Nigiri, or rice cakes are a fast, inexpensive and potentially healthy snack that also can be packed into a lunch box and consumed as a main meal.

The ingredients you can add to a nigiri are endless, so we’ve included  a few different videos on making nigiri to show you different alternatives to try.

In this video we’re going to make some tuna nigiri’s.

Although most nigiri’s in Japan, and especially the ones being sold in shops use standard Japanese “sticky” white rice, for a healthier variation we’re going to use brown rice or genmai (which is unhusked rice).

Because brown rice contains the germ and bran we need to add extra water than if we were cooking white rice.

With brown rice we like to use 2 cups of water to every cup of rice. Unlike white rice where we use 1 cup of rice to one cup of water.

Now before cooking any rice it is generally advisable to wash the rice first. The easiest way is to simply fill the rice bowl with water then swish around a few times.
Any excess matter should float to the surface where you can then drain it away.

After doing this a few times the water should become clear.

Cooking rice becomes oh so simple when you have a rice cooker that has a variety of measurement marks and cooking options.

Here we just fill the pot with water to the required level and place in the rice cooker.
Brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice and you can see with this batch and this machine that the cooking time is 71 minutes.

When the rice is cooked it is quite hot so gently spread it apart and let it cool down and air for a few minutes.

Now we’re going to make our tuna paste. First we had a dash of low calorie mayonnaise,
then a dab of soy sauce.
Then mix together into a consistent paste.

If you’re planning on making a lot of nigiri’s it might pay to put the rice into a larger bowl where it can air out and cool down quicker before being handled.

It is also recommended to have some water nearby to keep your hands wet when forming the nigiri’s. This will stop the rice from sticking to your hands.

Then it’s just a matter of grabbing a manageable handful of rice, spreading it apart and putting some of the tuna paste in the middle. Cover the tuna paste so it’s completely enclosed, then manipulate it all into shape.
Nigiri’s are generally a triangular shape.

What we’re aiming for in this case is a compact nigiri with the tuna paste in the center.

You can see here the general shape and size.

Then it’s just a matter of rinse and repeat and refine your technique to best suit the job.

As shown in another nigiri video, you also have the option of just adding what ever ingredient you wish to add, straight into the bowl of rice.
Then mix everything together and make nigiri’s as are. What I mean is you don’t have to worry about trying to get something into the centre of the nigiri.

One final tasty and healthy addition to most nigiri’s is to wrap a piece of thin dry seaweed around it