Onigiri is a Japanese comfort food, readily available in all convenience stores in Japan. It consists primarily of rice, often with some seasonings or a filling on the inside, then wrapped in nori seaweed. If you want to create a proper onigiri, you need to use the right type of rice.
Proper Rice
To make onigiri, you need the type of rice that's most prevalent in Japan. You'll find this in the store listed as "Japanese-style rice," "sushi rice" or "medium grain rice." If your grocery store has an Asian section, this rice is more likely to be in the Asian section than with other types of American rice. Long grain, jasmine, basmati, wild and other types of rice will not work for making onigiri.
White vs. Brown Rice
A traditional onigiri will use white rice. Brown rice, however, is more nutritious, so you may want to use it. Look for Japanese-style brown rice or "gen-mai" to make brown rice onigiri. Alternatively, haigamai rice has the germ but is still white. You can find this type of rice at Asian specialty stores.
Why Japanese Rice
An onigiri has to have just the right amount of stickiness to keep its shape. Long grain rices cook to be fluffy, not sticky. Don't confuse the proper Japanese rice with "sticky rice" or "glutinous rice," which is too sticky for creating an onigiri.
Mixed Rice
Once you've cooked the Japanese-style rice, you may want to create a "mixed rice" before making your onigiri. To do this, you simply mix the cooked rice with vegetables or a flavoring like small pieces of seaweed, sesame seeds or Japanese "furikake." From this, you can create your onigiri.
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