Tori Meshi (Japanese Chicken & Rice Balls)

Onigiri are to the Japanese what sandwiches are to Brits–of course, sandwiches are also available and popular in Japan, but far more ubquitous when it comes to convenience food are these often triangle-shaped balls of rice with fillings in the centre, or mixed through the rice. They are straightforward to make, easy to transport and the kind of food you can eat anywhere.

They are also one of the cornerstone food products sold by Japanese konbini (convenience stores) and hence have a dedicated recipe chapter in Konbini: Cult recipes, stories and adventures from Japan’s iconic convenience stores by Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng.

Tori Meshi is the combination of rice and chicken formed into rice balls. The chicken is braised with ingredients including soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar and the braising liquid is thickened into a sauce that is used to flavour the rice.

This recipe is for the chicken element of Tori Meshi and you’ll need to combine it with the recipe for Onigiri / Omusubi, here.

Read our full cookbook review of Konbini by Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng, here.

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Tori Meshi (Japanese Chicken & Rice Balls)

While commonly associated with Japanese cuisine, teriyaki chicken is not actually common in Japan. What you’ll find in Japan instead is tori meshi ‒ chicken cooked in a sweet and aromatic thickened sauce which can be served over rice or in onigiri. The sauce in tori meshi onigiri flavours the rice, and the nugget of succulent chicken in the centre is a nice surprise.

Author Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 1 boneless chicken thigh (about 200 g/7 oz), skin off
• salt
• 2 tablespoons neutral-flavoured oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon sake
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon potato starch

For the rice balls

• 1 portion Onigiri rice (see Notes for link to recipe)

Notes

Find the recipe for Onigiri (rice), here

Instructions

• Pierce the chicken thigh with a fork and sprinkle all over with salt. Heat a frying pan over medium‒high heat, then add the oil. Sear the chicken on all sides, until well coloured.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients.
• Pour the soy sauce mixture into the frying pan with the chicken ‒ be careful as it may splatter. Turn the heat down low and continue cooking, basting the chicken with the liquid, until the chicken is fully cooked; this should take about 6 minutes in total.
• Remove the chicken and sauce to a plate and allow to cool. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and use to stuff your omusubi, drizzling each with a little of the sauce (see Notes for link to recipe).

The first time we made this, we realised we weren’t very good at forming the cooked rice into onigiri, so we bought some specialist onigiri moulds to use next time. Instead, we enjoyed the chicken over the rice instead, which was absolutely delicious.

Find more Japanese recipes, cookbook reviews and travel content, here.

Kavey Eats received a review copy of Konbini: Cult recipes, stories and adventures from Japan’s iconic convenience stores by Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng from publishers Smith Street Books. Recipe reproduced with permission. Book’s food photography by Daniel Hermann-Zoll; home cooked version, Kavita Favelle.