Meat Wrapped Onigiri

When my friends and I got together for our “Cooking Club”, we made Buta no Kakuni and Korean Sushi (Kimbap) as well as mandoo.  We felt like we needed something else, and I thought that these onigiri I had seen in the Peko Peko cookbook were perfect.  The Peko Peko cookbook was a charity cookbook put together by a bunch of great bloggers and chefs to go towards the Japan relief efforts.  There are seriously some great recipes in here from traditional to modern spins on Japanese classics. 

  

Meat Wrapped Onigiri
from PekoPeko cookbook

2 cups sushi rice
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/2 lb. sukiyaki meat
12 shiso leaves
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. mirin
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. sake
2 tsp. grated ginger juice
2 tsp. sesame seed oil

1.  Cook rice in rice cooker or stove top.  Once rice is cooked, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil.   

2.  Use a mortar and pestle and grind the toasted sesame seeds.  Mix the seeds into the hot cooked rice. 

3.  Using firm pressure, create 12 onigiri.  *If you do not use firm pressure the rice balls will fall apart when you bite into them.  Wet and salt your hands to prevent rice from sticking all over. *

4.  In a microwavable container, mix together the soy sauce, sugar, mirin and sake.  Heat in the microwave for one minute and stir in the ginger juice and sesame seed oil. 

5.  Using half of the mixture marinate the sukiyaki meat for 5 minutes.  Pick up the slices and wipe off the extra marinade.  Wrap two slices of the meat around the onigiri, covering it completely.  Repeat for the remaining rice balls. 

6.  Place the wrapped rice balls on the baking sheet.  Bake on the center rack for 10-12 minutes, brushing the rice balls twice with the remaining marinade.  When the meat is browned, remove from the oven and cover each ball with a shiso leaf. 

These are totally yummy and would be perfect in any bento lunch!  I am definitely going to make these again and next time I might stick an ume in the middle for a nice bit of saltiness.  We ate these all up, there were no left overs in sight! 

On another note, I am totally enjoying my photo class.  I feel like I have learned so much with only two classes so far.  I’m seeing small changes in my photos and all the concepts that I learned so long ago in high school are coming back to me!  Here are two of my favorite photos that I have taken since I’ve started my class.