
Yaki Onigiri (焼きおにぎり)
Yaki Onigiri (焼きおにぎり) is a traditional Japanese snack made by grilling rice balls over charcoal until they start to brown and crisp. Then, they're brushed with either miso or soy sauce and roasted until the seasoning forms a toasty caramelized glaze on the outside. The flavor that the charcoal grill imparts is undeniably good, but the texture usually ends up somewhere between crunchy and chewy, and not in a good way.
These days, most people don't have a grill at home in Japan, so they are commonly made in a frying pan, but the oil can cause them to fall apart more readily, and it's challenging to get enough glaze onto them to season them properly.
For my version, I've changed a few steps to create a grilled rice ball that's flavorful inside and has an exterior that's as crisp as a cracker.
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Why This Recipe Works?
- Using Japanese short-grain white rice ensures that the Yaki Onigiri will stick together during frying.
- By pan-frying it rather than grilling, it's possible to get a crisp, evenly browned rice layer.
- A thin coating of potato starch helps make the onigiri crispy and binds the rice on the onigiri's surface together so it doesn't fall apart when it hits the oil.
- Mixing the soy sauce directly into the rice rather than brushing it on top ensures the onigiri is evenly seasoned to the core.
- Melted butter adds a wonderful complimentary flavor to the grilled rice balls, but the milk solids in butter burn easily. That's why it's essential to add it at the very end.

Ingredients for Yaki Onigiri
- Rice - To make onigiri, it is imperative that you use Asian short-grain rice (Sativa Japonica, a.k.a. "sushi rice"). These cultivars have a higher ratio of amylopectin to amylose, which gives them a stickier texture. This enables the cooked rice to bind together into a ball of rice. If you try this with other varieties, like jasmine rice, your onigiri will likely fall apart.
- Soy sauce - I used Japanese soy sauce to season my onigiri, but this will work with any savory sauce that contains salt, such as miso (you may need to thin it out a bit first with a little water), ketchup, oyster sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc.
- Potato starch - Oil lubricates the grains, which can make your rice ball fall apart, but a thin coating of potato starch creates a crispy crust that binds the surface of the onigiri together. It also helps make it extra crispy.
- Vegetable oil - It takes a while to get the surface of the rice ball browned and crisp. If you start with butter, the milk solids burn and become bitter, which is why I fry my onigiri with vegetable oil first.
- Butter - Butter and soy sauce is a classic combo that is incredibly delicious on everything from pasta to stir-fries. It's also really tasty on yaki onigiri. The melted butter sinks into the craggy surface creating a synergy of flavor. I like using cultured butter (a.k.a. European butter) because the fermentation of the cream creates more diacetyl, which is the compound responsible for giving butter its flavor. Another option is to brush them with toasted sesame oil for a nutty flavor.
How to Make Yaki Onigiri
Cook the rice
The first thing you need to do is cook a batch of short-grain rice. This recipe is written for one rice cooker cup of rice (about ¾ US cup), which will make 3 Japanese rice balls. If you need more, just increase the amount of each ingredient proportionally (though you won't need to increase the amount of oil as much).
Season the rice
When the rice is cooked, drizzle the soy sauce or sauce mixture evenly over the hot rice and then use a wet spatula or rice paddle to distribute the soy sauce evenly. You want to use a folding and cutting motion to coat each grain with the soy sauce, but use a light touch so you don't mash the grains.
Once the seasoned rice is uniform in color, flatten off the top and then divide it into thirds with the spatula (if you double the recipe, you'll need to divide it into sixths).
Shape the onigiri
Wet your hands with water and form triangular shape rice balls from each segment of rice. Click this link for instructions on shaping them by hand. Or you can wet a triangular shape onigiri mold in a bowl of water and use that. Unlike regular onigiri, you want to compact it well for Yaki Onigiri, so it holds its shape in the pan.
Place the formed onigiri onto a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or plastic wrap) and repeat until you've used all of the seasoned rice.
Put the potato starch in a tea strainer or other fine-mesh sieve, and then give the two large faces of the onigiri a light dusting of starch. This step ensures that the onigiri will form a crispy crust and won't fall apart in the oil. It should look like your rice balls got hit with a light frost, not a heavy snowfall. Also, try to limit the amount of starch that gets onto the sides of the onigiri.
Fry
Heat a frying pan over medium-low heat until it's moderately hot, and then drizzle in about half of the oil. Add the onigiri to the pan and then move them around to ensure each one has some oil on it. Be careful not to allow them to touch each other or they will stick together.
Let these fry until they're crisp and golden brown. This will take 7-10 minutes, but cooking times will vary depending on your stove. The surface of the rice ball has to lose moisture before it can start to brown. The idea is to brown them slowly so you get a nice thick crust of crispy rice, not just a layer of browning.
Once they've crisped on one side, flip them over. Add a bit more oil to the pan and move the Yaki Onigiri around to make sure you have some oil between the rice and the pan. You may not need all of the oil.
When the second side has browned, melt some butter on top of each ball of rice and then flip them over and melt some more butter on the second side (you may not need it all).
To finish them off, flip the grilled rice balls up on their sides and roll them around on each side for 1-2 minutes to cook any stray starch that may have gotten onto the sides (white powder).
Serve the onigiri while hot, wrapped in perilla leaves (shiso or kkaennip) or nori seaweed. Yaki onigiri make a satisfying snack or serve them with a bowl of miso soup, dashimaki tamago, and some Japanese pickles for a complete meal.

