Tarako Onigiri (たらこおにぎり, salted cod roe)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rice cooker, or a heavy pot with a tight lid
• •Shamoji (rice paddle), or a wide silicone spatula
• •Japanese fish grill, toaster oven, or oven broiler
• •Small bowl of water and small dish of salt for shaping
• •Onigiri mold, optional; clean salted hands are the standard tool

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Put the rice in a bowl, cover it with cool water, and stir quickly with your hand. Pour off the cloudy water, then wash with fresh water 3 or 4 more times, using light pressure, until the water is only faintly cloudy. Rice carries loose starch from milling; rinse it away and the grains cook clean instead of gummy. Drain for 10 minutes so the measured cooking water isn't thrown off by what clings to the rice.

   Wash it twice, wash it thrice, but don't grind the grains. You are cleaning the surface, not punishing the rice.
2. 2

   Cook and rest

   Combine the drained rice and water in a rice cooker and cook as usual, or use a heavy pot: soak the rice in the water for 20 to 30 minutes, cover, bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and cook 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and rest, still covered, for 10 minutes. That closed rest finishes the center of each grain and gives you rice that clings without turning wet. Fluff gently with a shamoji, a rice paddle, using cutting motions rather than mashing.

3. 3

   Grill the tarako

   While the rice rests, line a fish grill, toaster tray, or broiler tray with foil. Grill the tarako over medium heat, or broil 10 to 15cm from the element, for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Turn gently. Stop when the membrane looks matte and firm and the center is still moist and pale pink. The light grilling sets the surface so the filling doesn't smear through the rice, and it softens the raw edge without drying the salt-cured roe. Cool for 2 minutes, then cut into 6 pieces.

   Tarako is already salty; the danger is dryness, not blandness. If you want the roe fully cooked for a picnic, give it another minute, but stop before the center turns chalky.
4. 4

   Salt the palms

   Set out a small bowl of cool water and a small dish of salt. Wet your hands, shake off the excess, and rub a pinch of salt across both palms. The water keeps the rice from sticking, and the salt seasons the outside of the onigiri so every bite tastes complete before it reaches the filling. If the rice is too hot for your hands, shape with plastic wrap, but still salt the rice lightly.

5. 5

   Shape the onigiri

   Take about 100g of warm rice, a heaped 1/2 cup, and spread it across one palm. Make a shallow hollow in the center, set in one piece of grilled tarako, and cover it with a small spoonful of rice. Form a triangle by pressing your palms and fingers together, turning the rice 3 times as you go. Press only enough to make the grains hold. Squeeze hard and you crush the rice, and the onigiri becomes a brick with a secret. Let the grains meet; don't make them surrender.

6. 6

   Wrap and serve

   Wrap each onigiri with a strip of yaki nori just before eating, or pack the nori separately for a picnic. Nori softens against warm rice; that is pleasant when eaten at once and limp when forgotten. To mark the filling, press a tiny bit of grilled tarako on top. Serve at room temperature the same day. For a picnic, let the shaped onigiri cool until the outside is no longer hot, wrap each one, keep them cool, and eat within 4 hours.

Chef Tips

• •Choose tarako that looks plump, pale rosy, and glistening fresh, with no strong fishy smell. If it smells tired, change the dish. Rice and salt won't hide a poor filling, and they shouldn't be asked to.
• •Don't confuse plain tarako with karashi mentaiko. Mentaiko is seasoned with chili and is its own good thing, but then you are making mentaiko onigiri, not tarako onigiri.
• •Use freshly cooked Japanese short-grain rice. Long-grain rice will not cling properly, and vinegar-seasoned sushi rice belongs elsewhere. Onigiri rice is plain, warm, and salted by the hands.
• •An onigiri mold is useful for nervous fingers, but clean salted hands are the better teacher. They tell you when the rice is holding and when you've started to squeeze too hard.
• •Wrap with nori at the last moment if you want crispness. Pack it separately in a small sleeve for a picnic; this one small fuss saves the wrapper from going soft before lunch.

Advance Preparation

• •Tarako can be lightly grilled 1 day ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Use it cold or let it lose its chill for 10 minutes before filling, but don't leave it sitting out.
• •Rice can be rinsed and soaked 30 minutes before cooking. Cook and shape onigiri the day you serve them; refrigerated cooked rice hardens and loses the tender cling this dish depends on.
• •For a picnic, shape the onigiri in the morning, cool until the outside is no longer hot, wrap each one, and pack the nori separately. Keep them cool and eat within 4 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 125g)