With savory Korean grilled beef and steamed rice wrapped in nori seaweed, this ultimate Bulgogi Onigirazu makes for a perfect summer lunch or picnic! For a more substantial wrap, add optional fried egg and vegetables like seasoned bean sprouts, spinach, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms.
If you are aware or have heard of Onigirazu (おにぎらず) – a type of Japanese rice ball, then you’re pretty current with the latest of Japanese food trends!
Onigirazu was in fact one of the most influential food trends in Japan last year (2015) and today I’m making Onigirazu with Bulgogi, Korean grilled beef!
Table of Contents
What is Onigirazu?
The name Onigirazu comes from the Japanese rice ball – Onigiri (おにぎり) or sometimes called Omusubi (おむすび).
Onigiri is a great healthy choice for lunch or snacks. It is made of rice formed into the traditional triangle, round, or cylinder shape with hands. Usually, the rice ball is filled with pickled plum (umemboshi), soy sauce seasoned bonito flakes (okaka), or other kinds of fillings, and then wrapped with nori seaweed.
The word “Onigiri” comes from “Nigiru“, which means to squeeze or hold tightly in Japanese. When you do NOT squeeze tightly, we say “Nigiranai” or “Nigirazu“.
So Onigirazu is the rice ball (Onigiri) that is NOT squeezed tightly into the traditional shape (Nigirazu).
The Onigirazu History
Although Onigirazu became a huge trend last year, it had been introduced 25 years ago by manga artist Tochi Ueyama in his manga (Japanese comic books) “Cooking Papa“.
In his food manga, the main character, a dad and salary-man, likes to cook for his family. Ueyama named this dish “Onigirazu” and introduced it in his comic books when he saw his wife making a new style of Onigiri.
In fall 2014, the most popular Japanese recipe-sharing site, Cookpad, had a feature on Onigirazu recipes. Since then, this recipe was revived and it became a popular search word, especially among housewives who make their husband’s and children’s lunches.
3 Reasons Why You Should Make Onigirazu
It has 3 big appealing features that caught everyone’s attention and stayed popular.
1. More fillings; make it into a meal!
It can be stuffed with much more fillings than Onigiri.
Onigiri tends to include one kind of filing, but Onigirazu usually has more than 2-3 kinds of fillings! With a main dish filling like Bulgogi and Tonkatsu, you can get carb (rice), protein (meat), and veggies (lettuce) in one bite!
2. No more mess; easy to assemble!
When you make this delicious dish, you wrap the rice with nori sheet. Therefore, you don’t have to wet your hands and form rice into a rice ball. While Onigiri takes practice and some skill to make, Onigirazu is very simple to assemble, just like a sandwich!
3. Endless creative fillings!
Most people stick with traditional filling when it comes to Onigiri because of limited filling space. However, people are very creative and put unconventional fillings in Onigirazu like ham, cheese, egg, fried chicken, and grilled meat.
Onigirazu also uses various condiments like ketchup, Tonkatsu sauce, and mayonnaise for spreads which is not common for Onigiri.
5 Tips to Make Perfect Onigirazu
Tip 1. Spread the rice into a square shape
Place a nori sheet with a corner pointing up. Try to evenly spread the rice into a square shape in the center of nori. Don’t forget to leave some space around the rice for easy wrapping.
Tip 2. Put the rice and fillings in a thin layer
Make sure to place the fillings in single/thin layers and stack them on top of previous one, avoid empty spaces. When you place ingredients, think about the cross-section view after you cut in half. Work with small amount of fillings so that it’s easier to wrap.
Tip 3. Mark which side you would cut in half
If your fillings are placed in a single layer on top of another, you don’t need to worry about this tip (like lettuce, cheese, ham etc).
If you place multiple ingredients, it’s important to remember which side you’d need to cut in half before you finish wrapping with nori (and can’t see inside!).
In above diagram, we need to cut along the pink line so that all the fillings with different colors will be visible from cross-section. A trick to remember? Mark the cutting line with a piece of ingredient (I used a stick of carrot).
Tip 4. Flip and rest for 5 minutes
Fold each corner of nori sheet tightly around the layers of rice and fillings at the center. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and flip over, seam side down. The steam from the rice will moisten nori sheet and bind all the ingredients well together.
Tip 5. Wet your sharp knife
Use a sharp knife to cut it in half. If you run water on your knife before cutting in half, the rice and nori won’t stick to your knife and the cross-section will be clean.
Our Family’s Favorite Bulgogi Recipe
My family loves this Bulgogi recipe that I had been cooking… but I had been using Japanese soy sauce. It tastes great, but I had never imagined it could taste even better with Korean soy sauce!
When I did this last collaboration video with Seonkyoung, she gave me a bottle of Korean soy sauce. I should have bought a bottle of Korean soy sauce years ago for Korean dishes! Korean dishes taste FANTASTIC with Korean soy sauce (duh?!). Keep your Japanese soy sauce for Japanese recipes, and I highly recommend using Korean soy sauce for this recipe!
