Appetizers Recipes - Rice Balls with Four Fillings Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 umeboshi, stoned (pitted)

• 45ml/3 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

• 2.5ml/1/2 tsp mirin (sweet rice wine)

• 50g/2oz salmon fillet, skinned

• 50g/2oz smoked mackerel fillet

• 2 nori sheets, each cut into 8 strips

• 6 pitted black olives, chopped

• fine salt

• Japanese pickles, to serve

For the rice:

• 450g/1lb/2 1/4 cups Japanese short grain rice, rinsed

• 550ml/8fl oz/2 1/2 cups water

Serves 4

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Method:

1. Put the rice in a heavy pan. Pour in the water and leave for 30 minutes. Cover tightly and bring to the boil, then simmer for 12 minutes. When you hear a crackling noise, remove from the heat and leave to stand, covered, for 15 minutes.

2. Toss the rice to aerate it. Leave to cool for 30 minutes. Mash the umeboshi and mix to a paste with 15ml/1 tbsp of the sesame seeds and the mirin.

3. Break the salmon and mackerel into loose, chunky flakes. Rinse a cup and shake off excess water. Scoop 30ml/2 tbsp warm rice into the cup.

4. Make a well in the centre and put in a quarter of the salmon. Cover with rice. pressing down well.

5. Wet your hands and rub them with salt. Turn the rice in the cup out into one hand and squeeze to make a densely packed ball.

6. Wrap the rice ball with a nori strip. Make three more balls with salmon, four with mackerel and four with umeboshi paste.

7. Scoop about 45ml/3 tbsp rice into the cup. Mix in a quarter of the olives and mould into four balls. Coat with sesame seeds, but do not wrap with nori. Serve with pickles.