Howdy!! Today we are making Onigirazu, which is like a Japanese rice sandwich, a modern twist on the classic Onigiri. This is not going to be a super authentic recipe but you can customize it however you like.
Like my gif? 🙂
TBH this is way better than the viral seaweed wrap thing from TikTok because you can put more and it looks nicer, since things won’t be falling out from the sides. So here’s the stuff:
Onigirazu (Rice Sandwich) Recipe
Ingredients
- Nori
- Rice
- Whatever you want inside
- Plastic wrap
- Onigirazu mold, or rectangular mold
Optional mix-in options for the rice:
- Vinegar and sugar
- Sesame oil and salt
- Mayonnaise
Instructions
- Add your mix-in to the rice if you want to do that.
- Lay down the nori and put down a layer of rice, not all over it, just in a square in the center, with the corners pointing to the sides of the seaweed.
- Layer on anything you want in your Onigirazu. I used egg, spam, and avocado.
- Top off with another layer of rice. It might be hard to keep it on without it falling. Some people have a metal or plastic onigirazu mold but I didn’t have one 🙁
- Wrap it up by pulling the corners of the nori sheet to the center.
- Roll it tightly into plastic wrap, and take the open ends and spin it like a candy wrapper. Avoid or poke out any air bubbles. Make sure its all safe and sound in there.
- With a clean wet knife, cut it in half and enjoy! (Don’t eat the plastic wrap plz)
Isn’t it cute! I added spicy mayo and sesame on top too. At the end of the post I included a little pictorial you can reference instead of the recipe BTW.
Tips and Ideas
Other ideas for fillings are… chicken, pork, canned tuna or fish, surimi, cucumber, kimchi (for a Korean twist), salad veggies, thin slice carrots, etc. Practically anything you like.
Here’s another one I made, definitely not as pretty or clean cut, but tasted good anyways. I had pork belly, cucumber, and kimchi in it:
To get a really clean cut, make sure the knife is sharp, clean, and with a little water on it.
Origin of Onigirazu
Unlike onigiri, which is hand-shaped and tightly molded, onigirazu is made by layering rice and fillings on a sheet of nori (seaweed) and folding it into a neat, sandwich-like package.
The name comes from the Japanese word nigirazu, which literally means “without squeezing” or “without shaping by hand“. Instead of molding the rice tightly like onigiri, you just layer rice and fillings on a sheet of nori and fold it up more like a sandwich.
This style was first introduced in the early 1990s in the manga Cooking Papa by Tochi Ueyama, where the character created it as a quick and easy alternative to onigiri.
By the 2010s, onigirazu became especially popular in Japanese bento culture, loved for its convenience, versatility, and colorful appearance. A lot of people call it the “Japanese rice sandwich.” Today, it’s enjoyed worldwide as an easy Japanese lunch idea and a creative way to try Japanese cuisine at home.
Here’s a pictorial for you (2 actually, because I wasn’t sure which was better):
Hope your onigirazu turned out well!
Looking for something else to make? See my microwave steamed egg recipe here!
Happy eats,
Big J