Simple "Onigiri" Without Nori Seaweed

This is the easiest onigiri (Japanese rice balls) by mixing your favorite ingredients in Japanese rice and shape. It's ok to make onigiri without nori, actually easier to eat for small children this way.

Onigiri (rice ball) is a Japanese traditional staple that we eat daily for any time, breakfast, lunch, dinner, between meals.

Common onigiri is wrapped by nori sheet (black seaweed), but we don't use it in this recipe. We will make it simple.

If you have small children, you will love it.

For small children, it's hard to bite nori sheets, and we have to help them, but this onigiri is easier for them to eat on their own.

This recipe is for you if:
• You love onigiri (rice balls).
• You are looking for how to make onigiri without seaweed .
• You are looking for easy onigiri recipes.
• You are looking for how to shape rice balls

So, I will show you how to make this simple, easy, and kids friendly onigiri.

Are you interested? Then let's get started! If you want to check the recipe, please use the link below.

Jump to:

• About this recipe
• Let's learn about Onigiri
• 📋 Ingredients
• 🔪Step by step instructions
• Storage
• Variations
• FAQ
• Thanks for Stopping By
• Watch How To Make It
• 📖 Recipe

About this recipe

• 5 different onigiri without nori sheet
• Use Japanese short-grain rice
• Include vegan/vegetarian onigiri
• This will make 3 small size onigiri for kids or 2 regular size onigiri for adults.

Let's learn about Onigiri

Look at these cute-looking onigiri!

Onigiri is made with Japanese rice, salt, and any ingredients of your choice (lots of variations out there).

Have you been to a Japanese convenient store? And overwhelmed by the number of choices and hard to pick?

Ingredients to mix or fill can be anything. You can be creative and come up with something if you can't find the ingredients I show in this recipe.

But it would be best if you learned how to cook Japanese short-grain rice properly. Otherwise, it will be hard to form the rice.

It's perfect for on the go

It's like a sandwich, and you can hold one hand and eat it. So it's perfect for when you are on the go.

In general, we take it as a bento (lunch box) for work/school or snack between meals for kids, family picnic, etc.

About Shape

The most common shape is a triangle. I always form a triangle shape as I've grown up with it. A round shape is more common in some areas in Japan. Also, a cylinder shape is more common in some other areas.

In this recipe, I will show you how to make a triangle one but feel free to try other shapes.

📋 Ingredients

Here are the ingredients (amounts are in the recipe card below) for onigiri.

• Cooked Japanese rice (short grain rice)
• Salt
• Ingredients to mix

If you are not familiar with cooking Japanese rice and want to learn further, please see: how to cook Japanese short-grain rice. It's different from long-grain rice, and it's clingy, sticky, and perfect for making a shape.

Ingredients to mix in rice

Here are 7 ingredients for making 5 different onigiris (Salmon and sesame seeds are mixed to make one kind).

• Furikake: It's Japanese rice seasoning. We sprinkle on top of the rice when we want to have more taste in rice. This particular one is a mix of salmon, egg, and katsuobushi, but you can use any furikake.
• Edamame: It's immature soybeans and a healthy Japanese snack! In this recipe, I use fresh ones because it's in the season now (summer) but I use the frozen ones throughout the year. Take edamame from the pod before mixing in rice.
• Katsuobushi & Soy sauce: This is a classic combination for onigiri. Katsuobushi is bonito flakes and one of the main sources of Japanese dashi (stock). Mix it with soy sauce before mixing in rice to make it soft and give it a taste.
• Shio kombu: It's salty strips of kombu (seaweed) and goes well with cooked rice. If you eat it as it is, it's salty, so do not put too much.
• Salmon flakes & Sesame seeds: This is also a classic combination. I use store-bought salmon flakes, but you can grill a piece of salmon and make it into flakes on your own.

*soy sauce is not in the picture.

For vegan/vegetarian, you can choose either edamame or shiokombu.

🔪Step by step instructions

Let me walk you through how to make it step by step. These steps are the same for any ingredients.

Before mixing in rice, these 2 ingredients require an extra step.

Edamame: remove edamame from pods, Katsuobushi: mix katuobushi and soy sauce in a small bowl.

1. Mix rice and ingredients: Put cooked rice in a bowl, add the ingredient of your choice, and mix.
2. Wet hands: Set aside a small ball of water and a small plate of salt, wet both hands with water.
3. Add some salt: Put salt on your finger (I usually dip 2 fingers), place it on your palm, and rub between your hands.
4. Spread the salt: You can see the salt spread on the entire palm.
5. Rice on your palm: Put ⅓ (small size) or ½ (regular size) of rice on your hand.
6. Form: First, hold the rice with both hands to make it stick together. Then form a triangle shape (or round shape) by pressing gently with your palms and fingers while rolling it several times.

It is hard to show how to form in the picture, so please watch the video: "How to make simple onigiri" for actual forming movement.

There you go! Here are 5 different onigiris for you! Which one is appealing to you?

Try them all? It would be fun to have an onigiri party (our kids love it) with these colorful rice balls :).

Form onigiri using plastic wrap

If you are in one of the situations below, then forming with plastic wrap is a good idea.

• You want to take it as a bento (lunch box)
• You want to store it in the freezer to eat later
• You are in a furry
• The rice is too hot to hold

Using plastic wrap is super easy and quick. Also, it's safer as holding rice with wet hands will increase germs over time.

1. Place rice on plastic wrap
2. Wrap it up
3. Form a shape by pressing gently with your both palms and fingers
4. Done!

It's the same process but without salt and water.

Without salt, you may feel the taste is light. In that case, feel free to sprinkle a pinch of salt over it to add more taste.

Storage

If you don't eat the onigiri right away, please cover it with plastic wrap as the surface will dry.

Wrap each one with plastic wrap and put it in a container like the picture above. You can keep both in the fridge and freezer.

A couple of days in the fridge, and one month in the freezer.

But if you keep in the fridge, the rice will be dried out and get hard. So I recommend to heat up in a microwave oven to have more fluffy texture before you eat it.

Same for the freezer, heat up right before you eat it (not throw at room temperature as it will get dry).

Variations

There is a bunch of varieties for onigiri. I will share some of my favorites ingredients you can mix in rice.

For Vegan

• Umeboshi: It's pickled Japanese plums. It's one of the most popular onigiri fillings. There is a seed inside, so remove it and chop it finely, then mix it in rice.
• Aonori: It's a seaweed flake and easy to mix in rice.
• Wakame: It's a type of seaweed, and you can find a seasoned wakame at a store that is easy to mix in rice.
• Takana: It's pickled mustard leaves. Chop it finely and mix it in rice.

For Vegetarian

• Scramble egg: Make scrambled egg and mix in rice.
• Cheese: Pick your favorite cheese, cut it into small pieces and mix in rice.

FAQ

Thanks for Stopping By

This onigiri recipe is easy to make, super simple, and easy for kids to eat without seaweed.

It is wonderful that rice balls are not only for easy meals at home, but you can also take them as obento(lunch boxes) at work, school, picnics in the park, travel destinations, etc.

I hope you will enjoy it with your family.

Thanks for visiting my site! Please make comments below if you have any questions!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog♡ If you’ve tried this recipe(or any other recipe on the blog), please give it a star rating below!

Also, feel free to leave comments if you have any questions. I love hearing from you!

Chef JA Cooks is a Japanese food blog that shares simple and healthy Japanese home cooking recipes include vegan and vegetarian. From traditional Japanese recipes to modern recipes with step-by-step instructions.

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