Enjoy Sushi Anywhere with Our Tuna Mayo Onigirazu Recipe

Onigirazu, sometimes called a sushi sandwich, is a popular Japanese dish made by wrapping sushi rice and a filling in a sheet of nori seaweed. This sandwich first made an appearance in 1990 in a Japanese comic book called Cooking Papa. Our hero is a man who cooks in secret and tells everyone at work that his wife made the delicious lunches he brings in. At one point, he invents onigirazu, which are inspired by onigiri, or Japanese rice balls. Onigiri are molded or shaped into their characteristic triangular shape by hand. The word nigiri refers to the act of shaping a rice ball, while nigirazu is the opposite and refers to not shaping a rice ball. So, onigirazu refers to the fact that the sandwiches are not shaped by hand into the rice ball form.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a recipe for tuna mayo onigirazu, which are filled with a very popular Japanese tuna salad made with rich, tangy Japanese mayo and soy sauce. The tuna is layered with lettuce and a simple carrot salad for more moisture, crunch, and color, and the fillings are sandwiched in between sushi rice and enveloped in a sheet of nori seaweed. This from-scratch recipe comes together in less than 20 minutes, and if you use fillings that are already made, the process will be even quicker. If you’re a fan of sushi or onigiri, try this onigirazu recipe to experience your favorite ingredients in a fun and portable format.

You will first make a carrot salad for this recipe. You will need shredded carrot, parsley, lemon juice, and salt. The tuna with mayonnaise will be made with canned tuna, Japanese mayo, soy sauce, and scallion, and a pinch of salt is optional for added flavor. You can sub regular mayo if needed, but you’ll find the Japanese variety is richer with a special tang. You’ll also need nori sheets, cooked sushi rice, and small lettuce leaves.

The best rice for this recipe is Japanese sushi rice, which is a starchy short-grain rice that sticks together and holds its shape well when cooked. White sushi rice is traditional, but you can sub brown sushi rice, which is also short-grain and sticky, if you’d like to add more fiber and nutrients to your meal. Keep in mind that sushi rice is not the same as sticky rice, which is more glutinous. This doesn’t refer to the gluten found in wheat but to the fact that it is gummy like glue. Sticky rice is used in many Asian countries to make sweet and savory dishes, including desserts like mochi or rice pudding.

Place the carrot in a small bowl with the parsley, lemon juice, and salt and mix to combine. Set aside.

Drain the tuna and place it in a small bowl with the mayo, soy sauce, and scallion. Mix well, breaking up the chunks with a fork, taste, and adjust with an optional pinch of salt if desired. Set aside.

Cut a piece of plastic wrap slightly larger than a nori sheet, and place it on a work surface. Lay a nori sheet on top of it.

With wet hands, place ¼ of the rice in the center of the sheet and shape it into a square, pressing it down so it’s dense.

Place 5 lettuce leaves on top of the rice and top with half of the tuna mixture.

Top the tuna with half of the carrot mixture.

Place another ¼ of the rice on top of the carrot and fold 2 diagonal corners down snugly over the rice.

Repeat with the other two corners and wrap the onigirazu snugly in the sheet of plastic wrap it’s sitting on.

Repeat steps 3-8 with the other half of the ingredients to make the second onigirazu. Set the wrapped onigirazu aside for about 5 minutes to allow the nori to soften.

Unwrap the onigirazu and cut them in half with a wet knife before serving.

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The base template, so to speak, of an onigirazu is rice and fillings wrapped in a nori seaweed sheet. We’ve made the popular tuna mayo onigirazu in this recipe, but this versatile sandwich can be found with a variety of plant-based, vegetarian, fish, or meat fillings in Japan.

First, you could fill an onigirazu with any of the fillings used in onigiri — the Japanese rice balls that inspired onigirazu. The tuna with mayonnaise in this recipe is a popular onigiri filling, and other seafood-based onigiri fillings include salmon, eel, tempura shrimp, or bonito flakes. Some people use meat like miso beef or pork cooked in soy sauce. Vegetarian onigiri can be made with marinated eggs or a Japanese omelet. Many vegetables are used to fill these rice balls, too. Kombu seaweed, kimchi, pickled daikon radish, pickled mustard greens, matsutake mushroom, edamame, tofu cooked in soy sauce, natto (fermented soybeans), and avocado and lime are just some of the many choices.

Besides these traditional options, onigirazu fillings are sometimes influenced by Western cuisine. You can find them filled with potato salad, Spam, any kind of diced or shredded cheese, hard-boiled eggs, fried chicken, and any vegetables that suit people’s tastes.

If you’re good at eyeballing even shapes, then by all means fill and fold your onigirazu without any tools. If you’d like to ensure your onigirazu come out perfectly square, you can make use of either a dedicated onigirazu mold or a simple square container. Instead of laying the nori sheet on a flat surface, center it over the container and then fill it with rice, packing the rice into the corners so it takes on the shape of the container.

Wet your hands with water before you handle the rice, which helps to keep it from sticking, so you can shape it with clean hands. Make sure the rice is still warm. Warm rice won’t be too hot to handle, but it will be hot enough to meld with the nori so that the sheets stick, or get “glued,” when folded down. Nori that doesn’t stick will come apart when you try to eat the sandwich. If your rice is cold, wet the tips of the nori with a little hot water before folding them down.

There are many filling ideas for onigirazu. Whatever you choose, try to keep the fillings moist, because the sandwich will hold together best that way. Make sure to wrap your onigirazu tightly in plastic wrap and let it sit for 5 minutes before enjoying. This will also help it keep its shape and stay together when you pick it up and take a bite.

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