If you're in need of a delicious snack to munch on throughout the week, then this Vegan Onigiri is for you!
About This Vegan Onigiri Recipe
I adore Japanese Onigiri. In my mind, it's the ultimate snack. I've adapted a more traditional, fish-style Onigiri filling to a Vegan-friendly mixture. If I were you, I'd make a handful of these Onigiri and keep them in a tupperware for when you're feeling peckish. You could eat them alone or with some soy sauce for extra flavour!
Another one of my favourite sushi-style recipes is my Onigirazu Japanese Sushi Sandwich recipe filled with tuna mayo, omelette, avocado, and the fluffiest sushi rice!
What You'll Need For This Recipe
The key to making this dish work is the rice. You'll need to get yourself some sushi rice (short grain rice) from your local supermarket or Asian supermarket.
Season your rice with the following ingredients:
- Rice wine vinegar
- Sugar
- Salt
For the filling, you'll need these:
- Spinach
- Corn
- Sesame oil
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
For Garnish:
This is totally optional but makes the Onigiri look cute and pretty. Dust the onigiri with Togarashi seasoning. Or, if you don't have access to that, you could coat the Vegan Onigiri in sesame seeds. To add the nori strip, simply slice some nori sheets up into little strips and use rice wine vinegar to stick them to the onigiri.
Fancy Making Some More Tasty Snacks?
I adore sushi-style recipes, so if you're the same you might want to try out my sushi tacos. They're so simple and perfect for a weekday meal or snack. See below for some more tasty snacks!
Vegan Onigiri
Ingredients Â
For The Rice
- 200g sushi rice, rinsed
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- ½ tablespoon salt
For The Filling
- 3 tablespoon sweet corn
- 200g spinach, wilted and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
For The Garnish
- 2 tablespoon togarashi seasoning or sesame seeds
- 4 strips of thinly sliced seaweed (nori sheets)
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
InstructionsÂ
For The Rice
- Begin by rinsing your rice well.
- Place your rinsed rice in a pan and cover with 200g water. Add on your lid and place on medium heat until the water is bubbling. Once it's lightly boiling, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes (do not take off the lid). Once the 10 minutes is up, turn off the heat and leave for a further 10 minutes with the lid on while you make your filling.
- Remove the lid and pour your rice onto a plate and spread it out. Leave it to cool.
- Once cool, add it into a bowl with your rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. Give it a good mixture and then set aside.
For The Filling
- In a bowl, combine your wilted and chopped spinach, corn, sesame oil, soy sauce, and sugar. Give it a good mix and set aside.
Assembling Your Vegan Onigiri
- Grab a bowl filled with water to wet your hands - to avoid the rice sticking to you and making the whole process rather difficult!
- Get a small handful of rice and flatten it out into a circle in the palm of your hand. Fill with a large pinch of your spinach and corn filling. Gently place two more little handfuls of rice to cover the filling, then delicately form the rice package into a ball, ensuring that none of the filling is poking out.
- Now, time to shape the ball into a triangle by placing it down on a clean surface, and shaping it with your hands. Just be gentle, and you'll get there! Repeat this step for all of your onigiri.
- Wrap the onigiri in clingfilm (shaped like a triangle), and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Garnishing Your Vegan Onigiri
- Once your onigiri feels cold and firm, remove from the fridge.
- Pour your togarashi seasoning or sesame seeds onto a little plate, and coat the 3 sides of your triangular Onigiri in the seasoning.
- Place your rice wine vinegar in a little bowl.
- Gently dap your fingers into the rice wine vinegar and brush one side of a nori strip (to make sure it sticks to the onigiri). Then, wrap it around the underside of your onigiri so it looks all pretty! Repeat this step and then enjoy!
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