Vegan chazuke soup base

In a small saucepan add shiitake mushrooms and kombu. Add 2 cups of water to the pot and if you have time, let sit overnight to soak in the fridge. If not, simmer over medium heat for about 20-30 minutes to create your dashi base.

Steep genmaicha or other Japanese loose leaf tea with the remaining 2 cups of water.

To prepare your broth, start with half of the dashi base, add an equal part of steeped tea and season with soy sauce and mirin to taste.

Preparing your onigiri

Spread your freshly cooked, short grain white rice on a baking sheet or fluff it in a bowl using a rice paddle. This will help cool down the rice and make it easier to handle.

Season your rice with furikake and ichimi, to taste, then using the paddle again, mix to combine.

To assemble, wet your hands with water, scoop about a cup of your rice mixture and then gently press into a firm ball. Use your hands to create a triangle shape.

If desired, you can also finish your onigiri with a glaze for extra flavour. Simply add tamari, coconut sugar and ichimi togarashi into a small microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until sugar is dissolved.

Brush one side of your onigiri with your glaze, then torch it with a blowtorch for extra char flavour. Repeat on the other side.

Serving your onigiri chazuke

In a small bowl, place your onigiri. Pour your broth into the bowl and garnish with shredded nori, scallions and puffed amaranth or broken up pieces of rice cracker.