Onigiri – Japanology Plus
[Applause] [Music] Japan’s favorite food, oniiddi. These are rice balls with different fillings. A simple food that’s more popular in Japan than ever before. [Music] To buy an ongiddy here, you may have to wait 6 hours. Now there’s a new wave of visually appealing oni with unique ingredients. Convenience stores invest heavily in the development of original products. Ongiddi is so popular that stores are opening outside Japan. And in Japan, they’re being used in new ways to support [Music] agriculture. This time on Japanology Plus, we bring you the very latest from the world of Oni. Hello and welcome to Japanology Plus. I’m Peter Barakan. Our theme for today is onigiri, rice balls, Japan’s comfort food. Generally, they’re wrapped in dried nori seaweed like these ones are. They come in a variety of fillings, and there are new ones being invented all the time in specialist shops that are popping up around the country. Today, we’ll look at the latest developments in Oniiri and how they relate to Japanese food culture in general. And my guest and guide on the program today is an onigiri specialist, Sikki Katsunori. Sikan, thank you very much for joining us on the program today. Nice to meet you. Thanks for having me on the show. Seek Katani is an expert on many aspects of oniiddi. He develops and sells a range of frozen [Music] ones. He also promotes oniiddi internationally. [Music] You could probably say that oniri are Japan’s most popular snack. I understand that they’re becoming more popular outside Japan as well. Now, thanks to the influence of anime, international awareness of oniiritti has grown. A surprising number of oniiritti shops have opened outside Japan. And they’re made with Japanese rice, right? Yes. You can’t make oniggiddi without Japanese rice. Globally, indica rice is most commonly eaten. But the grains don’t stick together. For oniiri, you need to use sticky japonica rice. That’s how you make them. And there are new types of oniigiri being invented all the time. Traditionally, fillings were placed inside the rice where you couldn’t see them. But recently, a different type of oniiri is becoming popular where the fillings are displayed. Visually, they’re very flashy. Interesting. First, an oniiddi shop in the Ningo area of Tokyo. It opened in 2022. It specializes in the modern style with lavish appearances and ingredients. The shop’s aim is to offer innovative combinations. Rice is combined with ingredients typically used in international cuisines. This one offers roast beef and truffle sauce. Another features pickled daikon radish with miso and cream cheese. They’re full of unusual ingredients. The visual impact generated a huge buzz. As many as 2,000 are sold on a busy day. This is Outer Market, a popular Tokyo destination for international visitors. Weaving through the crowd, we find another shop selling unusual onigiddi. These grilled oniiddi have crispy bits called wings, sea urchin, salmon row, and eel are some of the high quality ingredients. [Music] They try the grilled oniiddi topped with salmon row. [Music] [Music] The most popular grilled oniiddi topping is eel in a sweet soy sauce. The grilled onigiri are made by overfilling molds with rice, then pressing down to cook. The grilled rice is finished off with a topping. But what inspired this unusual shape? Oniiddi are constantly evolving in form and flavor. There are many students in this part of Tokyo. And this shop attracts a lot of young customers. Okay. Hello. Hello. Wow, these are very colorful. Can you tell us what they are? Okay. I think I fancy one of the eel ones. That’s really tasty. And I’ve never had an oniiri like that before. Thanks to their stylish look, these onigiri have gone viral on social [Music] media. Oh. The packaging makes them great gifts. We asked him why oni are so popular with international tourists visiting Japan. Well, you don’t need oil to make them. So, they’re very healthy. Then there’s the price. They cost around three to 400 yen in Japan and 4 to 500 yen abroad. And a hamburger probably costs something like a,000 yen, I guess. Yeah. So, compared to that, they’re very cheap. And here’s another reason. People who are vegan, vegetarian, or following a halal diet can eat onigiri. The base ingredient is rice. The fillings come down to personal preference, so people can feel very comfortable buying them. Next, a longestablished shop in the Otsska area. We visited in the morning before it opened. The Oni are so popular that people may have to wait 6 hours to get one. The shop sells over a thousand oniiddi per day. One factor is the broad selection of fillings. I see you have so many different kinds of fillings and this menu on the wall. How many different kinds do you have altogether? Okay. Which are the most popular ones? Salmon and salmon row chunks are common ingredients, but this is seasoned codro with mayo and cream cheese. It’s one of the many unique options featured in their lineup. Any kind of unusual ones? Whoa. Okay. I wasn’t expecting that. Whoa. Oh, that looks really nice. Maybe I’ll try that actually. What are you going to have? Pepper on chino. I’ve never had one, so I’ll try that. Okay. Peter chooses oniiddi with egg yolks soaked in soy sauce. To make the filling, eggs are frozen whole. As they thaw, the shells and whites are removed, leaving firm round yolks. These are marinated in soy sauce for 4 hours. The resulting onigiddi is the shop’s signature item. Thank you. Too good to eat. M I didn’t realize there was so much egg. I thought it was just the one on top and there’s a whole lot inside as well. It’s a little salty because of the soy sauce, of course, but just right. Si tries his unusual pepperonino oni. The spiciness really kicks in, but it’s not too spicy. Yes, it’s really nice. And the taste is really good, but it’s it’s soft and kind of fluffy. It’s how they form the rice. Other shops can’t make onigiri this fluffy. That’s why there’s such a long line here. We asked to see how it’s done. Okay. Mhm. To preserve the texture of the grains. The rice is squeezed lightly, a maximum of three times. Making a fluffy onigiri that doesn’t fall apart takes true [Music] skill. The final step is to wrap it in naughty [Music] seaweed. And one more egg. Okay. Rice balls have a long history. This illustration said to be from the 16th century depicts a man shaping rice into what looks like an oniiddi. It became a portable food widely enjoyed during farmwork or travel. From the late 19th century, oniiddi were