5 from 16 votes
Chicken Soboro Onigiri (Japanese Ground Chicken Rice Ball)
Chicken Soboro Onigiri features seasoned ground chicken mixed evenly with cooked Japanese short-grain rice, then shaped into rice balls and wrapped with nori. The savory blend of soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar creates a lightly sweet and salty chicken topping that complements the tender, sticky rice. These rice balls are convenient to prepare for lunches or picnics and can be shaped using a mold or by hand.
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
20 mins
Servings:
6
rice
Course:
Breakfast, Snacks, Lunch
Cuisine:
Japanese
Ingredients
- 600 g Japanese short-grain rice cooked
- 1 tsp neutral cooking oil generic cooking oil
- 100 g ground chicken
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sake
- 6 trips nori seaweed nori, sushi
Instructions
- Heat up a frying pan on a medium high heat. Once hot, add 1 tsp cooking oil and 100 g ground chicken and fry until browned.
- Add 1 tbsp soy sauce, ½ tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp sake to the pan and fry everything together. When the liquid has fully absorbed, remove from the heat.
- Add 600 g cooked Japanese short-grain rice and the seasoned chicken to a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Once evenly distributed, I recommend dividing into equal portions to ensure all the onigiri are the same size.
- Shape the rice in a onigiri mold. If shaping by hand, see my article how to shape the perfect rice ball.
- Once your onigiri are shaped, wrap them with nori. Eat them straight away or put them in your lunch box with an ice pack.
- Enjoy!
Cup of Yum
Notes
- Freeze leftover onigiri individually wrapped without nori to prevent freezer burn and store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
- Reheat frozen onigiri in the microwave before adding fresh nori to maintain texture.
- Refrigeration is not recommended as it affects the texture negatively.
- Use an onigiri mold for uniform shapes or shape by hand for a traditional feel.