Tuna Onigirazu ( Tuna Sushi Sandwiches )

I have been wanting to make Onigirazu ( Sushi Sandwiches ) for a very long time and because of my travelling  up and down to KL to spend time with my daughter, I keep postponing it .  Yesterday , I had some free time and decided to make some onigirazu for dinner.  Both Wildboar and myself thought that something light like Tuna Onigirazu would be great for dinner since we wanted something light.  My first time making origirazu. 

I have a tin of Tuna Chunks and is  perfect for making Tuna Onigirazu.  Flavored sushi rice would be great for making Tuna Onigirazu.  I used Japanese Shichimi chilli ( comprises of chilli, chenpi, black sesame , poppy seed, herbs, Japanese pepper and green dried seaweed ) to season the sushi rice.  And I also use toasted white sesame seeds to flavor the sushi rice.  So I have two different sets of flavored sushi rice . Both has tuna fillings. I  make tow types of tuna fillings.  One tuna fillings is with shichimi chilli and the other tuna filling is with toasted sesame seeds.  I have two different sets of tuna origirazu.  It is easy to make and taste delicious too.  Great for bento food.

 my first tuna origirazu

I prefer tuna chunks to tuna flakes reason being

you can feel the texture and taste the tuna  chunks in each bite

 tuna chunks with shichimi chilli

  

 these two ingredients - shichimi chilli and toasted sesame seeds are

used to flavor the sushi rice and tuna fillings.  

I added some korean purple rice to my sushi rice for color and texture

I flavored one portion of the sushi rice with toasted sesame seeds

and another with shichimi chilli 

Lay out a square of plastic wrap that is larger than the sheets of nori 

 on a clean work surface. Put one sheet of the nori, rough side facing up, 

with one of the corners pointing towards you, on top of the cling wrap

Put 1/3 cup of the cooked sushi rice (flavored with shichimi chilli) in the middle of the nori sheet

 and spread it out into a square that measures approximately 4 inches by 4 inches 

and lightly pat it down. 

(Shape the square so that the corners are pointing 

towards the sides of the nori, not the corners of the nori.)

Arrange a few spoonfuls of tuna fillings on top of the flavored sushi rice, 

followed by 2 spoonful of the pickled ginger,

 Add another 1/3 cup of flavord sushi rice to the top of the stack,

pressing down lightly.

Starting with the left corner of the nori, bring it up and over the rice stack and hold it with your finger. Take the right corner of the nori and fold it so that it overlaps slightly with the first corner. Continue folding with the bottom and top corners until the rice stack is 

 completely wrapped in the nori. 

Cling wrap the Tuna onigirazu and set it aside for 5 minutes.

 Letting the Tuna Onigirazu sit for several minutes before cutting into them 

 will make this step easier because the nori will hold together better. 

 You can also pack the cut halves without wrapping them in plastic wrap, 

 but I find that plastic wrap protects the halves 

from things like kids dropping their lunchbox, etc.

Tuna Onigirazu ( Tuna Sushi Sandwiches )

 1 1/3 cups cooked Sushi Rice
2 Nori sheets
 Fillings
1 can of Tuna Chunks
3 tbsp of pickled ginger

for flavoring cooked sushi rice
2 tbsp of  Shichimi chilli
3 tbsp or more of toasted white sesame seeds


Sushi Rice ( adapted from Sushi Tales by Roger Wong )

250 gms short grain rice 
* I added a tbsp of korean purple rice

500 ml water

1 piece 10cm x 10 cm konbu ( kelp) * optional

Seasonings:
20 g fine salt

75 g fine sugar

100 ml Japanese rice vinegar

Method:

1. Mix salt, sugar and vinegar in the pot and simmer over heat till mixture is dissolved. Set aside.

2. Using both hands, wash rice gently for a few times till rice water becomes perfectly clear then drain. Add some water and soak the rice for 30 minutes. Drain and add 500ml water. Cook for 15 minutes in a rice cooker. When the rice is cooked, let it stand in rice cooker with covered lid for 15 minutes before removing lid.

3. Transfer cooked rice into a wooden rice tub, pour prepared seasonings mixture evenly over sushi rice and stir well with wooden lade . Use a fan to cool the rice for 5 minutes. The rice is ready for use.

Steps on how to make the tuna onigirazu please refer to the photos above.