Yaki Onigiri Chazuke is a Japanese comfort dish of warm dashi soup poured over a crispy grilled rice ball and garnished with savory toppings. Make and freeze the rice balls beforehand to enjoy this as a quick meal or midnight snack.
Are you burning the midnight oil for study or work or returning home late from a night shift? I’m convinced that this delightful dish, Yaki Onigiri Chazuke (焼きおにぎり茶漬け), will warm both your stomach and your soul. While it’s a popular midnight snack in Japan, you can savor this dish at any hour of the day!
What is Yaki Onigiri?
You may already be familiar with or have tasted onigiri. ‘Yaki’ translates to ‘grill,’ making yaki onigiri the grilled rendition of rice balls. These delectable treats boast a crispy exterior and are often seasoned with a soy or miso glaze.
I have a Yaki Onigiri recipe where you can learn helpful tips and tricks to successfully make this dish.
What is Chazuke?
Chazuke comes from ochazuke (お茶漬け), which is a simple one-bowl dish featuring steamed rice with an assortment of savory ingredients on top, partially steeped in green tea. In this recipe, we use crispy yaki onigiri instead of steamed rice.
Ocha refers to green tea, and zuke means “submerged.” You can use various kinds of green tea such as genmaicha, sencha, and hojicha to make ochazuke or serve it with dashi broth for more flavor.
We enjoy ochazuke more as a quick meal or at the end of the meal to fill up, and in the summertime, we like to use cold green tea or dashi to keep ourselves cool.
Ingredients for Yaki Onigiri Chazuke
- Yaki Onigiri – Make extra and freeze so you can put this chazuke together quickly!
- Dashi (Japanese soup stock) – This is a key ingredient, so I’ll discuss it further below.
- Soy sauce
- Salt
- Green onion (for garnish)
- Furikake (Japanese Rice Seasoning) – These days, you can easily buy it in Asian grocery stores and on Amazon. You can use toasted white sesame seeds and shredded dried nori seaweed in a pinch. I also have a homemade furikake recipe, which tastes way better than store-bought ones.
Jump to Recipe
How to Make Yaki Onigiri Chazuke
- Reheat yaki onigiri at 350ºF (175ºC) in the oven or toaster oven until crispy outside and warm inside, about 10 minutes. You can also use a frying pan to reheat the rice balls over a sheet of parchment paper, just like how you made yaki onigiri.
- Make the dashi in the saucepan, add seasonings, and keep it hot on the stove.
- Place the yaki onigiri in a bowl and pour the dashi three-fourths of the rice ball height. You can submerge the entire rice ball, but it’s best to keep the crispy surface uncovered for the presentation. Sprinkle green onion and furikake on top. Serve hot and enjoy!
3 Ways to Make Dashi
- Use a dashi packet. For a quick meal, I highly recommend a dashi packet. It uses good ingredients and has a decent umami flavor. My favorite dashi packet can be purchased on Amazon or from Japanese grocery stores.
- Use dashi powder. This is my least favorite because the flavor is not comparable to the dashi made with the two methods above. If the dashi flavor should be prominent in a dish you are making, such as this recipe, I don’t recommend this method. You can use dashi powder only if the dashi is seasoned heavily with other condiments.
- Make the dashi from scratch. If you appreciate real, authentic dashi, make this! It only requires 2 ingredients and takes 20 minutes. Make it in advance and store it in the fridge for different dishes.
Vegan Dashi: You can use kombu and dried shiitake to make flavorful vegan-friendly dashi! Just like regular dashi, it’s quick to make!
Cooking Tips
- Reheat the yaki onigiri thoroughly. Make sure they are crispy on the outside and warm on the inside. The crispy rice texture adds a nice crunch to the broth and it should shine through in the broth.
- Make flavorful good dashi. The dish’s flavor comes from the broth, so don’t use dashi powder. You can make dashi ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for 5 days.
- Prepare extra dashi (included in the recipe). When you serve, the soup should not completely cover the rice ball. Break the rice ball and enjoy the spoonful of rice and soup together. Refill the soup as you enjoy.
Make Variations
What to Serve with Yaki Onigiri Chazuke
Typically, ochazuke is served with several kinds of Japanese pickles on the side. If you make it into a proper meal, here are my recommendations.
Main Dishes
Side Dishes
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Yaki Onigiri Chazuke (Grilled Rice Ball in Soup)
Yaki Onigiri Chazuke is a Japanese comfort dish of warm dashi soup poured over a crispy grilled rice ball and garnished with savory toppings. Make and freeze the rice balls ahead of time so you can enjoy this as a quick meal or midnight snack.
Ingredients
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Instructions
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Before You Start: Gather all the ingredients. If your 2 pieces Yaki Onigiri (Grilled Rice Ball) are frozen, use a microwave to defrost and bring them to room temperature (not warm or hot). Then, reheat at 350ºF (175ºC) in the oven or toaster oven until crispy, about 10 minutes. You can also pan-fry them on a piece of parchment paper until crispy on the outside and warm on the inside. If you haven‘t made them yet, allow 30 minutes to make Yaki Onigiri using hot cooked rice.
To Make the Dashi (Japanese Soup Stock)
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For a quick meal, here‘s how to use a dashi packet to make Japanese soup stock. In a medium saucepan, add 2 cups water and 1 dashi packet. Start cooking over medium heat. When it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 2–3 minutes. Pick up the packet and shake it a few times to release more flavor. Then, discard the packet. If needed, you can add a bit of water to the stock to make 2 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock). The dashi is now ready to use.
To Serve
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Cut 1 green onion/scallion into thin slices.
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Place one warm yaki onigiri in each individual bowl. Pour the soup broth onto the onigiri to about three-quarters of the way up the rice ball‘s sides. Keep the crispy surface uncovered by the soup so you can add your toppings. Reserve the leftover broth to add later as you enjoy the Yaki Onigiri Chazuke.
To Serve
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Place the green onion slices and furikake (rice seasoning) on top of the rice ball and enjoy. As you break the rice ball and enjoy spoonfuls of rice and soup together, add the reserved soup broth as needed.
To Store
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Keep the soup broth separately in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If you made fresh yaki onigiri for this recipe, cool and individually wrap them in plastic and store in the freezer for up to a month.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Yaki Onigiri Chazuke (Grilled Rice Ball in Soup)
Amount per Serving
% Daily Value*
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on September 25, 2023. It was republished with a new video on March 29, 2024.
