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Home ► Recipes ► Japanese Street Food

Yaki Onigiri

Updated: 11.25.24 | Marc Matsumoto | 10 Comments

4.75 from 4 votes
These Yaki Onigiri, or grilled rice balls, have a layer of fluffy rice sandwiched between two ultra-crispy layers of browned rice. Seasoned with butter and soy sauce, they make a mouth-wateringly delicious meal from just a few basic ingredients.
Recipe Video
With a crispy shell of rice seasoned with butter and soy sauce, yaki onigiri or grilled rice balls are an easy Japanese rice dish that comes together from a handful of basic ingredients.

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.

Jump to:
  • Yaki Onigiri (焼きおにぎり)
  • Why This Recipe Works?
  • Ingredients for Yaki Onigiri
  • How to Make Yaki Onigiri
  • FAQ
  • 📖 Recipe
  • Comments

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.
Grilled rice balls or yaki onigiri served wrapped with perilla leaves.

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.

Yaki Onigiri served on perilla leaves.

FAQ

What is Yaki Onigiri?

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.

How do you pronounce Yaki Onigiri?

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.

How long does Yaki Onigiri last?

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. 

How do you make yaki onigiri not fall apart?

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.

Can you add fillings to yaki onigiri?

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.

How do I use leftover Yaki Onigiri?

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.

Is Yaki Onigiri vegan?

Although this recipe is vegetarian, you can make it vegan-friendly by eliminating the butter or by using a plant-based butter instead.

📖 Recipe

Grilled rice balls or yaki onigiri served wrapped with perilla leaves.

Yaki Onigiri (Grilled Rice Balls)

By: Marc Matsumoto
4.75 from 4 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 40 minutes mins
Total Time 45 minutes mins
Yield 3 rice balls
YouTube video

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.
    Setting a rice cooker.
  • 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.
    Rice steaming in a pot.
  • 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.
    Mixing rice with soy sauce to make yaki onigiri.
  • Level off the top of the mixture and then divide it into thirds like a pizza.
    Dividing rice to make onigiri.
  • 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.
    Shaping rice in a plastic onigiri mold.
  • 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.
    Dusting rice balls with potato starch.
  • 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.
    Pan-frying yaki onigiri.
  • 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.
    Flipping yaki onigiri over.
  • 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.
    Buttering yaki onigiri.
  • Serve the fried rice balls wrapped in Shiso leaves or Nori sheets
    Plating Yaki Onigiri on top of Shiso leaves.
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Nutrition Facts

Calories • 274kcalCarbohydrates • 43gProtein • 5gFat • 9gSaturated Fat • 3gPolyunsaturated Fat • 3gMonounsaturated Fat • 2gTrans Fat • 0.2gCholesterol • 10mgSodium • 676mgPotassium • 74mgFiber • 2gSugar • 0.2gVitamin A • 117IUVitamin C • 0.03mgCalcium • 8mgIron • 3mg

Comments

    4.75 from 4 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Kathy Stroup says

    July 13, 2024 at 6:16 am

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      July 13, 2024 at 10:35 am

      Yay, I'm glad this was able to help you relive a taste memory! Love the idea of glazing this with teriyaki!

      Reply
  2. Lorraine says

    March 07, 2022 at 6:51 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      March 07, 2022 at 10:53 am

      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?

      Reply
  3. dajomo says

    March 16, 2021 at 11:04 pm

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      March 17, 2021 at 9:16 am

      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).

      Reply
  4. Antonia Wong says

    February 03, 2021 at 4:12 am

    Stuffed them with leftover mackerel and they were amazing!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      February 03, 2021 at 9:03 am

      Hi Antonia, what a great idea! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed them!

      Reply
  5. Julie kodama says

    February 01, 2021 at 9:36 am

    I didn't do the best job with these but dang they were delicious!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      February 01, 2021 at 12:14 pm

      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?

      Reply
Marc Matsumoto

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