Onigiri

• Dissolve the salt in the bowl of water. Set aside.
• If using furikake, mix a desired amount into the hot rice, distributing it evenly throughout.
• Place œ cup of warm rice in a clean palm dampened with the salted water and make a depression in the rice. In the depression, place a small portion of filling. Add another œ cup of rice on top of the filling.
• Form the rice into either a ball or a triangle. (To make a triangle, cup the rice-filled hand at a 90-degree angle and cover it with the opposite hand. Press the rice together firmly in the cupped hands and then turn the rice a third. Repeat shaping and turn another third.)
• Wrap the shaped onigiri with a strip of nori and serve immediately.

* Japonica rice, furikake and nori are available at Asian markets and international groceries.

This article appears in Jul 1-31, 2008.