Chicken Rice Onigiri (Ketchup Rice Balls)
チキンライスおにぎり · Chikin Raisu Onigiri
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Chicken rice is a classic of Japanese yoshoku (Western-style) home cooking: rice tinted red-orange with ketchup and studded with chicken and vegetables. Here it is shaped into onigiri, so little hands can pick it up and eat it on their own, and the mild, gently sweet ketchup flavor makes it a reliable hit with children. Part of the seasoning goes into the rice cooker and the rest is simmered down with the chicken and vegetables, so the flavor runs all the way through every bite.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 60 griceJapanese short-grain white rice (japonica), which cooks up soft and slightly sticky. The amount listed is for uncooked rice. Substitute: Sushi rice, or another short-grain or medium-grain rice such as Calrose.
- 30 gonion
- 9.6 gcarrot
- 30 gchicken tenderloin
- 5.4 gfrozen green peas
Seasonings
- 2.3 gvegetable oil
- 7.5 gketchup
- 0.2 gconsommé bouillon (granules or cube)Japanese-style Western soup stock powder or cubes, similar to chicken or vegetable bouillon. Substitute: Chicken or vegetable bouillon granules or a bouillon cube.
- 0.5 gsalt
- to tastepepper
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- rice (米)
- Japanese short-grain white rice (japonica), which cooks up soft and slightly sticky. The amount listed is for uncooked rice. Substitute: Sushi rice, or another short-grain or medium-grain rice such as Calrose.
- consommé bouillon (granules or cube) (コンソメ)
- Japanese-style Western soup stock powder or cubes, similar to chicken or vegetable bouillon. Substitute: Chicken or vegetable bouillon granules or a bouillon cube.
Directions
- 1
Soak the rice in water for at least 30 minutes. Combine the seasonings, stir one-third of the mixture into the rice, and cook the rice.
- 2
Roughly mince the onion and carrot, and cut the chicken into 1 cm cubes. Briefly blanch the green peas in boiling water.
- 3
Heat the oil in a pot, sauté the onion and carrot well, then add the chicken and continue to sauté.
- 4
Add the remaining seasonings to the pot and simmer until reduced to cook off the sharp tang of the ketchup. Add the cooked rice and the green peas and mix well. Shape into onigiri (rice balls).
Salt in the seasonings keeps the rice from absorbing water, so always soak the rice first and stir the seasonings in just before you start cooking.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 280.5 kcal | 561 kcal | 280.5 kcal |
| Protein | 11.6 g | 23.1 g | 11.6 g |
| Fat | 3.2 g | 6.3 g | 3.2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 53.1 g | 106.2 g | 53.1 g |
| Fiber | 1.7 g | 3.3 g | 1.7 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.9 g | 1.8 g | 0.9 g |
| Calcium | 15 mg | 30 mg | 15 mg |
| Iron | 0.9 mg | 1.8 mg | 0.9 mg |
| Potassium | 292.5 mg | 585 mg | 292.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 280.5 kcal | 11.6 g | 3.2 g | 53.1 g | 1.7 g | 0.9 g | 15 mg | 0.9 mg | 292.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 561 kcal | 23.1 g | 6.3 g | 106.2 g | 3.3 g | 1.8 g | 30 mg | 1.8 mg | 585 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
