Onigiri

Ingredients

• 400 g sushi or short grain rice
• 200 g salmon fillet
• 4 sheets of nori, cut into strips
• sea salt flakes
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• furikake, to finish
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Method

1. Cook proper sticky rice

   Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then cook it by the absorption method and let it rest 10 minutes. Short grain is essential — long grain rice will not hold together, and the whole thing falls apart in your hand.

2. Shape it warm, not hot

   Let the rice cool until you can just handle it. Cold rice will not bind; scalding rice you cannot press firmly enough.

3. Make the filling

   Grill or pan-cook the salmon, flake it, and mix with the mayonnaise and soy. Keep the filling fairly dry — a wet centre makes the rice collapse.

4. Wet hands, salted hands

   Wet your palms and rub them with salt. The water stops the rice sticking and the salt seasons the outside, which is the only seasoning plain onigiri gets.

5. Press, do not squash

   Take a handful of rice, make a dent, add filling, cover, and press into a triangle by cupping one hand into an L and rotating. Firm enough to hold, loose enough that it is not a compacted brick.

6. Nori at the last minute

   Wrap a strip of nori around each one just before eating and finish with furikake. Wrapped in advance the nori goes soft and chewy — which is exactly why shop-bought ones have that fiddly plastic separator.