Niigata Onigiri

Onigiri is a rice ball and Niigata-style Onigiri is the rice balls that are treated as a art as well as a meal with its own regional distinctions. Niigata Onigiri is distinguished from its firmness, consistency, aroma, and a natural sweetness that is from the crop and the minerals inside. The Niigata quality of water is credited with giving the rice in certain areas its own sort of flavor that layers on as another layer of flavor that it adds to the rice itself. Niigata style traditionally uses koshi-hikari rice as a basis, but there are an assortment of rice that are used from Niigata that create variations of Niigata Onigiri such as.

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Many other prefectures use koshi-hikari rice, but they are missing the waters from the different areas of niigata that tamper with its authenticity as some say, because the water can’t be experienced in the same way without the exact quality of water used in the process. Typical additions include salt, reheated by fire, dried nori sheet, and sometimes miso paste.

 

The Forming

The satisfaction of an onigiri master not only comes from the heart, but also comes from being able to have freshly formed rice balls from hand or by mold to fully satisfy the customers' cravings as a hungry child with precision and speed that takes plenty of experience. Those who are fascinated with the ingredient will learn to have love and passion for the ingredient and understand it inside and out through the preparations. While oftentimes many decisions in cooking are based on freshness there is a much more difficult process in ingredient preparations which takes timing, mixing techniques, cooking styles, and pickling to make something seen as a perfect onigiri. 

The cook takes each detail in consideration for the dish as it must be large enough and delicious enough to eat and be transportable over far distances as samurai carried rice balls many years ago. Some of the thoughts that occur are the oven timing, the pickling mixtures, the sauce, and the shapes (diced, chopped, or chunked) that differ from filling by filling called the "gu".

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It is repetitive in nature to create nicely shaped and wrapped rice balls while having a bit of the ingredient in each bite to have a harmony of rice and fillings that bring about smiles and satisfaction. Oven baked foods like Shake (salmon) come out from a slow process of baking that makes a fluffy and juicy element that is accompanied by its own fat or a sauce. The salt and mixture of the salt plays a key role in the onigiri arts as the seasoning of specific salts enhance the rices flavor and it is sometimes overlooked from those paying more attention to ingredients other than the rice.

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The Sauces
The sauces are used for further flavoring, like miso variations for umami or other paste based sauces, or the left over baked fats are mixed with seasoning and used as a soak for the main ingredient. It is important that the sauces play the role of flavoring a portion of the rice as there are several parts of the onigiri: the rice that touches the wrapped ingredient, the rice that is plain, and the rice that touches the gu (filling) and the sauce. Not all sauces need to be premade as pickled ingredients can be wet at times and their flavor can be absorbed by the rice or in the case of eggs from chickens or eggs from fish the ingredient itself mixes a little as its being prepared and seeps into the rice.

 

The Fields

The Fields of the Country Side, Rice is found in the rural landscape and the focused on ingredient that makes a wonderful onigiri. It is becoming increasingly popular for home cooks to visit onigiri-ya (rice ball shops) and take classes from a trained onigiri master to have a better understanding of using rice in onigiri in its feeling of a comfort food. Going out and experiencing such a workshop allows for the understanding of sticky-rice, which often times brings the passing of knowledge of rice paddies and other products made from Japanica rice including: sake, mirin, rice-wine vinegar, and miso which is very important in making onigiri.

 

Mountain of Life by its Grains

The care of a Onigiri master comes from traditional comfort foods in Japanese cuisine originating from homes that think about no waste of seasonal harvests, farm plantings, and understanding of the staple rice. Much needed attention is brought to the rice farmers and brings about respect for every grain and every bit of food as something to be eaten and not thrown away. It creates a sense of eating what is needed and to not eat in excess from what is wanted in order to not waste food and keep things sustainable.

 

Japanica Enthusiasts, Japan Rice Farmers, and Japanese Onigiri masters pay plenty of attention to specialty varieties in order to be very knowledgeable about the choices they have with rice flavors and what works the best in their surrounding geography. For example there are varieties that are developed in Hokkaido that maybe made in a particular way to be very flavorful even when at colder temperatures. By looking at that the process of making really good rice can be seen by what effects it, like: the weather, the water temperature, as well as resources in the water itself and those parts may effect the properties of a specific rice.

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The Cooking

Those who make rice can become so good at cooking rice that the practice of controlling heat through the temperature can bring out even more flavor through the cooking process. In the olden days there is a: Flickring phase for cooking rice over a fire at lower heat (at 9 minutes), then Standing phase where bubbles vigorously simmer until the rice grains begin to swell (at 14 minutes), the Channeling phase the heat is turned back down for air gaps to make a fluffy consistency (closed until done).

When talking to the rice farmers the people who talk with them will come to find there are at least twenty popular and available rice brands at market and there are additional specialty rice growers for variations of flavor profiles, holding changes, and stickiness to each. Knowing where the rice comes from can build a knowledge base and respect from where the ingredients are from, so that a sense of understanding the rice takes place along with a bit of what it takes to grow it, harvest it, and sell it.

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The basics in becoming a cook is learning how to do: (1) Onigiri Eggs- freeze eggs for two days, remove only the yolks (save egg whites), soak in marinade. (2) Ground Fish Roe-place fish roe in a grinder for a one grind, mix in marinade, soak in marinade. (3) Whole Fish Roe- remove membrane, cut into cubes, soak in marinade. (4) Pickled Stir Fry- Add oil, add Pickled things, add Ingredient (meat, seafood, vegetable). (5) Ground Meat- simmer ground meat in oil and spices, add flavoring paste, add vinegar. (6) Baked Fish- Bake fish, remove skin, (save skin), remove bones, shred fish, salt fish. (6) Prepacked Pickle Slices, Miso Soup, Tea.

 

Soft-Molding Technique

It is said that by molding it softly, air enters and the deliciousness of each and every grain of rice stands out. In actual fact, the moment that it enters your mouth, the rice becomes loose and the sensation you have is close to one of eating from a rice bowl. This is a method of making onigiri that is difficult to imitate. I would definitely recommend trying the taste of the onigiri at this shop. Your concept of onigiri is sure to change.

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Niigata Salt, Niigata Rice, Nori Seaweed
Originally to the average person a onigiri-ya would be something nothing but the ordinary. People could just go to a convenience store to get a onigiri on the go and not need to stop by anywhere else with a second thought, however, local onigiri restaurants around Japan have changed little by little to adjust to local customers need. This would make many onigiri regional as well as local, since most suggestions would be people who lived in their town or city.