Super Simple Sesame Onigiri

A japanese-style staple to elevate all your snacking needs.

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Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Dosha: Kapha, Pitta, Vata

Pretty much everywhere I go, I want to take a delicious snack with me. These Super Simple Sesame Onigiri have traveled with me to far-flung places, tucked into my carry-on but are more famous for their special appearances on bike rides and big adventures in the mountains, stashed in my jersey pocket.

Recipe Notes

A few notes on prep here:

Fresh is best: There are other recipes around that suggest you can use leftover rice to make onigiri, but in my opinion, this just isn’t an option because the rice doesn’t stick together nearly as well. The steam in just-cooked rice is actually an ingredient that will help the rice stay together in a neat little cake.
On greens: This recipe lists arugula as the green but kale or spinach work equally as fabulously!
Keep it warm, keep it tight: Once the rice is steamed, smoosh it together in a bowl with your flavor agents and veggies. It’s important that you do this while the rice is warm because the steam will help the rice to bond together.
Shape your desires: To shape the onigiri, you have two options – one is to shape the rice into square “rice cakes”. These are the sturdiest options for jersey pockets in my opinion. Alternatively, if you want to be fancy, you could use a 1/3 cup measure lined with plastic wrap to make circular onigiri. If you opt for this approach, dipping your hands in hands in cold, salted water will be very helpful. Use a bit of the water to mold the nori sushi paper around the rice, being careful not to squish the onigiri apart. The paper will just melt into itself. Let them dry for a minute, then wrap and enjoy.
Wrap it up: for travel I highly recommend parchment lined foil such as Skratch Paper, Lunchskins paper bags or nori seaweed wrapper sliced into strips for wrapping. These act as the perfect protection to keep onigiri contained and hands clean!
Equipment:
- 8×8″ aluminum baking pan OR 9×11″ baking sheet
- rubber spatula OR rice paddle
- *to make circular onigiri you’ll need 1/3 cup measuring cup lined w/plastic wrap*
Storage: For food safety, rice cakes should be stored in the refrigerator. Unconsumed rice cakes left out of the fridge (say, in a jersey pocket) for more than 4 hours should be discarded and NOT consumed.

Flavor Notes

Flavors are FUN, yes, but they also are the mechanisms by which our bodies nourish themselves. Flavors basically tell our bodies what the food is giving us – on a nutritional and energetic level. Our bodies then prepare enzymes to break those components down, assimilate them, and turn them into fuel for our vibrant lives. We can’t eat just one flavor and get all of the things we need, so learning to track the flavors in our foods helps us to be sure that we’re really getting all of the things we need in our meals. This particular recipe has all six flavors. The more flavors we can enjoy in any meal or food, the happier and more balanced our bodies will be. If you’re wanting to learn more about how the flavors we eat fuel our bodies – energetically and nutritively, check out this little blog post.

SWEET: rice, maple syrup
SALTY: Bragg's Liquid Aminos
SOUR: rice vinegar
BITTER: toasted nori, spinach
ASTRINGENT: tahini, sesame seeds
PUNGENT: onions