It makes me happy that several people have tried to make onigirazu since my entry on it and have been enjoying the results 😀 I’m still making them as well! I thought it’d be helpful to have a follow-up entry on things I’ve learned since then and the fillings I’ve tried.
First, I’ve found that the rice in onigirazu has been drying out when I store them already cut in half. Onigirazu is easier to eat when it’s halved, and while it’s probably ideal to cut it right before you eat it, it’s not practical if you’re bringing it to work like I do.
So, my new solution is to cut them in half, but then wrap them back together again. Think of it like a saran wrap bandage 😉 This has helped a lot in keeping the moisture in. Even though I was using sealed tupperware before, the rice still dried up if I didn’t have saran wrap around the open area.
Second, I actually think onigirazu are better the next day! I normally make a few at a time, and then bring them into work the next few days. One time, I ate an onigirazu shortly after I made it, and it was harder to eat! The seaweed was harder to bite through, and the rice was still loose. When I wait until the next day to eat them, they seem to stay together better and the seaweed is softer.
Now for the fillings I’ve tried!
Tilapia (Fish)
If you’re not sure what to do with left overs, consider putting them in an onigirazu! Sometimes I spoil my turtles with fresh, raw tilapia, and as much as they’d love to eat the full fillet, it’s way too much food for them. (I am a responsible turtle mommy after all.) I had a half fillet left over, so I seasoned it, baked it, and then put it into an onigirazu with lettuce. Simple and easy!
Rotisserie Chicken
Other ideas are to think about what you like to have with rice. When my husband and I are lazy, we’ll break apart a rotisserie chicken for various meals, like easy chicken tacos or a casserole. Sometimes we mix the chicken with sweet chili sauce, sriracha, and fish sauce and just have it with white rice. I used the same idea for my very first onigirazu.
Another idea I’ve done with rotisserie chicken is a bit simpler but also tasty. It’s chicken, mayo, lettuce, and tomato together:
Sandwich Meats
This is my favorite one! Think of what you like in a sandwich, and it’ll likely be delicious in an onigirazu too. Not to mention, this is great if you like sandwiches but are like Trafalgar Law:
I like to pick two sandwich meats and use 2 slices from each. I put them with lettuce and mayo, and then top it with a scrambled egg. Not only is this very tasty, but I find it’s the easiest to make. Pre-packaged cold sandwich cuts seem to be the perfect size for sticking in an onigirazu 😉
Veggies
Christine asked about vegetarian options, so I tried out a couple! This one is actually based off of a vegetarian sandwich I like. It has lettuce, hummus, roasted zucchini, and raw carrots. I left the carrots raw because I felt this needed a bit of a crunch. I plan on trying more like this with other vegetables!
ELT
Egg-Lettuce-Tomato. This is also based off of a sandwich I’ve had, which was a brunch BLT. They “brunchified” it by adding egg and toast. Since I was going for more vegetarian options, I left off the bacon, so now it’s an ELT 😉 I also liked this one a lot, though I made it way too full. I had so much trouble closing it, and the filling is pretty much bulging out. Note to self: less egg, and one slice of tomato, not two!
And that’s it for now! I still have other ideas I want to try, so you may see another follow-up later. So far, I’ve enjoyed all of the onigirazu I’ve made 😀 If you’ve tried other fillings, please let me know what they are!
Yummm, these all look so good! I’ll have to try it with the rotisserie chicken. The first time I tried this recipe I used regular rice and quinoa rather than sushi rice because that’s what I had on hand. Note to self, it doesn’t work, haha.
Sushi rice is kind of sticky, so it helps a lot in keeping it together 🙂 I hope it works better for you next time!
Yuummm! Thanks for sharing this, Cat! It was interesting reading about your experiences and different fillings you tried for the onigirazu. I will need to try my own sometime. They have always looked like sandwiches to me so it makes sense to put sandwich-type fillings in them.
My parents used to buy a chicken and break apart strips to eat at dinner time but also used the chicken in sandwiches they made for my brother and I for lunch.
I love the ELT! 😀 😀
I love rotisserie chicken! I buy them every other week to save me some effort and have an easy dinner for a few days. I like to shred them too and drop them in noodles and salads. 😀
I like how simple and filling your onigirazu is! I’m glad to hear that you still enjoy making them! It’s great that you found a solution to the little drying problem you had. Wrapping the two pieces together definitely help keep the rice moist! I would assume the onigirazu is not as good the next day because the rice would harden, but it’s okay if you wrap it up? I usually like the seaweed crunchy, but that’s just me XD. It’s awesome how you can put almost anything in the onigirazu!
Thank you for sharing ;D.
The rice doesn’t harden as much when the moisture is kept in 🙂 Heating the onigirazu up a little helps too!
Oh, nice follow-up post! And I can so see the sarang wrap helping the thing stay moist 😀 Good idea on that and it does sound better to wait a while to eat them! I do need to try my own hands at these, but perhaps when my summer schedule ends, I’ll have more time to try cooking and stuff! 😀
I’m hungry by this post! By the way, new reader here! Gonna try this! Wish me luck :))
– A SUNNY HAPPINESS by Vianna G.
Om nom nom nom. Your pictures are making me hungry!
I can’t try tilapia because I’m allergic to fish, but I will definitely have to try the chicken and you can’t go wrong with sandwich meats!
I need to make these soon!
You know? I actually might have to try onigirazu and even some of the things you did with it. It seems very flexible to what you can do with it.
Awww, thank you for including an awesome veggie recipe here! That looks delicious! I usually have all of those ingredients for that filling, too. 🙂 The raw carrots probably give it an awesome zing. I’d probably add some avocado even with the rice in place of the hummus for another flavor!
I’d like to try an onigirazu with avocado too! When looking around for recipes, avocado seemed like a popular filling for it. I bet it’d be tasty 😀
Matt just asked me what I want to eat for dinner and I know the answer now! ELT looks like it would be my favourite though the chicken also looks delicious! Thanks for the useful tip about keeping moisture in too, I’ll remember that one!