Vegan Onigirazu

Nori-wrapped brown rice, sweet potato, greens. Topped with dressing and sesame seeds, on a blue ceramic platter.

Part sushi, part sandwich, part rice ball, onigirazu is shaped into a flat rectangle with fillings inside of rice inside of nori.

By varying the fillings, you can have combos that are good for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Ingredients

  • 4 full size nori sheets 
  • 4 cups cooked short grain white sushi or brown rice 
  • Small sweet potato – about ½ lb 
  • Small strip kombu seaweed (1 inch x 3 inches) 
  • 1 large avocado 
  • 7-8 oz. package marinated tofu 
  • 4 cups spinach, arugula and/or mizuna greens 
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice 
  • 2 ½ Tbsp olive oil 
  • 2-3 Tbsp warm water 
  • 1 Tbsp tahini  
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup 
  • 1 tsp white miso paste 
  • Toasted sesame seeds 
  • Salt/Pepper 

Directions

  1. Peel and slice sweet potato into ½-inch slices. Place in small saucepan with kombu and add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and simmer until sweet potato is soft but still firm enough not to fall apart. Remove sweet potato from water and set aside. Kombu can be sliced/diced into small pieces and used during onigirazu assembly, or discarded/composted. 
  2. To a small bowl, add 2 Tbsp warm water, tahini, miso paste. Mix to combine. Add maple syrup, lime juice and olive oil. Add more warm water to achieve desired consistency. 
  3. Open marinated tofu package over a small bowl and remove pieces. Slice pieces in half lengthwise, and then again if needed in order to get four equal slices. Set aside. 
  4. Open avocado, remove pit and cut flesh lengthwise into slices. Keep slices in half-shells until assembly to make things easier/cleaner. 
  5. Divide rice into four equal portions and arrange all ingredients for onigirazu assembly. 
  6. On a clean work surface, place a sheet of plastic wrap and then a piece of nori, shiny side down, with a corner facing towards you so it’s oriented like a diamond. 
  7. Take half of one rice portion and spread it in the center of nori, creating a 4-inch square or a little smaller. Corners of rice square will be pointing towards long sides of nori sheet and not corners. Add fillings one by one on top of rice, finishing with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. Place another layer of rice on top of fillings, making sure this layer is covering fillings.  
  8. Fold corners of nori over filling to make a square shape and wrap the onigirazu tightly with the wrap it’s sitting on. Let it sit for a few minutes and then cut the entire bundle in half with a slightly moistened sharp or serrated knife. Drizzle/dip sauce over it as you eat.