お握り

, also known as or , is a Japanese rice ball made from white rice. It is usually formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes, and wrapped in ''nori'' (seaweed). Onigiri traditionally have sour or salty fillings such as ''umeboshi'' (pickled Chinese plum), salted salmon, ''katsuobushi'' (smoked and fermented bonito), kombu, ''tarako'' or ''mentaiko'' ( pollock roe), or ''takanazuke'' (pickled Japanese giant red mustard greens). Because it is easily portable and eaten by hand, onigiri has been used as portable food or bento from ancient times to the present day. Originally, it was used as a way to use and store left-over rice, but it later became a regular meal. Many Japanese convenience stores and supermarkets stock onigiri with various fillings and flavors. It has become so mainstream that it is even served in izakayas and sit-down restaurants. There are even specialized shops which only sell onigiri to take out. Due to the popularity of this trend in Japan, onigiri has become a popular staple in Japanese restaurants worldwide.

Onigiri is not a form of sushi and should not be confused with the type of sushi called '' nigirizushi'' or simply ''nigiri''. Onigiri is made with plain rice (sometimes lightly salted), while sushi is made of rice with vinegar, sugar and salt. Onigiri makes rice portable and easy to eat as well as preserving it, while sushi originated as a way of preserving fish.

History

Prehistoric

On November 12, 1987,“平成18年度発掘速報会「よみがえる石川の遺跡」- 『いしかわの遺跡 No.26』”
. ''公式ウェブサイト''. 石川県埋蔵文化財センター. p. 7 (2007年3月30日). 2020年4月21日閲覧。 lumps of carbonized grains of rice, thought to be riceballs, were excavated from a building belonging to the Yayoi period (2000 years ago) in the Sugitani Chanobatake Ruins in Ishikawa Prefecture. The carbonized rice had traces which revealed that it was formed by human hands, thus it was initially documented as "the oldest onigiri." In subsequent research, it was thought to be steamed and grilled, rather than boiled like today's rice, similar to another dish called '' chimaki''. Since then, it has been academically called the "chimaki-shaped carbonized rice lumps (チマキ状炭化米塊)".

In Nakanoto, there is a replica of the relic on display at the roadside station Orihime-no-sato Nakanoto.

Pre-modern

Before the use of chopsticks became widespread, in the Nara period, rice was often rolled into a small ball so that it could be easily picked up. In the Heian period, rice was made into small rectangular shapes known as '' tonjiki'' so that they could be piled onto a plate and easily eaten. At that time, onigiri were called ''tonjiki'' and often consumed at outdoor picnic lunches.

The first incarnation of the word ''onigiri'' is attested in the '' Hitachi no Kuni Fudoki'' (''Hitachi Province Gazette''), dated to 721 AD. In it, the word used is ''nigiri-ihi'' (握飯) or "crumpled rice":

In Murasaki Shikibu's 11th-century diary '' Murasaki Shikibu Nikki'', she writes of people eating ''tonjiki'' rice balls. Other writings, dating back as far as the seventeenth century, state that many samurai stored rice balls wrapped in bamboo sheath as a quick lunchtime meal during war.

From the Kamakura period to the early Edo period, onigiri was used as a quick meal. This made sense as cooks simply had to think about making enough onigiri and did not have to concern themselves with serving. These onigiri were simply balls of rice flavored with salt. Nori did not become widely available until the Genroku era (1688–1704) of the mid-Edo period, when the farming of nori and fashioning it into sheets became widespread.

Modern

In the 1980s, a machine to make triangular onigiri was invented. Rather than rolling the filling inside, the flavoring was put into a hole in the onigiri and the hole was hidden by nori. Since the onigiri made by this machine came with nori already applied to the rice ball, over time the nori became moist and sticky, clinging to the rice.

A packaging improvement allowed the nori to be stored separately from the rice. Before eating, the diner could open the packet of nori and wrap the onigiri. The use of a hole for filling the onigiri made new flavors of onigiri easier to produce as this cooking process did not require changes from ingredient to ingredient. Modern mechanically wrapped onigiri are specially folded so that the plastic wrapping is between the nori and rice to act as a moisture barrier. When the packaging is pulled open at both ends, the nori and rice come into contact and are eaten together. This packaging is commonly found for both triangular onigiri and rolls (細巻き).

