Homemade Tuna Onigiri

For those of you who love sushi and onigiri (or ANY Japanese food), here's a little piece that I found to be quite easy to make. I came across this when my sister taught me how to make tuna onigiri.

Most items are store bought at oriental stores or specialty stores, but you can also find them at Lucky's or Safeway. Simplistic and a tad time consuming, especially if you're making this little number for a small party.

Trust me, you try this out, you can wow your friends and family, and you didn't need a professional sushi chef to do it for you!

What You Need:
large bowl
2 small bowls
plate
microwave
teaspoon
large fork

Ingredients:
3 c. cooked white rice (any type is fine)
1 pkg. of roasted 8x7inch seaweed (nori)
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 can of tuna 7 oz.
Nori Fumi Furikake rice seasoning/Ebi Fumi Furikake (optional)
water
salt
pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook rice as you usually do but add a tad bit more of water to make the rice slightly sticky. Once it's cooked transfer the rice into a large bowl for easy access. Let the rice cool for 30 minutes.


2. With the small bowl, fill it 3/4 full with water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and cook in the microwave for about 2 minutes or until the salt has dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.


3. While the rice and water are cooling, prep the nori (roasted seaweed) by cutting the sheet into 1-inch wide strips. Prepare the tuna by adding the mayonnaise and the tuna into a small bowl and mix with a fork. Add salt and pepper according to preference.


4. With the rice and salted water cooled to room temperature, wash hands and dip both hands into the salted water so rice will not stick to fingers. Grab a handful of rice gently flatten into a triangle shape into the palm of your hand.


5. With a teaspoon, scoop out a small round portion (the size of the spoon, slightly heaping) and place in the middle of the rice triangle.


6. With the free hand, dip into the salt-water again (keep hands moist at all times while handling the rice), and scoop out another handful to top and cover the tuna. Press sides down together to create the triangle shape. If necessary, turn onigiri over to press other sides together to create shape. Keep turning and pressing until satifactory.

Remember: You don't want to squish it too much to flatten it, nor do you now want to have your onigiri to fall apart when it isn't pressed together enough.

1. While the onigiri is still moist, wrap the nori along the thinner side of the onigiri. If the nori is too long, cut of what you don't need and set aside on a plate.


2. Repeat process until you have enough.


3. OPTIONAL: With the Ebi Fumi Furikake rice seasoning, pour a thing layer onto a saucer and dip onigiri on one or both sides in seasoning. This will create a slightly sweeter taste to the tuna onigiri.

I also think that this recipe can be used as a family-bonding experience where everyone can have fun creating their own onigiri. Of course, if you want to increase the amount, double or triple the ingredients. You can also switch the tuna for other types of food like shredded chicken or beef. It's best if you use seafood types as filling.