Yaki onigiri - grilled rice balls. A favorite at Izakaya restaurants, Yaki Onigiri are Japanese grilled rice balls covered in savory soy sauce. With a crispy crust on the outside and soft sticky rice on the inside, these rice balls are simply irresistible and easy to make at home! Today I'm going to share Yaki Onigiri (焼きおにぎり) recipe.

Onigiri is a classic staple dish in Japan that most Japanese people pack in their bento boxes or buy from the convenience store for lunch. I don't know why, but Onigiri just tastes so much better than plain rice in a bowl, even though it's just that very same rice rolled into a triangle shape. Check out my updated post on "Onigiri Rice Balls" for more ideas of how to make and shape. You can have Yaki onigiri - grilled rice balls using 3 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Yaki onigiri - grilled rice balls

It's 250 g of cooked rice.
You need 1 tsp of soy sauce.
It's 1/2 tsp of soy sauce for the final touch.

Yaki Onigiri (焼きおにぎり) is grilled rice ball. Yaki means "grilled" in Japanese (such as Teriyaki, Yakisoba, Yakiniku, Yakitori, etc), and onigiri means "rice ball.". If you have tried Japanese rice balls in the past, but not yaki onigiri, today is the day for you to discover this true Japanese comfort food! As any Japanese kid, or former kid, can tell you, onigiri are rice balls, the versatile national snack found in homes, convenience stores, and every school lunchbox.

Yaki onigiri - grilled rice balls instructions

Mix the rice and 1 tsp soy sauce well in a mixing bowl..
Make 2 triangle shaped rice balls. *Using plastic wrap makes it easier..
Place the rice balls onto a non-stick frying pan and grill them on medium low heat. Once one side gets nicely charred, turn them over and grill until the other side gets charred as well..
Brush the surfaces of the rice balls with 1/2tsp soy sauce and keep them grilled to get them nicely browned..

If you have made Onigiri (rice ball) before, add one more step and try Yaki Onigiri, crunchy grilled rice ball. The recipe can be as simple as placing the rice ball on the grill and brush with soy sauce when browned. Here, I even made it more simple by browning Onigiri using frying pan. For Ivan Orkin, making yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls) is a labour of love. "They take a certain amount of care, because they can burn. They also take a good amount of time," he says.