Think tuna melt but, instead of bread, the tuna filling is enclosed in sushi rice. The rice with tuna filling is then lightly browned in butter and topped with a slice of mozzarella before going into the toaster oven where the cheese melts and flows down the rice.
The cheesy tuna onigiri is laid out on plates and sprinkled with kizami nori. You may just pick one up and start enjoying the beautiful flavors and textures right away. Lightly crisp rice, creamy tuna inside and that gooey cheese that envelopes both. But you can make your cheesy tuna onigiri experience even better.
Serve them with small squares of toasted nori sheets. Wrap the onigiri in nori before taking your first bite and the flavors will really tickle your taste buds.
Cheesy Tuna Onigiri
Enter a convenience store in Japan and you'll be amazed at the variety of onigiri available. There seems to be no rule as to what you can hide inside the molded rice. In this recipe, the filling is canned tuna mixed with chopped onion and garlic, herb salt and just enough mayo to bind everything together.
Ingredients
Sushi rice
- 4 cups newly-cooked Japanese rice
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Tuna filling
- 1 can tuna chunks in water well drained
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
- ¼ teaspoon grated garlic
- herb salt
- 2 to 3 tablespoons Japanese mayo
To complete the cheesy tuna onigiri
- ¼ cup butter
- 6 slices mozzarella
To garnish and serve
- kizumi nori
- 4 nori sheets cut into quarters and lighted toasted in an oil-free skillet
Instructions
- Spread the rice on a tray, drizzle in the rice vinegar and toss well.
- Leave to cool tossing every few minutes.
- Make the filling by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl.
- Brush the inside of the bottom half of your onigiri mold with water.
- Half-fill the mold with the prepared rice and press down the center to create a groove.
- Spoon tuna filling into the groove.
- Cover the tuna filling with more rice.
- Brush the top half of the onigiri mold with water then press down into the rice.
- Repeat with the rest of the rice and tuna filling.
- Melt the butter in a pan and brown both sides of the onigiri until toasted and lightly crisp (see notes after the recipe).
- Stand the browned onigiri on a baking tray about an inch from each other.
- Top each onigiri with mozzarella and pop into a preheated 350F oven (or toaster oven) and heat just until the cheese melts.
- Serve the cheesy tuna onigiri sprinkle with kizami nori and toasted nori sheets on the side for wrapping them.
Notes
Don’t overcrowd the pan when browning the onigiri because you don’t want them to stick to one another. A regular frying pan will accommodate five to six onigiri at a time so brown them in batches and divide the butter accordingly.
The exact number of onigiri you will be able to make depends on the side of the mold you use. Ours is about three inches.