Rice and shapes

Usually, onigiri is made with boiled white rice, though it is sometimes made with different varieties of cooked rice, such as:

* '' Okowa'' or ''kowa-meshi'': glutinous rice cooked or steamed with vegetables
* ''Sekihan'': rice cooked with red azuki beans
* ''Maze-gohan'': rice cooked with various preferred ingredients
* Fried rice
* Brown rice

The rice may be seasoned with salt, sesame, ''furikake'', dried shiso flakes, and so on. Onigiri are typically triangular, but can come in many shapes, including round, cylindrical, rectangular, etc.

Fillings

Umeboshi, okaka, or tsukudani have long been frequently used as fillings for onigiri. Generally, onigiri made with pre-seasoned rice is not filled with ingredients. Plain (salt only) onigiri is called ''shio-musubi''.

Typical fillings are listed below:
* Dressed dishes: tuna with mayonnaise (シーチキン), shrimp with mayonnaise, negitoro (ネギトロ), etc.
* Dried fish: roasted and crumbled mackerel (鯖), Japanese horse mackerel (鰺), etc.
* Dried food: katsuobushi, etc.
* Fish roe: mentaiko (明太子), tarako (たらこ), tobiko (とびこ), etc.
* Shiokara: squid, shuto, etc.
* Meats: kakuni, dongpo pork, char siu
* Tsukudani: nori, Hypoptychus dybowskii (小女子), Venerupis philippinarum (浅蜊), etc.
* Pickled fruits and vegetables: umeboshi, takana, nozawana, etc.
* Tenkasu: deep fried bits of batter

Variants

Yaki-onigiri

''Yaki-onigiri'' (焼きおにぎり "grilled onigiri") are first shaped by compacting white rice, then grilling it until brown, then coating with soy sauce or miso, and finally broiling it. Yaki-onigiri is also sold commercially as frozen food.

''Miso-onigiri'' () is mainly in eastern Japan. Miso is used as fillings, sometimes mixed with green onion, or spread over and roasted as a variant of yaki-onigiri.

Age-onigiri

''Age-onigiri'' (揚げおにぎり "fried onigiri") are first shaped by compacting white rice, then frying it in a frying pan or wok using cooking oil until it is golden brown. Because of the oil, the flavor is richer than yaki-onigiri. If eating it as is, it can be seasoned with soy sauce, miso, or salt.

To eat it in a soup, first place it in a bowl. Add condiments such as chives, '' miyakogusa'', wasabi, grated ginger, nori, umeboshi plum, and pour hot Japanese-style soup stock. Eat while breaking up the onigiri that have absorbed the soup stock.

There are several variations of the age-onigiri. For example, there is a version where the rice being fried has Japanese flavoring, such as ''takikomi gohan''. There is also a Western style variation where melted cheese is used as the filling, the rice is deep-fried with western ingredients such as ketchup and curry, and the onigiri is topped with a western-style soup.

Bakudan-onigiri

''Bakudan-onigiri'' (爆弾おにぎり "bomb-shaped onigiri") are large, spherical rice balls wrapped entirely in ''nori'', so that no rice is exposed. Like other onigiri, they are usually filled with dried fish and ''umeboshi'' plums. Bakudan-onigiri are known to be simple to make and easy to hold without getting the hands sticky.

Pork tamago-onigiri

Pork ''tamago-onigiri'' (ポーク玉子おにぎり "pork egg onigiri") or ''onipō'' (おにポー) for short, is a variation from Okinawa Prefecture which combines rice, seaweed, pork, and eggs. It is similar to ''onigirazu'' (rice and lunch meat in sandwich form).

Other

* '' Tenmusu'' (): rice balls containing fried tempura. Originally from Tsu, Mie, and is well known in Nagoya cuisine.
* ''Samgak-gimbap'' () — Literally "triangle gimbap". It originates from Japanese onigiri and is sold in convenience stores in South Korea. Fillings vary greatly; the expiration date is one day; it typically provides between of food energy.

Trivia

* Onigiri has its own Unicode emoji: 🍙 (U+1F359)

See also

* Arancinian Italian dish of fried, breadcrumb-coated rice balls, with various fillings
* CifantuanShanghainese rice balls, commonly eaten for breakfast
* Jumeokbapa Korean dish of Japanese onigiri-styled rice balls, with various fillings
* Lemperan Indonesian glutinous rice dish served with ''abon'' fillings wrapped in banana leaves
* Zongzia Chinese glutinous rice dish served with various fillings wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves

Notes

References

External links

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{{Rice dishes

Glutinous rice dishes
Japanese rice dishes