To add more colors to this Bulgogi Onigirazu, I added vegetable side dishes that I use for my Bibimbap recipe. It definitely requires a bit of extra work, so you can totally skip these veggies. However, cross-section looks pretty when green and red colors pop out, and not to mention yellow fried egg!
The gochujang sauce in the recipe is optional too, but we love this spicy and sweet savory sauce for my Bibimbap recipe…so again I use this sauce for this recipe. Bulgogi Onigirazu tastes perfect without the gochujang sauce.
Onigirazu Variations: Tonkatsu Onigirazu
For today’s recipe, I collaborated with my YouTuber friends, Shinichi and Satoshi from Tabi Eats ! Check out their super delicious recipe and don’t forget to subscribe to their YouTube channel!
I hope you will enjoy making this Bulgogi Onigirazu recipe! If you try it, don’t forget to share your picture on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with #JustOneCookbook. Thank you so much for reading, and till next time!
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Bulgogi Onigirazu
Video
Ingredients
For the Bulgogi Marinade
- 2 Tbsp Korean soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ Asian pear (grated; you‘ll need 2 Tbsp)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced; 2 tsp)
For the Bulgogi
- ½ onion
- ½ carrot
- 3 green onions/scallions
- 1 lb beef (tenderloin, ribeye, or top sirloin)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil (for cooking the meat)
- 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds (for topping)
For the Bean Sprouts (optional)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic (½ tsp minced)
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for the dressing)
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for blanching)
- 6 oz bean sprouts (½ package)
- 1 green onion/scallion
For the Spinach (optional)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic (½ tsp minced)
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ½ bunch spinach
For the Carrot (optional)
- ½ large carrot
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
For the Shiitake Mushrooms (optional)
For the Eggs (optional)
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- 4 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
For Making the Onigirazu
- 4 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (4 cups, 600 g)
- 4 sheets nori (dried laver seaweed)
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for sprinkling on the rice)
For the Gochujang Sauce (optional)
- 2 Tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1–2 Tbsp water (to dilute to your desired consistency)
Instructions
- Before You Start: Gather all the ingredients. For the steamed rice, please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked white rice. See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
To Make the Bulgogi Marinade
- In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the bulgogi marinade: 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 2 Tbsp Korean soy sauce, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, and freshly ground black pepper. Grate ¼ Asian pear, measure 2 Tbsp grated pear, and add to the bowl. Crush (or mince) 4 cloves garlic, measure 2 tsp minced garlic, and add to the bowl. Mix it all together.
- Cut ½ onion into thin slices. Cut ½ carrot to 2-inch (5-cm) pieces, then cut into julienned pieces.
- Cut 3 green onions/scallions into 2-inch (5-cm) pieces. Cut 1 lb beef into thin 2-inch (5-cm) strips. Tip: I put the meat in the freezer for 2 hours (depending on the size and thickness) prior to cutting the meat into thin slices. See my tutorial on how I slice my meat.
- Add the vegetables and meat to the bowl and toss to coat with the marinade. Set aside for at least 20 minutes.
To Prepare the Bean Sprouts and Spinach (optional)
- Prepare 2 medium bowls. In each bowl, combine 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, ½ tsp minced garlic (from 1 clove garlic), and ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and mix well.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Add 6 oz bean sprouts and cook for about 1 minute. We will need to reserve the boiling water for spinach, so scoop up the bean sprouts with a sieve or spider strainer. Run under cold tap water to stop the cooking further with remaining heat and drain well. Set aside.
- Prepare iced water in a large bowl. In the same boiling water, blanch ½ bunch spinach for 30 seconds. Transfer the spinach to the iced water to stop the cooking.
- Squeeze out the water from spinach as much as you can and add to one of the bowls with the seasonings. Toss well with the sauce.
- Thinly cut 1 green onion/scallion. Add the bean sprouts and green onion to the other bowl and toss well with the sauce.
For the Carrot and Shiitake Mushrooms (optional)
- Cut ½ large carrot in half widthwise, about 2 inches (5 cm) long. Cut each piece into thin slices, and julienne the carrots. Cut 6 shiitake mushrooms into thin slices.
- Heat 1 tsp toasted sesame oil in a large frying pan and add the carrot. Season with ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and sauté until tender. If your pan is big enough to add the shiitake mushrooms, move the carrot to one side when it’s cooked halfway. Add 1 tsp toasted sesame oil in the open space and add the shiitake mushrooms. Season with ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and sauté until tender. If your frying pan is small, cook one ingredient at a time; transfer the carrot to a plate and cook the shiitake mushrooms after. When the carrot and shiitake mushrooms are both tender (but not overcooked), transfer to a plate and set aside.
