Nikumaki Onigiri is a rice ball wrapped with thinly sliced beef and cooked in sweet soy sauce. Although it’s still called Onigiri, Nikumaki Onigiri is a more substantial and satisfying meal than normal Onigiri which is usually wrapped in Roasted Seaweed.
Nikumaki Onigiri originated from an Onigiri speciality store in Miyazaki, Kyushu in the late 1990s. At first, it was merely an employee meal at the place, but it became a big hit as soon as it got on the regular menu for customers. Nikumaki Onigiri became so popular locally that it quickly spread all over the country. Now a lot of Onigiri shops carry some kind of Nikumaki Onigiri. Different shops use different ingredients for their Nikumaki Onigiri to have their own flavor and style. While the original was wrapped with pork in a sweet and salty sauce, modern variations include beef, or rice stuffed with cheese or even Kimchee.
What we did here is to use thinly sliced beef and a very simple sauce without any strongly pronounced flavors like garlic and ginger. Since it is hard to eat by hand because of the sticky sauce, we wrapped this Onigiri with leafy lettuce. That worked well to avoid sticky hands and add some vegetable at the same time. This is great for weekend lunch, or dinner any time. You could make mini-size ones and serve as appetizers too. Give it a try and enjoy a popular and savory take on Onigiri!
Ingredients
- 2 cups Steamed Rice
- 2 pinches salt
- 4-5 very thin slices of beef (enough to cover 4-5 Onigiri)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Sake
- 1 Tbsp Mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 tsp oil
- sesame seeds
- lettuce leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Mix steamed rice with a couple of pinches of salt. Make a tight cylindrical ball 1/2 cup (or little less for smaller Onigiri) steamed rice, about three inches long. Repeat to make 4-5 rice balls. Wrap each rice ball with one paper thin slices of beef so that there is no rice exposed.
- In a small bowl, mix Soy Sauce, Sake, Mirin, sugar and water.
- Heat oil in a frying pan at medium heat, and cook wrapped rice balls until the beef is browned all around. Add sauce to the pan, coating the beef, and cook until almost all the liquid is gone.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with lettuce leaves.
