My first onigiri experiences were all at the Neighborhood Bookstore & Cafe, a cute local place that a friend of mine works at. Along with the vegan cake, home made cookies and sandwiches proffered, there were two kinds of onigiri: tuna and umeboshi. Tuna is my favorite of the two.
I still call them sushi triangles, I didn’t know what they were officially called at first and the name has sort of stuck for me. And now that I have gotten a handle on the preparation of sticky rice (though I still don’t have a handle on keeping the rice from getting stuck to my hands) onigiri have been a great addition to lunches and late night snacks alike. They’re stupendously simple to make, and the ingredients required don’t hit too hard on the wallet either. That makes this new homeowner feel pretty good, ha ha.
Tuna Onigiri
Ingredients1 Cup sticky rice, prepared
1 can of tuna, drained
1 Tbsp of mayonnaise
2 sheets of nori
Directions- Prepare rice and then allow it to cool to a point where it can be comfortably handled.
- With a fork combine the tuna and mayonnaise, also using the fork to break up any big clumps of tuna.
- Sandwich a spoonful of the tuna filling between two vaguely triangular layers of rice. It’s easier to mold into a triangle shape if you start out working with triangles.
- Mold into a triangular shape, or shape of your preference. (Aside: If you are like me, and seem unable to keep the sticky rice from gumming up your fingers, you can use a handy dandy piece of cling wrap. Make the layers, as in the step above, on a piece of cling wrap, fold it over, and then mold your onigiri into the desired shape.)
- If you are using cling wrap, peel it off, and repeat the process.
- Cut each of your nori sheets into three, lengthwise.
- If you are going to eat your sushi triangles right away, wrap each with one of the nori strips, and enjoy. If you are packing your onigiri for lunch, store the nori strips away from the rice so that they don’t get soggy, perhaps in a different compartment of your bento box or a ziploc bag, and wrap the onigiri when you are ready to consume them.
It’s just that easy! What a tasty, easy on the wallet lunch!
When you posted about your awesome bento box, I was curious about the onigiri…so I did a little dance when I saw you shared the details. Homemade sushi is something I haven’t yet tackled, and this seems like such an accessible way to prepare it!
Home made sushi is so much fun! Though sometimes your inner chef says “Mmm, raw tuna or maybe some other exciting sushi grade fish” and your pocket book says, “Canned tuna! Cheap!” This is the way that they make tuna onigiri at the Neighborhood, though, so I guess it’s authentic enough for my purposes. It would be really cool to do something more true to sushi though.
As for doing little dances: I do the exact same thing!