Are you looking for a vegan snack that's both delicious and portable? Look no further than Vegan Onigiri! These rice balls, a staple in Japanese cuisine, are filled with 3 plant-based fillings: edamame, teriyaki tofu, and chickpea 'tuna'.
In this post, I'll show you how to make these three delicious fillings and assemble them into tasty Vegan Onigiri that will satisfy your cravings and fuel your day.
Onigiri
Onigiri (or Japanese rice ball) is classic Japanese comfort food made from steamed rice with different fillings, shaped into a triangle, ball or cylinder shape and wrapped with a nori sheet.
Traditional Onigiri fillings range from umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum), tuna mayo, sha-ke (salted salmon). Yet there are many innovative ways to fill the rice balls. This blog post makes three vegan onigiri variations, using chickpea mayo (a plant-based alternative to tuna mayo), teriyaki tofu and edamame.
For a fried version of Onigiri, check out my blog post on Yaki Onigiri.
Why you'll love this recipe
You'll love this Vegan Onigiri recipe for its delicious and satisfying flavors that come from the combination of perfectly seasoned rice and three tasty plant-based fillings: edamame, teriyaki tofu, and chickpea 'tuna'. Not only is it a healthy and portable snack, but it's also easy to make and customizable to your liking. Plus, it's a great way to enjoy the traditional Japanese dish without any animal products.
Instructions
Make the fillings
This is a plant-based version of Onigiri, with three different filling suggestions:
- Chickpea 'Tuna': this is the plant-based version of tuna onigiri. To make this, all you have to do is mash chickpeas with a fork. Then combine them with vegan mayonnaise, soy sauce, and shredded nori sheet.
- Teriyaki Tofu: the tofu is a wonderful meat substitute and it will take on the delicious teriyaki flavors using a few simple marinade ingredients.
- Edamame: the easier filling ever, just combine edamame with some soy sauce.
Whereas the fillings may vary, the main ingredients of Onigiri are sushi rice and nori seaweed. You can cook the sushi rice according to the package instructions, or use other types of short-grain rice. The nori seaweed is then cut into sheets to wrap around the rice ball.
Wrapping the Onigiri
There are three ways of wrapping Onigiri: by hand, with a plastic wrap, and with an Onigiri mold. In this recipe, I show you how to make it by hand in the following steps. Watch the videos below the recipe to see the visual instructions for making these Japanese rice balls.
Assemble your rolling station with a bowl of water, some salt, the cooked rice, the fillings and the cut nori sheet.
First, wet your hand. This step prevents the rice from sticking to your hand. Then salt your hand, this will season the rice.
Add 2 tablespoon of rice, then followed by 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle and 1 tablespoon of rice. Wrap it to ensure that the filling is covered by the rice.
Press firmly to hold the shape that you want, it can be a triangle shape like in this recipe or a round shape.
Wrap the nori sheet around the rice balls.
If you have tried my recipe, please let me know what you think by leaving me a review on this page or tagging me on Instagram @veggieanh. I would love to see your creations!
Printπ Recipe
Vegan Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 16 onigiri rice balls (8 servings) 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Vegan Onigiri is a snack that's both delicious and portable? These Japanese rice balls are filled with 3 types of plant-based filling: chickpea 'tuna', teriyaki tofu and edamame beans.
Ingredients
- 500 g sushi rice (or short-grained rice)
- 2 nori sheet
- water and salt to rub on hand
- sesame seeds
Chickpea 'Tuna' filling
- 1 can cooked chickpea (~300g)
- 2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 nori sheet
Teriyaki Tofu
- 200 g tofu
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Edamame
- 50 g frozen edamame
- soy sauce to taste
Instructions
- Wash and cook the rice.
To make the chickpea 'tuna' filling
- Mash the chickpea with a fork, add in the mayo and soy sauce then mix well.
- Cut the nori into strips, then mix in together with the chickpea mixture.
To make the Teriyaki tofu
- Pat dry the tofu and cut the tofu into small square pieces.
- Combine the sauce ingredients together in a bowl.
- Fry the tofu pieces, then drizzle in the sauce and mix well.
To make the edamame
- Pour hot water over the frozen edamame and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. If you have fresh edamame, you can skip this step.
- Season with soy sauce to taste, mix and set aside.
To make the onigiri
- Prepare a bowl of water and gather all the other ingredients.
- Wet both hands by dipping them in water. This will prevent the rice from sticking to your hands.
- Salt both of your hands and rub together.
- Add 2 tablespoon rice to your hand, followed by 1 teaspoon of the filling and 1 tablespoon of rice.
- Close the rice by wrapping it into a ball.
- Press the rice around the filling firmly to create a triangle shape. Use both of your thumbs.
- Cut the nori seaweed into a long strip and wrap around the rice ball. Repeat the steps until all ingredients are out.
Notes
Wait for the rice to cool down a bit before rolling, as you may burn yourself if it's too hot.
Alternatively to the hand wrapping method, you can wrap a plastic wrap around the rice balls to shape them or use an onigiri mould.
For leftovers, wrap them in plastic wraps so it doesn't become too dry overtime.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Wrapping
- Cuisine: Japanese
Keywords: onigiri, japanese rice balls
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