To Cook the Eggs (optional)
- Heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil in the large frying pan and make fried eggs with 4 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell). I cook the eggs “over hard” so the egg yolk won’t be runny and messy when the onigirazu is cut in half.
To Grill the Meat
- In a large skillet (I use a griddle pan so I can grill the meat in a single layer), heat 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil over medium-high heat and sauté the marinated beef until cooked, about 5 minutes. Transfer the meat to the plate and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds.
To Make the Gochujang Sauce (optional)
- In a small bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients: 2 Tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste), 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 Tbsp sugar, and 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds. Mix them all together. Add 1–2 Tbsp water until you achieve the consistency you like.
To Assemble the Onigirazu
- Place a piece of plastic wrap on a working surface and put a sheet of nori seaweed on top (shiny side down), with a corner pointing up. Evenly spread ½ serving of the steamed rice in a thin layer and form into a square shape in the center of the nori sheet. If you make the onigirazu with different ingredients that have a milder taste, sprinkling Diamond Crystal kosher salt at this step is very important, especially if you plan on eating it at room temperature.
- Place one serving of bulgogi on top of the rice in a thin layer. Then, put one serving of spinach, bean sprouts, carrot, and shiitake in a thin layer on top of the meat.
- Add the fried egg. Then, add another ½ serving of steamed rice on top. Try to keep the square shape as you spread the rice evenly in a thin layer.
- Bring the left and right corners of nori sheet towards the center. Fold gently but tightly to wrap around the layers at the center.
- Then, bring the bottom and top corners towards the center. Continue to fold gently but tightly around the layers. Make sure the rice is tucked in nicely. If you‘d like the onigirazu to showcase the ingredients after cutting it in half, mark it with a piece of carrot perpendicular to the ingredients (see video). Flip over and shape the onigirazu gently. Wrap tightly with the plastic wrap and set aside for 5 minutes. Repeat assembling the remaining onigirazu.
- Cut the onigirazu with a sharp knife (following your “carrot” mark). Run your knife in cold water before cutting so that the cross section will be clean. The Bulgogi Onigirazu is now ready to enjoy.
To Store
- If you plan to make it ahead of time, wrap the onigirazu with a kitchen towel and keep in the refrigerator overnight. The towel will prevent the rice from getting harder from cold air.
I love how Nami-san explains the dish (name, original etc.) 😀 Thank you! Love your blog! Greetings from Brazil! o/
Hi Akemi! I’m so happy to hear you read my explanations. Sometimes I wonder if I spend too much writing about the dish before sharing the recipe… 😀 Thank you for your kind words!
Yummy. Looks like an rice burger. I will try it this weekend. Hope my family will love it.
Hi Agatha! Hope your family enjoy! 🙂
Hi Nami,
This looks so delicious and I’m sure kids will surely love them.
May I know can I keep the Onigirazu for the next day? Let’s say I make it at night and wish to take to work for the next day. How do I store them? In the fridge?
Thanks!
Alice
Hi Alice! Yes, you can keep Onigirazu for the next day. I recommend storing in the fridge, but keeping in a cold temperature will harden the rice. Therefore, I usually wrap the Onigirazu in a kitchen towel and keep in the fridge so that the rice won’t be too cold (but just enough to keep it safe). Hope this little tip helps. 🙂 Enjoy!
Thank you for your detail recipe. Looking forwards in making it for kid’s school lunch and picnic.
Hi Carol! I hope you enjoy this recipe and your kids will have a fun and delicious lunch and picnic! 🙂
Wow! This is such an awesome upgrade from the onigiri (a genius invention I think) and so much healthier and filling than your typical sandwich!
I want to ask, how do you keep the nori sheet from becoming soggy and maintain its crispness for a few hours? Do you cool the ingredients down or put them in the fridge before wrapping?
Hi Carrie! Yeah total upgrade! 🙂 If you like onigiri, I think this is a great way to include more fillings and enjoy it as a full meal. 🙂
Nori sheet gets soft because you will put the hot/warm rice and you will wrap with plastic wrap so that nori, rice, filling will bind well together. The filling can be hot or room temp but nori won’t be crispy when you eat. If you really want crispy nori, you can eat it right away without wrapping but it’s not recommended to travel as it’s not tightly wrapped. HOpe this helps!
Hi Nami. I’m so excited to see this recipe. I’ve never tried this before. Another good idea for my sons’ obento. I have been running out of ideas of what to make. Thank you Nami !!
Hi Karin! I think this is a good lunch menu as a meal in one dish! And it’s easy to hold and eat.. I’m thinking about doing Onigirazu series. Hope your son will like onigirazu! 🙂
OMG, this looks so good. I have to make this for my girls for their lunches. Thank you for the recipe and demonstration.
