- 5
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white sushi rice
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 sweet potato
- 1 oz. avocado, smashed or diced
- 1 sheet seaweed paper/nori
- 3 tbsp. teriyaki sauce (low-sodium & gluten-free)
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 1/2 tbsp. freshly ground ginger
- 1 tbsp. sesame seeds
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring the rice and 2 cups of water to a low boil on the stove top, then lower the heat and cover for 20 minutes until rice has absorbed all the water and is sticky. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for ten minutes.
While the rice cooks, prepare the sweet potato filling by peeling the potato, and cutting it into 1/4 inch slabs. Square the slabs down to size, depending on what you will use for your onigiri mold. (Author used a standard 1-cup measuring cup, and needed about 1.25" x 1.25" squares.)
Mix together the teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and honey in a bowl and toss the squares of sweet potato to coat lightly. Save the remaining sauce for after the sweet potato is cooked. Spread the squares on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
When the rice has cooled a bit, dissolve the sugar and salt in the rice vinegar and add the solution to the rice. Fluff with a fork until the rice is evenly coated.
Meanwhile, cut the nori into 1 1/2 inch strips for later, and prepare the avocado for filling.
When the rice and sweet potato are both cooked and cooled, you are ready to assemble the onigiri. While you don't need to use a mold and can shape the unigiri by hand, for an even look use a cookie cutter or measuring cup. I lined a 1-cup measuring cup with plastic wrap for easy removal.
With wet hands, press about 2 tbsp. of rice into the mold. Layer in a piece of sweet potato dipped in the remaining teriyaki sauce, along with a piece of avocado. Wet your hands again and top with another 2 tbsp. of rice. Flip and tap onto a plate, pulling the plastic wrap a little to remove.
Once you've formed all the onigiri, sprinkle with sesame seeds and grill in pan with just a little sesame oil. Each side should brown in about 3-4 minutes on high heat.
Wrap with a piece of nori and dip in teriyaki to enjoy.