A great variety of mushrooms grow throughout Hyrule. This bounty of mushrooms means one can find them creeping into the cuisines of just about every region of the kingdom. Those living in the northern woodlands and the villages to the east, in particular, make great use of mushrooms in their cooking. This dish in particular can be found all throughout these same regions. The large areas of Hylian rice crops in the east make this dish a very common find, particularly among travelers and those needing a quick meal amidst a busy day of work. Seasoned, cooked mushrooms are mixed with warm rice and formed into triangular shaped balls by hand. The flavor of the mushrooms permeates the rice making for an earthy and filling treat.
“The aroma of the mushrooms tickles your nose as you peel back the leafy wrapping.”
This is a fairly simple recipe to make. It requires making and mixing two different types of rice, but once the rice is made, it’s just a matter of sautéing a blend of mushrooms and mixing them into the rice. From there, the rice balls are formed. You call also make an optional dipping sauce for the rice balls. The recipe for the dipping sauces is included at the end of this post.
This is definitely a dish for mushroom fans. These rice balls capture the flavors of the Great Hyrule Forest perfectly!
Ingredients
1 ½ cups Japanese short grain white rice
1 ½ cups Japanese short grain Haiga rice
1-2 tbsp olive oil
8 oz bunashimeji mushrooms, cleaned and separated
8 oz baby shiitake mushrooms, cleaned
3 tbsp sake
3 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp tamari soy sauce
1 tsp salt
First, make 3 cups of rice according to the instructions in the package. For this recipe, I use 1 ½ cups each of Japanese white rice and Haiga rice. I find the short grain white rice adds a bit more of the starch needed for the rice to stick together a bit easier while the Haiga rice adds a little of the brown color. (I use a rice cooker on “Quick Cook” setting, open the lid when it is finished for about 5 minutes to let it dry a bit, and then fluff with a rice paddle.) You can give the rice a quick wash before cooking to reduce a little of the starch, but you don’t want to wash it all out; it will help keep the rice balls sticking together, especially after stirring in the mushrooms.
If you have any larger mushrooms mixed in with the baby shiitake, you can cut them smaller so all of the mushrooms are smaller, and more uniform in shape. Smaller mushrooms (or mushroom pieces) are easier to work with when making the rice balls.
Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Add in all of the mushroom and cook for about 3-5 minutes, allowing them to soften. Once they have softened, add the sake, mix, and allow to fully evaporate, about 5 minutes. Then, add the mirin and tamari, mix, and allow the mirin to fully evaporate, about 5 minutes more. The mushrooms are now done. Remove them from the heat and allow them to cool a bit. Be sure the liquid has pretty much fully cooked off.
Pour your finished rice into a bowl and stir in one teaspoon of salt. Stir the mushroom mixture through the rice, making sure the mushrooms are evenly stirred through all of the rice. Drain any excess liquid out of the mushrooms before stirring them into the rice if need be. Excess liquid in the rice will keep the rice balls from sticking together.
Note: If you want to match the in game photo garnish, reserve a few smaller shiitake or larger bunashimeji mushrooms to place on top of a few rice balls.
You are now ready to assemble your rice balls! Make sure your hands stay wet through pretty much this entire process so you can mold the rice balls and keep the rice from sticking to your hands. Scoop about ½ cup of rice into your hand and mold it into a ball.
Now, you want to mold the rice ball into a triangle with rounded corners. There are two ways to do this: by hand or by onigiri mold. To mold by hand, push the front and back to flatten it out, push the bottom against a cutting board and then push down on the sides at opposing angles. Lastly, push the front and back one more time to flatten more. This seems to do the trick for the most part. To use an onigiri mold, place the ball of rice into a ½ cup size onigiri mold, and then slowly press the lid firmly back into the mold. Press until you cannot press any further, and then remove the lid and gently pop out the rice ball.
Repeat this process until you have made all of the rice balls. You should end up with about 10-12 rice balls in total. You can wrap them in lettuce leaves or place them on lettuce leaves to serve.
Optional Mayonnaise Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp hondashi
Combine the mayonnaise, rice vinegar, mustard, sugar, and hondashi in a bowl and whisk well to fully blend the ingredients together. Serve a dollop of the dipping sauce on the plate or in a small dipping bowl alongside the rice balls.
Learn more about the Mushroom Rice Balls dish from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at Zelda Dungeon.