Beef Onigiri - Japanese Fast Food Video

Beef and rice - can't get more basic than that. Just saute a 3-ounce slab of marinated and sliced ribe-eye, then wrap it up in a few balls of sticky rice. That's what makes up a typical Beef Onigiri Japanese recipe. You can add a small sheet of dried seaweed snack (becoming more popular and even sold at regular groceries) for an extra salty kick.

And I picked up all these ingredients at my local 99c only Store! How's that for a unique cheap$kate meal? Hang out with The 99 Cent Chef and you can live high on the hoof - so read on and I'll give you the Beef Onigiri recipe: presented with yummy photos, GIFS, and a video.

There's not much to it, really. Just click here to see my sticky Sushi Rice recipe - that's the only atypical ingredient, but even that is a cinch to make when you follow my unique stop-motion video instructions.

As for steak, well, I get a single serving and marinate it in soy sauce, sugar, and a little garlic. That's a lot of flavor. I like working with these cheap small 3-ounce packages of rib-eye. It's my favorite cut of beef because you get that large centerpiece of sirloin and a marbled strip of super-tender loin along the edge - the best of both worlds.

These small steaks are perfect for stir-fries, like my Beef Broccoli recipe, here. You don't need an $8 slab of beef for my recipes. And while 3 ounces of steak at 99.99 cents still equals 5 bucks per pound, you are saving money by using such a small amount (and saving calories too.)

Japanese Onigiri is fast food from the East. It's portable and filling. You can wrap almost any favorite veggie or cooked protein in sticky rice. Check out my Salmon Salad Onigiri recipe from last month, here, to see what I mean.

Sticky rice is messy to handle, so use a sheet of plastic wrap. My video leaves this part out: I made the rice ball the traditional way of using my hands and moistened it with a little water. However, most chefs now use plastic wrap to press and form the Onigiri.

You can present the Beef Onigiri plainly or wrap it with a sheet of dried seaweed snacks. You can get packages of dried seaweed snacks almost anywhere now, and what's so great about them is they are pre-cut to a perfect size.

My Beef Onigiri recipe makes about 4 rice balls, and it's easy enough to double the recipe. So give it a go - it's a perfectly delicious small bite.

Beef Onigiri  - VIDEO
 

Play it here, video runs 2 minutes.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients (about 4 rice balls for 1 to 2 servings)
1 cup brown or white rice - use my Sushi Rice recipe. Click here to see the video.
3 ounces of steak - I used a small rib-eye steak. You can use sirloin or any tender cut of beef, even ground meat like beef, chicken, or turkey.
1 tablespoon soy sauce - I used low sodium.
1/2 teaspoon sugar - or a favorite sweetener, that can be sauteed with the meat. Okay to add more to taste.
1/2 teaspoon garlic - chopped. Okay to use garlic powder or dried garlic.
1 teaspoon oil - for sauteing meat.
Dried seaweed - optional. I used pre-cut (about 2 by 4 inches) dried seaweed snacks. Okay to use any size really, just cut them with scissors.

Directions
Prepare sushi rice according to my directions here (or use your favorite recipe.) Allow cooked rice to reach room temperature.

Chop steak into small bite-sized pieces. Add a marinade of soy sauce, sugar, and garlic. Mix well and set aside for 5 to 15 minutes. If steak marinades longer, then store it in the refrigerator.

In a frying pan, over medium heat, add 1 teaspoon oil. Saute marinated beef until done, about 2-3 minutes. Drain and remove meat when done. Allow to cool down a couple of minutes.

In the video above I formed the rice ball with my dampened hands. But it's cleaner and easier to use a sheet of plastic wrap.

For assembly, place the sheet of plastic wrap on a dry surface. Pile on about half a cup of cooked rice in the middle of a plastic sheet. Press into the middle of the rice mound to make space for the cooked steak. Add about a tablespoon of steak.

Add just enough rice on top of steak pieces to cover (optional - okay to leave steak exposed.) Pick up the four corners of the plastic to start forming a ball. Now you can close up the rice ball with plastic wrap. Lightly roll and squeeze the ball. You can keep it round; flatten one side; or form a traditional triangle shape.

It's okay to eat the rice ball right out of the plastic wrap, or make a few Beef Onigiri and serve on a plate. For extra flavor, use a piece of dried seaweed and partially wrap the Onigiri. The piece of seaweed gives you a dry surface to hold, for easier eating.

