Yaki onigiri (Grilled Rice Balls) 焼きおにぎり

Yaki Onigiri ­— Grilled Rice Ball photo by Namiko Chen

A favorite at izakaya restaurants, yaki onigiri are Japanese grilled rice balls covered in savory soy sauce. With a crispy crust on the outside and soft sticky rice on the inside, these rice balls are simply irresistible and easy to make at home!

Today I’m going to share my yaki onigiri (焼きおにぎり) recipe. Yaki means “grilled” in Japanese (you have probably heard enough from my blog — teriyaki, yakisoba, yakiniku, yakitori, etc.) and onigiri means “rice ball.”

Onigiri (https://www.justonecookbook.com/onigiri-rice-balls) are made of white rice formed into triangular or oval shapes. Inside these rice balls, you can find fillings such as Japanese pickled plum (umeboshi), salted salmon, katsuobushi (sometimes called okaka), simmered kombu or spicy cod roe (mentaiko). On the outside, they are often wrapped in dried and crispy nori (seaweed).

Today’s onigiri are grilled, typically on a frying pan or over a barbecue grill.

Making Yaki Onigiri at Home
Traditionally, yaki onigiri are grilled over charcoal, which lends the rice balls a hint of woodsy, smoky flavor that is truly hard to resist. To make yaki onigiri at home, I instead use a cast iron pan to grill the rice balls. This helps to create a crispiness that is similar to how it would taste when cooked over the BBQ grill. But if you don’t mind setting up a charcoal grill, go ahead!

These grilled rice balls can be made with or without fillings, but it is more often prepared with plain rice. Because it’s all about simplicity, you want to start with quality Japanese short-grain rice. Forming the onigiri is not too challenging. I’ve shared step-by-step pictures and tips on how to form the rice balls in the recipe section of my blog post, so you will master it in no time. Once your onigiri are formed and placed on the grill, it is brushed with the sauce and left to crisp up.

Savory Sauce for Yaki Onigiri
Although most yaki onigiri are commonly glazed with soy sauce or miso (I have a Miso Yaki Onigiri recipe at https://www.justonecookbook.com/miso-yaki-onigiri), I actually love using my Homemade Unagi Sauce. The unagi sauce is a sweet caramelized soy sauce and the savory aroma of the sauce blends perfectly with white rice. You can also purchase unagi sauce from Japanese/Asian grocery stores.

When onigiri are grilled until they crisp up with a toasty delicious crust, and the rice in the center is still tender and sticky, you know it’s time to savor these perfect treats. They are such a wonderful snack for children and adults.

If you live near a Japanese supermarket, you can probably find conveniently packaged pre-made yaki onigiri in the freezer section. But, really, yaki onigiri are so easy to make from scratch that I hope you will give it a try. This can be a unique addition to your Asian-style barbecue menus (https://www.justonecookbook.com/tags/grilling-bbq). Enjoy!

Japanese Ingredient Substitution
If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, visit https://www.justonecookbook.com/ingredient-substitution-for-japanese-cooking.

Yaki Onigiri
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 30 mins
A favorite at izakaya restaurants, yaki onigiri are Japanese grilled rice balls covered in savory soy sauce. With a crispy crust on the outside and soft sticky rice on the inside, these rice balls are simply irresistible and easy to make at home!

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: rice ball, roasted rice ball
Servings: 6 grilled rice balls
Author: Nami

Ingredients
• Two rice cooker cups uncooked Japanese short-grain rice (https://www.justonecookbook.com/premium-japanese-short-grain-rice) (360 ml; one rice cooker cup (180 ml) of uncooked rice will make 3 rice balls.)
• Water
• Kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
• Neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
• Soy sauce (https://www.justonecookbook.com/soy-sauce) (I used my Homemade Unagi Sauce (https://www.justonecookbook.com/unagi-sauce-2), see Notes for recipe)

To read the recipe, visit the Just One Cookbook post here.