Takana Onigiri (高菜おにぎり, Kumamoto pickled-mustard rice balls)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rice cooker, or a heavy pot with a tight lid
• •Shamoji (Japanese rice paddle), or a flat wooden spoon
• •Clean cotton cloth for squeezing the takana
• •Small bowl of salted water for shaping

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Put the rice in a bowl, cover it with water, swirl quickly, and pour off the cloudy water. Repeat until the water is only faintly cloudy, then drain well. Add the 400ml fresh water and soak for 20 to 30 minutes. Washing removes loose surface starch so the grains cook clean; soaking lets the center hydrate, which keeps the rice from splitting when you press it.

   Wash it twice, wash it thrice, but don't scrub the grain. You want clean rice, not broken rice.
2. 2

   Cook and rest

   Cook the rice in a rice cooker, or bring it to a boil in a heavy pot, lower the heat, cover, and cook for 12 minutes. Take it off the heat and rest, still covered, for 10 minutes. That rest evens the moisture from top to bottom. Open too early and the top dries while the bottom stays wet, and wet-bottomed rice makes poor onigiri.

3. 3

   Prepare the takana

   Lay the whole takana leaves flat and blot them dry. If the center rib is thick, shave it down or cut it out so the leaf will bend around the rice. Taste the chopped takana. If it is fiercely salty, rinse it briefly, then squeeze it hard in a clean cloth until it no longer drips. The pickle should season the rice, not soak it.

   Wring the pickle, not the rice. That little maxim saves the texture of the whole dish.
4. 4

   Fry the pickle

   Warm the sesame oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped takana and the chili, if using, and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until the mustard aroma rises and the pan looks nearly dry. Add the mirin and shōyu, then cook another minute until the greens are glossy with no liquid pooling. This wakes the pickle's fragrance, cooks off the raw edge of the mirin, and keeps the rice from turning heavy.

5. 5

   Fold with rice

   Loosen the hot rice with a shamoji, a Japanese rice paddle, or a flat wooden spoon. Scatter the fried takana and sesame seeds over it, then fold with cutting motions rather than stirring like batter. Each grain should stay visible, flecked with green. Hot rice takes the seasoning evenly; mashed rice makes an onigiri that sits in the hand like a stone.

6. 6

   Shape the onigiri

   Set out a bowl of water and the salt. Wet your hands, rub a small pinch of salt across your palms, and take about 100 to 110g rice. Cup it lightly and press it three times into a triangle or tawara, a small bale shape. Wet hands keep the rice from sticking, salt seasons the outside, and light pressure makes the grains cling without crushing them.

7. 7

   Wrap and serve

   Wrap each rice ball with a blotted takana leaf, folding the softer tip over first and tucking the stem side underneath. Let the onigiri sit for 5 minutes so the leaf clings and the surface salt settles. Serve the same day. For a picnic or bento, cool them fully before packing, and keep them chilled if they will sit longer than two hours.

Chef Tips

• •Look for whole-leaf Aso takana-zuke if you can find it. The leaves give you the Kumamoto wrap, and the stems give you the chopped seasoning. If only chopped takana is available, make the mixed-rice onigiri and leave them unwrapped. That is still honest, only plainer.
• •Use Japanese short-grain rice. Long-grain rice can be excellent in its own house, but it doesn't hold this shape properly. Onigiri depends on grains that cling without becoming paste.
• •Taste the takana before you season it. Some pickles are mild and green, some are saltier than a lecture. Rinse only when needed, then squeeze dry and bring the flavor back with sesame oil, mirin, and shōyu.
• •Press less than your hands want to press. Three firm touches are enough: one for the face, one for the side, one to settle the corner. The rice ball should hold together, not apologize for being rice.
• •For meal prep, shape them the morning you plan to eat them. Rice hardens in the refrigerator, so if you must chill them, wrap each one tightly and let it return to room temperature before eating.

Advance Preparation

• •The takana mixture can be fried up to 3 days ahead and kept refrigerated. Fold it into freshly cooked rice, not cold rice, so the grains stay supple.
• •Whole takana leaves can be rinsed if too salty, blotted dry, and layered between paper towels a day ahead.
• •Finished onigiri are best the day they are shaped. For bento, make them in the morning, cool them before closing the box, and keep them cool during travel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 165g)