Hindsight
This recipe is easy to increase. Just double the ingredients list to make twice as much.

Use cheaper ground meat like beef, chicken, or turkey - just mix in the marinade and saute until cooked through. Any chopped meat is okay including beef, pork, chicken, and even flaked, cooked fish. You could also stuff rice balls with canned (drained) tuna, salmon, chicken or turkey.

Okay to substitute meat with chopped veggies (steamed and/or raw) and cooked mushrooms.

Cooked beef can be on top of a rice ball -- meat can be exposed, or covered with rice.

Onigiri Salmon Salad - Japanese Rice Sandwich

These portable packages are loaded with any tasty morsel you can wrap in sticky rice. My Origiri filling is a favorite tuna, salmon, chicken,  or turkey salad. Origiri is a favorite of Japanese school lunches and found in most markets there. And check out this fun photo-filled blog post with a lot of Onigiri colorful fun shapes and other tasty fillings.

You need to make Sushi Rice, but I have your back -- here is my video recipe:



After you've made Sushi Rice, it's time to make a quick and simple salad to fill the rice ball with. I like the ease and cheap prices of canned protein. For this recipe, I made an Onigiri Salmon Salad, but you could use any cooked meat, like chicken or turkey (canned, freshly cooked, or store-bought roasted bird.)

The Salmon Salad for my recipe is just mayo and a 5-ounce can (or pouch) of salmon. Just drain it and lightly mix it with mayo. You roll a fist-sized ball of sushi rice, press in a space to add the salad, and finally top it with more rice and seal it up.

That's the stripped-down version. Wrap it with a small square of dried seaweed to give it extra flavor, thus making it easier to handle. You can sprinkle on some sesame seeds, too.

I don't know if you've notice these packages of seaweed snacks lately, I get mine at the 99c only Store, and in different flavors too! They are similar to communion wafers, and they dissolve on your tongue like one. (Also like those paper sheets of breath mints - except tasting of the sea and salt.) The thin rectangles of dried seaweed are the perfect size for wrapping the finished Onigiri. Although crisp and brittle, the seaweed moistens and bends to adhere perfectly to the rice ball.

Normally you dampen your hands and form the rice ball. It's a bit messy -- so a cleaner way is tear off a sheet of plastic, wrap the rice, and form a ball.

My Onigiri Salmon Salad makes great party appetizers -- just set out a tray and see how quick they go. So now that you've mastered making Sushi Rice (or at least have a handle on it) try out my latest Japanese fast food recipe.

Ingredients (about 6 rice balls)

• 1 cup brown or white rice - use my Sushi Rice recipe. Click here for the recipe text with photos. For this recipe, I used brown rice. (But white rice gets stickier, so it holds together better - maybe better to use white rice if you are doing this for the first time?)
• Cooked salmon - I used a 5-ounce can drained (stored in water, not oil.) You can use fresh salmon (just saute it until done.) You can also use cheap canned tuna or any favorite cooked fish. Okay to substitute with cooked chicken or turkey (canned or homemade.)
• 1 tablespoon mayo - okay to use more, or less,  to taste.
  
• Dried seaweed - optional. I used pre-cut (about 2 by 4 inches) dried seaweed snacks. Okay to use any size really, just cut them to size with scissors.

Directions
Cook and prepare Sushi Rice. Allow to cool and reach room temperature.

Drain one can of salmon. Place in a bowl and flake salmon into smaller pieces. Remove bones, if any. Add 1 tablespoon of mayo. Mix well.

For assembly, place a sheet of plastic wrap on a dry surface. Pile on about half a cup of cooked rice in the middle of a plastic sheet.

Press into the middle of the rice mound to make space for the salmon/mayo. Add about a tablespoon of salmon mixture.

Pick up the four corners of the plastic to start forming a ball. Add just enough rice on top of the salmon mixture to cover it. Now you can close up the rice ball with plastic wrap. Lightly roll and squeeze the ball. You can keep it round, flatten one side, or form a traditional triangle shape.

You can serve or eat the rice ball right out of the plastic wrap; or use a piece of dried seaweed and partially wrap the Onigiri. The piece of seaweed gives you a dry surface to hold, for easier eating.

Plastic-wrapped Onigiri can be frozen or just stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.