, until the water runs almost clear. Drain for ten minutes, then cook with the measured water in a rice cooker or a heavy pot. Washing removes loose surface starch, so the cooked grains cling without turning gummy.

2. 2

   Grill the salmon

   Grill or broil the salted salmon until the surface is lightly browned and the flesh flakes cleanly, about 8 to 12 minutes depending on thickness. Let it cool just enough to handle, then remove skin and bones and flake the fish into small pieces. The filling should be savory and fairly dry, because wet fish makes the rice break apart.

   If you can't find shiozake, salt a fresh salmon fillet with 1 teaspoon fine sea salt and rest it uncovered in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or overnight for a firmer, deeper result.
3. 3

   Loosen the rice

   When the rice is done, let it rest covered for ten minutes, then turn it gently with a shamoji, a rice paddle, or a broad spatula. Lift and fold rather than mash. You are letting extra moisture escape while keeping the grains whole, which gives the onigiri its clean bite.

4. 4

   Salt your hands

   Set a small bowl of water and the salt beside you. Wet your hands lightly, rub a small pinch of salt across your palms, and take about 100 to 110g hot rice. The water keeps the rice from sticking to you, and the salt seasons the outside where the filling cannot reach.

5. 5

   Fill and shape

   Flatten the rice slightly in one palm, make a shallow hollow, and add a spoonful of flaked salmon. Cover with a little more rice if needed, then shape it into a triangle by cupping one hand as the roof and turning the rice with the other. Press, turn, press, and stop. The onigiri should hold together, but the grains should still be visible.

6. 6

   Wrap and serve

   Wrap each onigiri with nori just before eating if you want the seaweed crisp. For a picnic or bento, cool the shaped onigiri on a clean tray before closing the box, because trapped warmth makes the rice damp. Eat the same day, and keep it chilled in hot weather.

Chef Tips

• •Use Japanese short-grain rice. Long-grain rice will not cling the same way, and no amount of squeezing will make it behave. The right rice does half the shaping for you.
• •Good shiozake should smell clean and marine, not strong or stale. Sourcing first, always. If the fish is tired, make something else and keep the rice for tomorrow.
• •Don't crush the rice into submission. Onigiri is shaped, not compacted. If your palms leave hard flat faces and the center feels dense, you've pressed too long.
• •Wrap nori at the last moment for crispness. If you like it soft, wrap earlier and let it settle against the rice. Both are common; pretending there is only one correct texture is how people make lunch sound like surgery.

Advance Preparation

• •The salmon can be grilled and flaked up to two days ahead, then kept covered in the refrigerator.
• •If salting fresh salmon yourself, do it at least 2 hours ahead. Overnight gives a firmer, cleaner flake.
• •Onigiri are best shaped the day they're eaten. Refrigeration firms the rice, so for meal prep, wrap without nori and warm briefly before adding the seaweed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 135g)