FAQ
Yaki onigiri roughly translates to "grilled rice ball" (the literal translation is more like "grilled squeezed thing"). In traditional Japanese cooking, it's made by shaping a rice ball (which is really more like a triangle shape), then grilling it on a screen over charcoal. These days, most people pan-fry them. This creates a crisp browned crust outside, giving the onigiri a toasty flavor that's a bit like rice crackers. Nikumaki Onigiri is a modern version of Yaki Onigiri, where the rice ball is wrapped in a thin sheet of meat before being grilled and glazing it with teriyaki sauce.
Yaki Onigiri has 6 syllables and is pronounced as follows:
ya like yacht
ki like key
o like order
ni like knee
gi like gear
ri the “ri” sound does not exist in the English language and is like if you tried to pronounce "ream" with the tip of your tongue at the front of your mouth.
Although it's best to eat yaki onigiri right away, the crisp crust on this version will last for a few hours as long as you don't cover it while it is still warm.
First, you need to start with the proper rice. Japanese short-grain rice is stickier than other varieties, so it sticks together better.
Second, you need to squeeze your yaki onigiri harder than you would if you were making regular rice balls. Compacting them will help them hold their shape while frying.
Since the crispy outside is the star of this tasty snack, I usually prefer not to add fillings, but you could try adding a small portion of your favorite filling before you shape them. It may make them more likely to fall apart, though.
If you end up making more grilled Japanese rice balls than you can eat in one sitting, they are delicious in ochazuke, or Japanese "tea rice". Just make some tea (I recommend houjicha) or dashi stock, heat the onigiri in a microwave and then pour the tea or dashi on top of the onigiri. It will lose its crispness, but the flavor of the caramelized rice and soy sauce gets released into the liquid, and it makes for a delicious breakfast.
Although this recipe is vegetarian, you can make it vegan-friendly by eliminating the butter or by using a plant-based butter instead.
📖 Recipe


Units
Ingredients
For rice
- 160 grams Japanese short-grain rice (1 rice cooker cup or ¾ US cup)
- 1 cup water
For onigiri
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon potato starch
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon cultured unsalted butter
- Shiso leaves for wrapping
- Nori sheets for wrapping
Instructions
- Use the measuring cup and water lines on the cooker bowl to cook 1 rice cooker cup of rice.
- If you're doing it on the stove, wash the 160 grams Japanese short-grain rice in a few changes of water until it runs mostly clear. Drain it in a sieve. Add it to a tall pot along with 1 cup water. Cover the pot with a lid, and then bring the water to a boil over high heat. As soon as it's boiling, turn the heat down as low as it will go. Set a timer for 13 minutes. After the timer goes off, turn the heat off and let it continue steaming for another 10-15 minutes. Do not open the lid at any point during the cooking or steaming process.
- Once it's done steaming, pour the 2 tablespoon soy sauce evenly over the rice and use a folding and cutting motion with a spatula or paddle to evenly distribute the soy sauce until it is uniform in color.
- Level off the top of the mixture and then divide it into thirds like a pizza.
- If you're shaping the yaki onigiri by hand, click this link for specific instructions. If you're using an onigiri mold, just get it wet and stuff each mold with a segment of rice. Press the onigiri mold together more than you normally would so that it holds its shape.
- Put the onigiri on a parchment-lined or plastic wrap-lined tray. Dust each onigiri with a thin coating of the 1 teaspoon potato starch by passing it through a fine-mesh sieve like a tea strainer. Flip the onigiri over and dust the other side. Try not to get starch onto the sides of the onigiri.
- Put a non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat and when it is moderately hot, add about half of the 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and arrange the onigiri so they're sitting on a small pool of oil.
- Fry undisturbed until they're golden brown and crisp on one side (about 7-10 minutes).
- Flip them over, and then add a bit more oil to fry the second side until crisp and browned.
- Finish the Yaki Onigiri off by melting some of the 1 tablespoon cultured unsalted butter directly onto each browned surface of the onigiri and then roll them on their 3 sides to cook any stray starch.
- Serve the fried rice balls wrapped in Shiso leaves or Nori sheets
Kathy Stroup says
While these aren't exactly the Yaki Onigiri of my cravings, I managed to use your recipe to recreate the teriyaki-glazed ones I used to get many years ago at a local restaurant. Your technique worked flawlessly! Thank you!
Marc Matsumoto says
Yay, I'm glad this was able to help you relive a taste memory! Love the idea of glazing this with teriyaki!
Lorraine says
Thank you so much for your energy and talent!
I purchased an Onigiri mold thinking that would press them together enough. I wet the mold before I put the rice in and they fell apart trying to shake them out. Either the water in the mold or maybe my rice was too wet. At any rate, I ended up with scrambled, crunchy rice. Quite delicious, but not the crispy outside, fluffy inside I was hoping for.
Any hints on how I might improve? I am determined to make some that look close to yours!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Lorraine, assuming you added enough rice to the molds to compress them, it sounds like the issue might be with the stickiness of your rice. What kind of rice are you using?
dajomo says
Totally friggin' awesome--plain or stuffed (not too much or they can get loose). Better tasting than the traditional method I find due to contact with the pan and Maillard effect. I splurge and use Koshihikari, Akitakomachi, etc. and the investment is worth it both in flavor and in handling. Had about 3 pan failures out of 12 small ones, so there's learning curve, but I'm just about there. Good news is that the failures are equally delicious. Thanks Marc!
Marc Matsumoto says
I'm glad to hear you enjoyed this! Good call on the rice, those are two of my favorites. To reduce the pan failures, make sure the onigiri are squeezed together tightly enough (not something you want to do with normal onigiri, but it's important for yaki onigiri), and try to keep them from touching each other in the pan (which can cause them to start to unravel).
Antonia Wong says
Stuffed them with leftover mackerel and they were amazing!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Antonia, what a great idea! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Julie kodama says
I didn't do the best job with these but dang they were delicious!
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Julie I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm happy to help you troubleshoot for the next time if you had some specific areas you ran into trouble?