Onigiri

Ingredients

• 10½ ozShort-grain sushi riceuncooked, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 2 cupsWaterfor cooking the rice
• Saltfor moistening the hands and seasoning the surface
• 3Nori sheetscut into strips for wrapping
• 4Umeboshi plumspitted, used as filling
• 5¼ ozCanned tunadrained, for the mayo filling
• 3 tbspMayonnaisemixed with the tuna
• 1 tbspSoy sauceto season the filling
• 7 ozSalmon filletcooked and flaked, alternative filling (optional)
• 4 tbspFurikakefor rolling the finished rice balls (optional)
• 1¾ ozTakuan (pickled daikon)finely chopped, mixed into the rice (optional)
• 1 tbspSesame seedsmixed into the rice or for rolling (optional)
• ⅛ ozBonito flakesmixed with soy sauce as filling (optional)
• 1 tspSrirachafor a spicy filling (optional)

Method

1. Rinse the short-grain rice in a bowl with cold water, changing the water several times until it stays clear, then drain it well. If you like, let it soak in water for 30 minutes afterwards.
2. Bring the rice and the measured water to the boil in a pot, then cover and cook over low heat for 12 to 20 minutes without lifting the lid.
3. Take the pot off the heat and let the rice stand, still covered, for another 10 to 15 minutes. Then fluff it gently with a spoon or spatula.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the fillings: pit the umeboshi and chop them roughly, and stir the drained tuna together with the mayonnaise and soy sauce. For the other versions, cook the salmon fillet and flake it, squeeze out the takuan and chop it finely, or toss the katsuobushi with a little soy sauce.
5. Cut the nori sheets into strips. Set up your work space: a bowl of water, a bowl of salt, the warm rice, the fillings and the nori strips lined up side by side.
6. Wet your hands with water and rub them with salt. Take a portion of the still-warm rice into your palm, press a hollow into it with your fingers, set the filling inside and close it over with a little more rice.
7. Press the rice firmly but gently into a triangle or a ball — just tight enough that it holds together without turning pasty.
8. Wrap a strip of nori around it, or roll the rice ball in furikake or sesame seeds. Carry on the same way with the remaining rice and fillings.

Tips and variations

Instead of a core, the ingredients can be mixed straight through the rice — chopped takuan with sesame, say, or mashed umeboshi. For the filling, salmon pan-fried and glazed with soy sauce, mirin, sake and brown sugar works as well as spicy tuna mayo with sriracha, spring onions and lemon zest, or kimchi squeezed dry and finely chopped. If the rice is too hot to shape in your hand, press it into a small bowl lined with cling film and sharpen the edges of the triangle with the flat side of a wet knife; you can also scatter the salt over the finished onigiri instead. They're good fresh and lukewarm, briefly chilled, or made up to two days ahead — in an airtight tin for the bento box or to take along.