Rice ball recipes your kids will love: Kanikama Rice Ball! This chuuka (Chinese) inspired rice ball has lots of flavor but is still simple and easy to make.
What are onigiri?
Onigiri are Japanese rice balls. They are most commonly thought of to be triangular in shape, but can come in many different shapes. Onigiri are always made from steamed Japanese rice and oftentimes combined with different ingredients. This portable food is one of the most popular in Japan among adults both and children and can be found in convenience stores to specialty artisan onigiri shops and in pretty much every household. Onigiri are very easy and quick to make and completely customizable to your tastes!
Kanikama Onigiri
This kanikama rice ball is based on a chuuka style, which means a Japanese-Chinese style of cuisine. The ingredients are kanikama (imitation crab), aonori (dried seaweed flakes), chicken bouillon granules, and sesame oil. Very similar to what you could find in a fried rice.
Rather than having the ingredients be contained on the inside of the rice, this style of rice ball has the ingredients mixed into the rice. This makes forming the rice ball extremely easy and is a common style for people who make their rice balls at home.
How to shape the onigiri
There are many ways to shape onigiri. You can use just your hands (make sure they are wet), a mold, or in plastic wrap. You can make them shaped into a triangle, ball, cylinder, or pretty much any shape you would like!
For this video & photos, I formed them into a round ball style. It is one of the easiest to make. Place the rice mixture onto some plastic wrap, pull the plastic wrap around the rice and form into a general ball shape. From there, twist the plastic wrap excess. This will automatically form the rice into a round ball shape. From there you can use your hands a bit to make it an even more perfect ball. Unwrap and serve!
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Kanikama Rice Ball / カニカマおにぎり
Ingredients
- 2 rice cooker cups Japanese rice cooked
- 1-2 pieces kanikama (imitation crab) chopped
- 1 tbsp aonori
- 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
- sesame oil drizzle
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the cooked Japanese rice, kanikama, aonori, chicken bouillon granules, and sesame oil.
- Form the rice mixture into rice balls (see blog post above for how to form into round onigiri).
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Shop this post:
Rice Ball (Onigiri) Mold
Tiger JPW Rice Cooker
Japanese Short Grain Rice (Tamanishiki)
Aonori (dried seaweed flakes) / 青のり
Rice Paddle
Japanese Short Grain Koshihikari Rice (Shirakiku)
California-grown Medium Grain Japanese Rice
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