The Japanese rice sandwich in its classic family form: plain short-grain rice, tuna with Japanese mayonnaise, thin omelet, and lettuce, all wrapped in a sheet of nori. The recipe yields eight onigirazu, or two per person.
Ingredients
- 420 g short-grain Japanese rice
- 500 ml water
- 240 g canned tuna in water, drained weight
- 60 g Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise
- 4 pieces fresh eggs
- 80 g iceberg lettuce
- 8 sheets roasted nori sheets
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 2 tsp Japanese soy sauce
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp canola oil
- 1 pinch fine salt
Method
- Place the rice in a large bowl, cover it with cold water, and stir it gently with your hand. Discard the cloudy water and repeat until it is almost clear. Drain the rice carefully and let it rest in the strainer for 15 minutes.
- Pour the drained rice and the water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to a boil without uncovering, then cook over very low heat for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and let rest covered for 10 minutes.
- Gently fluff the rice with a moistened spatula, lifting it rather than mashing it. Spread it out in a wide dish and let it cool until warm. Do not add vinegar: onigirazu is prepared with plain Japanese rice, not seasoned sushi rice.
- Drain the tuna very carefully, then flake it with a fork. Fold in the Japanese mayonnaise until you obtain a bound but still textured filling. Chill in the refrigerator.
- Beat the eggs with the mirin, soy sauce, sugar, and salt, without making them frothy. Lightly oil a rectangular skillet or a small nonstick skillet. Cook the omelet over medium-low heat in several thin layers, folding each layer over the previous one. Let cool, then cut it into eight compact portions.
- Wash and dry the lettuce perfectly. Remove the thick ribs and cut the leaves into squares slightly smaller than the width of an onigirazu.
- Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on the work surface. Place a sheet of nori on top, rough side up and oriented as a diamond.
- Divide the rice into sixteen equal portions and the tuna filling into eight equal portions. With slightly moistened fingers, place a portion of rice in the center of the nori and form a neat square without packing it too much.
- Place a portion of lettuce, a portion of tuna mayonnaise, and a portion of omelet on the rice. Cover with a second portion of rice, again forming a compact square with clean edges.
- Fold two opposite corners of the nori over the rice, then the other two, like an envelope. Very lightly moisten the last corner if necessary to make it stick. Tightly close the plastic wrap around the packet.
- Repeat the assembly with the remaining ingredients. Let the packets rest, folded side down, for 10 minutes so that the nori softens and molds to the rice.
- To serve, cut each onigirazu in half with a very sharp, slightly moistened knife, cutting through the packet in a single clean motion. Remove the plastic wrap and serve two onigirazu per person, at room temperature.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 644.3 kcal
- Protein
- 31.93 g
- Carbohydrate
- 86.38 g
- Fat
- 17.02 g
- Fibre
- 1.94 g
- Calcium
- 27.7 mg
- Iron
- 2.87 mg
- Magnesium
- 47.43 mg
