For Halloween, I decided to adapt my onigiri recipe to make cute pumpkin versions!

Not only is it easy to make, it’s also very versatile, so you can adapt it to your own tastes.

You can flavour them however you like – plain, with seasoning, or filled with tuna or vegetables.

I hope this inspires you to make cute onigiri too!

Ingredients

• 200g sushi rice
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 1 sheet nori (or offcuts if you have some handy)
• Seasoning or filling of your choice (black sesame, furikake, tuna…)

How to make it…

First, wash the sushi rice. Just swoosh it around the pan with your fingers under a cold tap then pour the water out, being careful not to lose any rice down the sink. You’ll need to do this a few times until the water becomes clear instead of cloudy.

Then add cold water to the pan of rice. You need enough to cover the rice then the same amount again, i.e. the top of the rice will be halfway between the pan base and the top of the water.

Bring the rice to the boil, then add the turmeric and stir in. This will give the rice its orange pumpkin colour.

Rice on the hob with turmeric

Move the pan to a low heat, cover the pan with a lid and leave to simmer for around ten minutes. Then take the pan off the heat with the lid still on and leave for around 20 minutes so that the rice can absorb any excess water.

Transfer to a bowl. At this point you can add seasoning if desired. I mixed in furikake for extra flavour, but you could add white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds or nothing at all.

Then use your hands to shape into balls. Keep a bowl of water handy so you can keep your hands moist or the rice will just stick to them – not too wet though or the rice balls may fall apart!

Turmeric onigiri

If you want to add a filling to your onigiri (such as tuna), shape the rice into a ball, then make a dent in the middle with your fingers, making sure you don’t go all the way through to the other side. Add the filling, cover the opening with more rice and finish shaping.

Now all you have to do is add the pumpkin faces! Cut triangle shapes out of the nori sheet or offcuts for eyes and don’t forget its crooked smile! If you find this part tricky you can always make a template out of paper first so that you can cut round it – this should make your pumpkins more uniform too.

Onigiri “pumpkins”

Now all that’s left is to eat them… enjoy!