Japan. Onigiri has the longest documented history of any Japanese food — rice balls wrapped in bamboo leaves are referenced in 11th-century Heian-period texts. The triangular shape became standardised in the Edo period. The modern convenience store onigiri (with its ingenious two-film nori-separation system) was pioneered by 7-Eleven Japan in 1978.
Onigiri are hand-pressed rice triangles or balls with a filling, wrapped in nori. They are Japan's most portable food — found in every convenience store, every lunch box, every picnic. The great onigiri have warm, freshly cooked rice that has been lightly seasoned, a filling that is well-seasoned (never bland), and nori that is kept separate until the moment of eating so it stays crisp.
Cold mugicha (roasted barley tea) — Japan's summer companion to onigiri. Or green tea. Onigiri is not a sake dish — it is a working lunch, a hike snack, a school lunch box. The beverage is whatever is at hand.
{"Rice: freshly cooked Koshihikari, seasoned while hot with a light amount of sushi vinegar (much less than sushi rice — onigiri should taste of rice, not vinegar)","Salt water hands: wet your hands with cold water and sprinkle with sea salt. Shape immediately while the rice is warm — cold rice does not cohere","Filling: umeboshi (pickled plum, sour and salty — the traditional filling), grilled sake (salmon), tuna with Japanese mayonnaise, or okaka (bonito flakes with soy). The filling must be assertively seasoned — it needs to season each bite of plain rice","Shaping: cup the rice in both palms and press three or four times with moderate pressure to form a triangle. The rice should be cohesive but not compacted into a dense block — the interior should be slightly airy","Nori: wrapping at service only. Pre-wrapped onigiri sold and stored for hours have soft, chewy nori — the Japanese convenience store innovation of separate nori packaging was specifically designed to preserve the contrast between crisp nori and soft rice","Wrap two-thirds of the onigiri in nori, leaving the point of the triangle exposed"}
The moment where onigiri lives or dies is the rice temperature — the rice must be warm enough to be pliable but cool enough to handle. This window lasts about 15 minutes after the rice cooker finishes. Season the rice with light sushi vinegar and salt while it is hot, then cool briefly with a fan, then shape. Working with cold rice is like shaping concrete — the grains do not cohere and the onigiri will be dense and crumbling.
{"Cold rice: will not cohere and produces a crumbling, dry onigiri","Bland filling: the filling must be concentrated and well-seasoned to season the surrounding rice","Pre-wrapping with nori: the nori softens within 30 minutes"}