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Lazy Cat Kitchen

Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Onigirazu (sushi sandwich)

September 30, 2016 by Ania - 12

aquafaba, Asian-inspired, easy, gluten-free

vegan onigirazu stack

Calling all sushi lovers! Have you ever heard of onigirazu, also known as a sushi sandwich? As the name suggests, it’s a love child of a western sandwich and a Japanese sushi roll. It’s quite easy to make, it travels well, and being sushi’s distant cousin, it’s naturally gluten-free and very filling too.

Don’t be intimidated by the length of this recipe. In my usual style, I went for two different fillings (tofu and sweet potato) in my onigirazu and so I felt the need to explain in detail how to go about making either of them (2 ways!), which makes the recipe SEEM extremely fussy and complicated. It’s not.

Choose either filling, decide whether you want the sinful, fried version of your core ingredient or the healthier, baked one and you can start pumping out these beauties like a (lady) boss! πŸ™‚ It’s okay, you can thank me later – call me old-fashioned but I’m not keen on the whole talking while chewing business πŸ˜‰ .

PS: If you do make this cracker of a sandwich, don’t forget to take a photo of it and tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your take on my recipes!

making onigirazu

vegan onigirazu

5.00 from 2 votes
Print
  • makes: 4
  • prep: 30 min
  • cooking: 30 min

Ingredients

ONIGIRAZU

  • 4 nori sheets
  • about 4 cups of cooked sushi rice*
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 25 g / 1 oz baby spinach
  • red cabbage, shredded and pickled (optional, see below)
  • Sriracha or vegan mayo

TOFU KATSU VERSION

  • 2 x 200 g / 7 oz firm tofu, pressed**
  • tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 cup aquafaba (reduced so that it resembles an egg white)
  • 1-2 cups panko breadcrumbs (GF breadcrumbs for GF version)
  • all purpose flour or cornflour (for GF version)
  • 2 cups frying oil (for fried version only)

SWEET POTATO VERSION

  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 tbsp tamari (GF) or soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tsp neutral oil
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tsp rice vinegar

QUICK PICKLED RED CABBAGE (optional)

  • a wedge of red cabbage, sliced thinly
  • Β½ cup rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp sugar or maple syrup
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed with the side of a knife

Method

    FILLINGS

    TOFU KATSU VERSION

    1. BAKED – Set the oven to 200Β° C / 390Β° F and line a baking tray with baking paper. Toast panko breadcrumbs in a small pan until golden (they will gain more colour in the oven). Cut each tofu block into two 50% thinner blocks. Sprinkle tofu with some soy sauce (or tamari) or you can season the flour with plenty of salt instead. Drag tofu in flour making sure that the entire surface area has been coated. Dip the tofu in the gelatinous aquafaba and finally drag it in the pre-toasted breadcrumbs. Brush a bit of oil on the baking paper underneath the tofu and bake for about 30 minutes (until crisp and dry) flipping the pieces to the other side half way through.
    2. FRIED – Fill a small pot with 2 cups of frying oil and set on the stove. Cut each tofu block into two 50% thinner blocks. Sprinkle tofu with some soy sauce (or tamari) or you can season the flour with plenty of salt instead. Drag tofu in flour making sure that the entire surface area has been coated. Dip tofu in gelatinous aquafaba and finally drag it in breadcrumbs. Carefully lower the tofu, one piece at the time, into hot oil and let it fry for about 3 minutes on each side. Once ready, place fried tofu on a piece of kitchen towel to get rid of the excess oil.
    3. You can also prepare tofu as in this recipe.

    SWEET POTATO VERSION

    1. BAKED – Set the oven to 220Β° C / 425Β° F and line a baking tray with baking paper. Mix all the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl. Cut the middle (widest) section of your sweet potato, peel it and slice into Β½ cm / 0.2″ slices. Brush each slice with the marinade and place the slices on the prepared baking tray. Bake for about 20 min (until soft), flipping the slices to the other side halfway through.
    2. You can also make sweet potato into a katsu like in this recipe.

