KitchenNippon

Ingredients for 5 Servings
Rice (米 / Kome) 180 ml
Black soy beans (黒豆 / Kuromame) 20 g
Shiokōji (塩麹 / Shiokōji) 1 tbsp
(Use 1/2 tsp of salt if you do not have shiokōji.)
Water (水 / Mizu) 220 ml

How to Make
1. Rinse the rice in water until the water is clear, then let the rice soak for at least 30 minutes. Drain the rice.
2. Roast the soy beans in a frying pan until the skins come off and you smell the aroma of the roasted beans.
3. Add the rice, water, and shiokōji to a rice cooker and mix well. Level off the surface of the rice and place the black soy beans on top in an even layer and start the cooker. It is important to begin cooking immediately. Shiokōji contains a live fungus that could have undesirable effects on the texture of the cooked rice if cooking is not started immediately.
4. When the cooker is finished cooking, mix the rice and beans using a cutting motion. Be careful not to mash the rice. Cut five pieces of plastic wrap about 15 cm square (You might go a little bigger to be safe.), place a fifth of the cooked rice on the wrap. Enclose the rice in the wrap and form the rice into a ball. Do this a total of five times.