Onigiri

Onigiri is a traditional Japanese snack that dates all the way back to the Edo period. Onigiri is a rice ball, with a center filing of your choosing. One classic, incredibly popular filling is mayonnaise and fresh tuna. However, this blog is dedicated to "no fish, no problem", so, instead I will detail Onigiri with a chicken salad filling.

Ingredients:

4 cups of Japanese Rice

2 sheets of nori (seaweed), cut into 1 in. x 2 in. wide strips

Salt

Fillings (mayonnaise and small peices of boiled chicken breast, a.k.a chicken salad).


Procedure:

1. Dip yours hands in water and rub a small drop of sushi vinegar on them (this allows the rice to stick together, even though good Japanese rice should be sticky enough).

2. Next, dust the rice with a sprinkle of salt.

3. Take 1/4 of the rice and roll it into a ball. Then, with your thumb, press a large cavity into the ball. Put in about 1 tsp or so worth of filling into the cavity.

4. Take another small handful of rice, enough to cover the cavity, and lay it over the filling.  Again remold into a ball. Finally, cup your hands into L-shapes, respectively, and collapse the ball within your hands until a tight triangle results.

5. Wrap the rice triangle with 1-2 strips of Nori.

6. Make as many as the remainder of the rice allows.

7. Refridgerate for 1 hour; remove and eat.