    ASSEMBLY

    1. Cut a square of cling film slightly larger than your nori sheet. Place it on the table, place the nori sheet on top with the shiny side down and rotated 45Β° in relation to the cling film (SEE PHOTOS above).
    2. Wet your hands (keep a small bowl of water handy to wet your hands) and grab a handful of rice. Place it in the middle of the sheet and using your hands form it into a compacted square (about 9 cm / 3.5 ” by 9 cm / 3.5 “). Try to make that layer as even and compacted as possible. Season well with salt.
    3. Place remaining ingredients on top. For the tofu onigirazu, I put a layer of spinach, avocado slices, Sriracha and tofu katsu. For the sweet potato onigirazu, I used a layer of pickled cabbage, avocado slices, Sriracha and a sweet potato disc. At this point cover all the ingredients with another layer of compacted rice. I found it a bit tricky to get the rice packed tightly without squashing the ingredients underneath. My hack solution was to create that top layer of rice on a lightly oiled piece of aluminium foil, put this rice layer on the top of the stack and then peel the foil off at the end (see the video above). Otherwise you can get a special onigirazu mould that makes this easier, but I do not have one.
    4. Once you are done with your stack, seal all four corners of the nori sheet on top of the filling. Fold the right corner over the stack, wet the end of the nori sheet with a wet finger and fold the left corner over the stack and ‘glue’ it to the right corner. Repeat the same thing with bottom and top corners until you get a small packet.
    5. Finally gather all the cling film over the stack and tie on the top. Put something moderately heavy (like a breadboard) on the onigirazu and set it aside to let the seaweed soften a little. Cut in half with a sharp knife.

    QUICK PICKLED RED CABBAGE (optional)

    1. Place shredded cabbage in a sterilised, medium size jar.
    2. Put the remaining ingredients and 120 ml / Β½ cup water in a small pot. Bring to a gentle boil, over low heat.
    3. Once they come to the boil (make sure the sugar has dissolved), pour the mixture over the cabbage and stir well. Make sure that the pickling liquid covers all of the cabbage. Set aside for 6-8 hours and consume.

Notes

*I’ve only made onigirazu with sushi rice, but I have made sushi with brown rice and red Thai rice before so if you are after a healthier option, try to use either of these instead.

**To press the tofu, you either need a special tofu press or you can do it with a bunch of kitchen towels and a heavy weight. Wrap your tofu in a paper towel, place it on a plate and weigh it down with something heavy (like a can of coconut milk, for example). Once the paper towel becomes wet, change it for a new one. Repeat a few times until the paper towel stays almost dry. Pressed tofu is tastier as it absorbs flavours better.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. Rhian @ Rhian's Recipes says

    September 30, 2016 at 2:28 pm

    I love onigirazu, they’re so fun to make and yummy to eat! Tofu Katsu is such a good filling idea too!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      September 30, 2016 at 2:41 pm

      Me too, they are great, aren’t they? Thanks for kind words! x Ania

      Reply
  2. Jeannie says

    September 30, 2016 at 2:33 pm

    This looks really good!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      September 30, 2016 at 2:40 pm

      Thanks so much, Jeannie! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  3. Monica says

    November 7, 2016 at 12:38 am

    These were so good and filling. Such a great idea! I only made the tofu katsu, so now I’ll have to try the sweet potato and I have a few ideas of my own now!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 7, 2016 at 3:43 pm

      That’s great to hear, Monica! So pleased you liked it πŸ™‚

      Reply
  4. Maria says

    November 15, 2016 at 2:28 pm

    Do you think this is something you would be able to prepare the night before or should it be eaten straight away

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 15, 2016 at 3:30 pm

      Hi Maria,

      You can certainly prepare all individual ingredients the night before (maybe apart from katsu tofu as it is nicer made fresh), but I would not assemble the sandwiches the night before as they may end up soggy and not that pleasant.

      Hope that helps,

      Ania

      Reply
  5. Elfi says

    November 10, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    Love the recipe! Do you think the white rice could be substituted for brown rice (for antioxidants, vitamin E and fiber)? I don’t know if there’s anything such as brown sushi rice… Thank you πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 10, 2017 at 6:30 pm

      Hi Elfi,

      Thank you πŸ™‚ Yes, I absolutely think so, in fact I often make sushi with brown rice (see this recipe) and I actually prefer it that way (it’s more filling and more nutritious). Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  6. Heather says

    February 21, 2018 at 8:10 pm

    Do you eat these plain or do you dip them in soy sauce (or another sauce)?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      February 21, 2018 at 9:45 pm

      You could do either, but I don’t dip them in soy sauce as the fillings get marinated in soy sauce already. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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