Japanese Cooking and Recipes

[xNatsuki]

I came across this website in a magazine called ShojoBeat.
Cooking Cute~ I believe it's main focus is on bento, but I find it very useful too.

[xNatsuki]

This website was also mentioned in another thread, but here it is again.
Cooking Cute~ It's mostly small portion-ized because it's more for bento.

[Maku]

That site gives you that recipe for Spam sushi doesn't it?

[Maku]

Onigiri.
Requires a mould though, but it's worth it.
Despite it being such a simple idea, it needs more attention when cooking than it seems.

[Akimizumi]

actually you dont really need a mold... (click: make onigiri without mold) hehe.. it was the fastest i could find...also there is a cookbook on wikipedia on japanese food.. doesn't have too many dishes though

[Maku]

Thanks for showing me that.

[Nyororin]

Using a mold is the weird way to do it. I don`t know anyone who actually uses a mold to make their onigiri. You just wet your hands and ball them up.

[FFrikku]

._. spam...sushi....BARF! *gags* oh gosh, im sorry but i hate spam ._.

[Housetek]

can u make rice?


basicly its just your favorite meats and or veggies covered in rice.

then wrapped in Banana leaves.

theres also desert kinds with nuts and bananas and stuff

jus look it up online


my mom use to make me them to bring to school.

also verrrry verry good=)

Onigiri


For 4 fair sized rice balls, you need:

* 4 cups of freshly cooked Japanese-style rice (sorry, I wrongly stated 2 cups of rice here before. Each onigiri requires about a cup of cooked rice.)
* 2 sheets of nori seaweed, cut into 3cm/2 inch wide strips
* Salt
* Fillings. Some classic fillings are pickled plum (umeboshi), bonito flakes just moistened with soy sauce (okaka), bonito flakes mixed with pickled plum (umekaka), flaked cooked salted salmon (shake or shiozake), cooked salty cod roe (tarako), chopped up pickles (tsukemono), and tsukudani, various tidbits - bonito cubes, tiny clams, etc. - cooked and preserved in a strong soy-sugar-sauce. Some non-traditional fillings that work well are described below.

The key to making good onigiri is to have freshly cooked, hot rice. You can't make good onigiri with cold rice.

Wet your impeccably clean hands with cold water, and sprinkle them with salt. Take 1/4th of the rice and place on one hand. Make a dent in the middle of the rice with your other hand. Put in about 1 tsp or so worth of filling in the dent.

Working rapidly, wrap the rice around the filling, and form into a ball. To make the traditional triangular shape, cup your hand sharply to form each corner, and keep turning it until you are happy with the shape. Practive makes perfect.

Wrap the rice ball with 1-2 strips of nori seaweed.

Repeat for the rest of the rice.

The key to making good onigiri is to have freshly cooked, hot rice. You can't make good onigiri with cold rice.

Wet your impeccably clean hands with cold water, and sprinkle them with salt. Take 1/4th of the rice and place on one hand. Make a dent in the middle of the rice with your other hand. Put in about 1 tsp or so worth of filling in the dent.

Working rapidly, wrap the rice around the filling, and form into a ball. To make the traditional triangular shape, cup your hand sharply to form each corner, and keep turning it until you are happy with the shape. Practive makes perfect.

Wrap the rice ball with 1-2 strips of nori seaweed.

Repeat for the rest of the rice.

To bring along on picnic, wrap in plastic film or in a bamboo leaf (which is traditional). Some people prefer to carry the nori strips separately, and to wrap them around the onigiri when eating, to preserve the crisp texture of the seaweed.

If it's hard to get a hold of the traditional fillings, here are some non-traditional ones that I have tried that work well. However, unlike the more traditional fillings (especially umeboshi) these fillings are quite perishable, so be careful in hot weather if you are taking them for a picnic. Any rather strongly flavored, salty filling should work.

* Ground meat (pork or beef or a mixture), cooked with grated or chopped ginger, then flavored with soy sauce, some red pepper flakes, sake or mirin, and sugar. It should be quite dry. Curry flavored ground meat mixture works surprisingly well too.
* Canned tuna, well drained and flaked, flavored with a bit of soy sauce and/or salt to taste.
* Flaked corned beef
* Chopped up western style pickles (as long as they don't have too much garlic in the brine), well squeezed to get rid of excessive moisture

[xNatsuki]

I'd like to say that for beginners, it's best to make the kind of onigiri that is wrapped completely. I just cut it into a square a little bit bigger than 2 times the onigiri size. Then I wrap it on both sides and fold down the corners. Practice makes perfect though!!