sold at train stations and served in schools. They became standard fair. The first takeout meal ever offered at a train station was onigiddi and pickled daikon. Then in the 1970s, convenience stores began to proliferate. Most of them stocked on Igiddi, but at first there was no demand. Sometimes stores could only sell two or three in a day. Back then, people would make their own at home. They didn’t see the point in buying one. But a few years later, the introduction of plastic film packaging dramatically changed the image of convenience store [Music] Oniiddi. The film could be removed just before eating. This prevented nodi from absorbing the moisture from the rice. The seaweed stayed crisp and the oniiddi was a huge hit. From then on, ongiddy became a popular purchase. Peter, what do you think is the most important element of oniiri? I hope this isn’t a trick question. I’m going to say rice. Correct. Rice is of course the most important part. And recently, oni shops and convenience stores alike have been focusing on different varieties and cooking methods. We’re visiting a Tokyo branch of a major convenience store chain. Kim Nagyong is involved in developing the company’s onigiri products. How many types altogether? Okay. How many of these would you sell? I hear you blend different varieties of rice. Can you tell us more? condition. In addition, the company uses a low temperature method of milling rice. When rice is mil, heat from the machine can damage the grains. The company says that doing this process slowly at a low temperature solves the problem. It preserves umami and sweetness. [Music] Other convenience store chains are competing to develop new onigiddi products. This company says it offers the fluffy texture that is a trend among specialist onigiddi shops. To achieve this, it invested 2 billion yen in the development of a new molding machine. Previously, flat sheets of rice were folded into a triangle. This involved applying pressure, which destroyed the fluffy texture. [Music] The new machine deposits fillings onto rice that has been cut into triangles with the middle scooped out. Another rice layer is placed on top like a sandwich. The company was very particular about how much air was left inside. They used a CT scan to compare the amount of air in oni produced using the old and new methods. Those produced with the new method contain more air and are thicker. This is what gives them their fluffy texture. Another chain’s motto is nothing beats fresh oniggiddi. The oniiddi are made by hand at on-site kitchens with freshly cooked rice. Production levels are adjusted during the day in response to demand. Whether commuting to work or on a lunch break, customers can enjoy ongiddy that are so fresh they are still warm. Driven by convenience store competition, Oniiddi continued to evolve. Our next destination is in the Kitorgi area. This is a longestablished rice shop. It stocks around 30 varieties of rice from around the country. Each one is carefully selected. And I understand you also make. Why is that? [Music] And you make them from different kinds of [Music] rice. The shop’s most popular onigiri mix rice with rice bran. Peter tries one with finely chopped skipjack tuna flakes. I’m not feeling the brand that much actually. It’s not as soft as some I’ve had. You really get the feel of each grain in the rice ball. It’s It’s very tasty though. Good texture. [Music] Oh, in spite of the recent rise in Oni’s popularity, the demand for rice itself is shrinking yearbyear. year. It’s now at half of its peak level and there’s a surplus. New initiatives are seeking to make use of this surplus. Miyazaki city in Miyazaki Prefecture, a business here manufactures and sells oni that are a little out of the ordinary. [Music] They can be stored at room temperature and eaten right out of the packet. They’re perfect in an emergency, such as when the water supply is cut. The rice used in the special onigiri is grown on six farms within Miyazaki city orhata himself makes rice for them in a 10 hectare field. [Music] Each one of these large pots cooks enough rice to make 130 oniggiddi. These oniggi are made without preservatives of any kind. So how do they last for 5 years? Okay. So, So, how does it taste? Let’s ask a customer. [Music] Within 6 months of being introduced, 20,000 of these special oniiddi had been sold. Here’s another initiative. It’s a social media project that began in 2015 called Oniiddi Action. People post pictures of oniiddi or people eating onigiddi and use that hashtag. For every submission, supporting companies make a donation that helps to provide five school lunches to needy children elsewhere in Asia and in Africa. But why is the theme on? We asked Yamamoto Mah who works for the nonprofit running the project. There have been 10 campaigns since 2015. Over 2 million photos have been posted, helping to pay for over 11 million school lunches in places in Africa and Asia where they are needed. Fore! Foreign! Foreign! foreign Japan’s comfort food is bringing hope to children elsewhere in the world. Sisa, I understand that what we have here is a line of oniiri that you yourself have been developing. Yes, I’ve developed a line of frozen oniiri as you can see here. And why freeze them? It helps to eliminate food loss. That’s one point. Freezing them means that they last for a year after the date of manufacture. Ultimately, I’d like to export onigiri and sell them in other countries. And the reason for that is rice that’s grown in Japan actually tastes best when it’s cooked using Japanese water. I’d like to offer that quality internationally, which is why I chose this method. Growing the global market for onigiri also benefits our rice industry. If the demand for onigiri rises, then more Japanese rice will be exported that supports production. It would be great for Japanese agriculture. Oniiri can be filled with anything. They’re a platform with endless possibilities. So, they have the potential to be really successful internationally. Okay, we’ve learned quite a lot today, I must say. Thank you very much. Thank you.
[Skip Intro] 0:15
Watch more full episodes of Japanology Plus on NHK WORLD-JAPAN!
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/japanologyplus/?cid=wohk-yt-2505-japanology328-hp
More quality content available on NHK WORLD-JAPAN!
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/?cid=wohk-yt-2505-japanology328-hp
Onigiri, originally humble handheld riceballs, are experiencing a surge in popularity around the world.