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  • 19 hours ago
Making Japanese onigiri rice balls at home is much easier once you know the right steps, and this guide shows a simple way to shape them without the rice sticking to your hands. Yuto from Sudachi Recipes explains how he learned to make lunchbox onigiri at school and shares practical tips for handling warm rice, adding salt, and forming a neat triangle shape.

The video demonstrates the basic method with plain rice, then moves into a filled onigiri using tuna mayonnaise. You’ll see why icy water matters, how salt helps flavor and preservation, and how to make a small dent for the filling before covering it with rice. If you prefer a round or cylinder shape, that works too, and the finished rice ball can be wrapped with nori seaweed for a quick Japanese snack or bento idea.

This is a helpful Japanese cooking tutorial for anyone who wants to make onigiri rice balls at home, pack a lunchbox, or learn a classic rice ball technique. It also fits search interest for easy Japanese recipes, tuna mayo onigiri, bento lunch ideas, and simple homemade rice snacks. Great for viewers looking for an onigiri recipe, Japanese lunchbox food, or a practical cooking guide.

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Transcript
00:08Hello, it's Yuto from SudachiRecipes.com. In today's video, I'm going to show you how to make a Japanese onigiri
00:17rice ball.
00:18It's safe to say that the most lanterboxy food in Japan is onigiri rice balls.
00:23You could find it in supermarkets, convenience stores, bento shops, and of course, we make them by ourselves at home
00:33too.
00:35When I was at high school, I always had to prepare my lanterbox myself.
00:40I mean, I had to make lunch in the morning for myself.
00:43So, I'm not saying I'm professional, but I think I've got some good ideas on this to share.
00:51So, this is the setup, or workstation if you prefer.
00:56There's a big bowl of iced water, cooked Japanese white rice, and some salt.
01:03First, you put your hands into the icy water for about 15 to 20 seconds.
01:10Oh, of course, wash your hands before that, yeah?
01:13Yeah, I know it's freezing cold, but this is an important process to stop the rice from sticking to your
01:20hands.
01:24Yeah, it's cold. I mean, really, really cold.
01:29Now, my hands are slightly numb. Scrub one or two pinch of salt onto your hands.
01:43Then put a handful of cooked rice. It's not so hot because of the icy water now.
01:50The ultimate aim is to make triangle shape, but you don't want to handle the rice for too long.
01:59I mean, in the end, it doesn't have to be perfectly shaped. It will be in your stomach anyway.
02:06Some people do round shape or cylinder shape. If you prefer these, go for it.
02:11There's no specific rule here.
02:22Okay, next, I'm going to make one with a filling.
02:27This method works for most fillings, but today, I'm going to use tuna mayonnaise.
02:35So again, I'm going to put my hands into the icy water and rub some salt over them.
02:43Rubbing salt on your hands is an important step.
02:46Not only does it add flavour, but it helps preserve the rice fall when you take them in your lunchbox.
02:54Here's a fun fact.
02:56Because there's such a convenient food that is handy to eat on the go,
03:00Onigiri rice balls were a staple military supplied food in medieval times, or maybe even before that.
03:08And now, it's one of the most popular lunchbox foods.
03:13So the tip to making a rice ball with filling would be making a dent in the centre for the
03:19filling.
03:27Then kind of wrap the filling with the rice so that it stays in the centre.
03:32And depending on the saltiness of filling, you might want to scrub a little less salt on your hands as
03:37well.
03:51Then wrap them with nori seaweed if you like.
03:55Easy and quick, right?
03:58We have Onigiri filling ideas on our website. The link is in the description below.
04:04Thank you for watching. I'll see you next time. Have a good day.
04:07Bye.

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