Photo: Kumi King
Teriyaki Tempeh Onigirazu Recipe by Kumi King
Onigirazu is a casual and fun japanese dish that is often made for any meal of the day. It’s a complete dish as it contains lots of vitamins and minerals and is also a healthy choice for people with busy schedules. As long as wet ingredients are avoided, you can be very flexible with what you would like to add into your Onigirazu.
- Makes: 1 Serving
- Prep Time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
- 120 grams cooked Japanese rice
- 3-4 thin slices Tempeh
- 1 sheet Nori (Seaweed used for making Sushi)
- ½ Avocado (sliced thinly)
- ½ tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tbsp Mirin
- ¼ tsp sesame seeds
- ½ tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 pinch salt
- 2-3 lettuce leaves (tear them into quarters)
- 3 tbsp shredded carrot (Tossed in 1 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt)
Method:
- Heat up a frying pan with the cooking oil. Place the thinly sliced Tempeh and cook both sides till they turn golden brown. Add soy sauce and mirin to the Tempeh and continue cooking the sliced Tempeh for one minute on medium heat. Remove from the pan and place them on a plate on kitchen paper.
- Place a sheet of Saran Wrap on a chopping board and place a sheet of Nori on top of the Saran Wrap.
- Add rice vinegar and salt to the cooked rice and mix them well. Divide the rice into two and shape each portion into a square patty-like shape.
- Place one of the two patties in the middle of the Nori sheet and place the fillings (lettuce, sliced avocado, shredded carrots and pan fried tempeh) evenly. Then, place the other rice patty on top of all the fillings, just like making a sandwich.
- Bring each corner of the Nori sheet to the center of the rice patty, allowing all four corners of the sheet of Nori to meet in the middle. Wrap the whole thing with the Saran Wrap tightly and press it lightly to shape the whole thing into a square.
- Wet your sharp knife blade and slice the rice sandwich into half diagonally. Ensure that the Saran Wrap is still holding the ingredients tightly together while you are cutting it to avoid spillage.
- Serve the Onigirazu with the cut side facing up and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Some Japanese pickles or Umenosuke (sour plums) would be great to pair with this.
- Note: Add some vegan mayonnaise to your Onigirazu if you’d like. Spread it evenly on the rice patty before adding in any of the fillings.