Onigiri Style Mint-y Tuna Stuffed Rice Balls

On one of our early travel adventures, we decided to visit Japan, a country that was so far out and one I never imagined I would get to experience. But somehow that year that we travelled everyone was visiting Japan and couldn’t stop talking about it, and so after much planning we packed our bags and set off. At this time we still made travel plans with a zillion things on our list to do, and trying to make every day be extremely productive. This was the trip that would later teach me that there are better ways than that, sigh, but that’s a story for another day. Anyway, as we kept moving constantly from one place to another trying to get in as much as we could, food took second priority and we relied heavily on quick on-the-go meals from the supermarket during the day, with only dinner being a sit down affair. While struggling to understand the labels, we tried a host of interesting nibbles apart from ham and cheese sandwiches. One that stayed with me was a tuna onigiri, and it’s been cooking subconsciously in my mind till one day a month or so back when this tin of tuna sitting on my counter was really talking to me, and I had to try making these stuffed rice balls. I’ve been experimenting and playing with this ever since and found what I like. There are endless fillings that could make this interesting, and it’s definitely becoming a weekly staple in our house.

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Ingredients

For the rice

  • 1 cup jasmine rice/sticky rice/sushi rice

  • Water, as per pack instructions

  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar

  • 2 tsp mirin

  • Salt, to taste

  • 1 tbsp furikake

For the filling

  • 1 tbsp oil

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 3 red bird’s eye chillies, chopped fine

  • 1 inch knob of ginger, minced

  • 1 medium red onion, sliced thin

  • Salt, to taste

  • 1 145g tin tuna chunks, drained

  • Mint leaves from 10-12 stems

  • Dash of soy sauce

  • 1 tsp sesame oil

For serving

  • Wasabi

  • Pickled ginger

  • Soy sauce

Method of Preparation

  1. Cook the rice according to the pack instructions. Once the rice is cooked mix the rice vinegar + mirin + salt in a small bowl, add to the rice and use a fork to incorporate through the rice. Then add the furikake and mix through.

  2. As the rice is cooking, make the filling. To a pan on medium heat, add the oil. As the oil begins to warm, add the garlic + chillies + ginger. As it gently becomes fragrant, add the onion and a little salt to allow the onions to soften. Let the onions cook till it’s almost melt-y soft. Add the tuna and stir to combine. Then add the mint leaves. Allow it to cook and combine for a minute before adding the soy sauce + sesame oil. Stir to incorporate, check for salt and turn off the heat.

  3. To assemble: Keep a cup of water handy. Pat your palms with water, and then take about a tablespoon of rice in your hand. Use one hand to pat the rice down on the other palm to create an almost thick circular rice disk. Add a spoon of filling to the middle. Then cup your palm so the rice disk folds upwards to form a ball. Use both hands to shape the ball. If there is a patch that needs to be covered on top, add a little more rice to that spot and finish shaping the ball. Set aside, and repeat with the remaining rice and filling.

  4. Serve with some wasabi, pickled ginger and soy sauce on the side. Best enjoyed on a warm evening with a mild cup of green tea on the side!