Hi Sherrie! Thank you! I hope you and your girls will enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami,
This is a great idea for lunch. However, Is it ok if I make this the night before and keep it in the fridge? I’m afraid the nori is gonna be soggy and the rice is gonna be hard.
Thank you,
N.T
Hi Nina! Yes, you can make ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. One tip though. Rice gets harder after you put in the fridge because temp is too cold. You can try avoiding that by wrapping onigirazu with a kitchen towel so the rice doesn’t get too cold… not perfect, but it helps a little. 🙂 Nori will be soft and wilted in all onigirazu recipe. That’s how it’s bind with other ingredients. Nori won’t be crispy and crunchy for Onigirazu. I wouldn’t say “soggy” though. 🙂
Thank you Nami. You just answered my question too. I’d like to make these ahead and put them in my daughter’s school lunch box. I’ll try the paper towel trick 🙂
Hi Natalie! Try to use kitchen towel (for wiping your hands), instead of paper towel (still too thin). 🙂 Hope it’ll work for your delicious onigirazu! 🙂
Great. Thank you for clarifying that 🙂
Hi Nami!
I absolutely love onigiri even though I’ve never made them myself… I’m planning to make onigirazu on the weekend. But before I do I would like to clarify a few things…
1. The rice seems to be just plain rice. The onigiri I had were a bit sweet and sour (I think rice vinergar and sugar or mirin). Kind of like sushi rice. I love this flavor! Can I also make sushi rice for this dish?
2. I have honestly tried to find asian pear, but it’s just nowhere to be found 🙁 Can I substitute/omit it? If yes, with what?
Thanks!
Hi Alina! I hope you will like this recipe! 🙂 Here are my answers to your questions.
1) Onigiri is ALWAYS with steamed rice, not Sushi Rice (with vinegar seasonings). Was the onigiri you had were some kind of sushi-theme or sushi ingredients on top? If you like the flavor, sure you can. 🙂 That’s the good thing about homemade, adjust to your liking!
2) I understand it can be difficult to find. It’s really too bad because I tried this recipe with and without asian pear and even 2 Tbsp. of Asian pear does AMAZING job in the marinade. You can use sweet apple or other types of pear instead. Possible?
Hope that helps!
Hi again, Nami!
so I made them… delicious!!! I just love nori and all kind of seaweed 🙂 Oh and I managed to find nashi pear! 🙂 This is what they turned out like:
http://www.imagebam.com/image/40c285467965508
But I think next time I really will try it out with Sushi RIce (vinegar). Thanks for your help!!
Question: In making this onigirazu, regular onigiri/musubi, or sushi, is it recommended to first toast the nori? I noticed that it wasn’t included in your directions. I was taught to quickly wave the nori over an open flame before use. I can’t say if it makes a difference.
Hi Elaine! I toast (“Aburu” in Japanese) nori when I make sushi rolls. For Onigiri or Onigirazu, we eat much later time, so I think it doesn’t really make much difference. But if you eat right away, the toasted nori is wonderful!! You can smell the toasty nori and delicious and I highly recommend you do that. But if you eat later…. it’s up to you. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Can I use dried shiitake mushrooms that have been soaked in water and drained?
I really like this onigirazu recipe and variations of it because this is a great alternative to a regular sandwich. Thanks. Darlene
Hi Darlene! Sure, you can use dried shiitake mushrooms. Any specific reason? The reason why I asked is that dried shiitake mushrooms are more expensive… Maybe you can’t find fresh ones at the store. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe!
This looks amazing…I assume one eats it room temperature? Is the Gochujang sauce spicy?? (my husband doesn’t like spicy)…
I think I’ll start off with Bulgogi recipe and then graduate to Gochujang Onigirazu..
You do make everything look so effortless…curious…start to finish approximately how long did it take you to make Bulgogi Onigirazu?
Hi Lyn! Yes, onigiri is usually eaten at room temperature (but of course you can serve hot or cold). Gochujang sauce – It’s spicy and sweet at the same time. I used to not consume any spice but I can finally handle this level. You can reduce the amount of gochujang sauce, OR you don’t need the sauce at all because Bulgogi has wonderful flavor already! 🙂
Start to finish, the entire thing (including side dishes and eggs) is about 1 hour. But if you only make Bulgogi, it’s pretty quick. Those side dishes take the longest…. 🙂
Oh my gosh, this is such a good idea! I would have never thought of making a sandwich. Whenever I make onigiri, there’s always an excess of rice, and never enough filling. My favorite onigiri is actually chicken, and the recipe comes from an anime (Shokugeki no soma) XD
Anyways, thanks for sharing this great lunch idea! I never knew how to make bulgogi marinade before either, so I will definitely try out that recipe as well (and the gochujjang sauce!). Time to splurge on asian pear. I also like the photos you included, because I was definitely confused as to how to assemble the sandwich and fold the nori >.<
Hi Theresa! I wish I know more about comics but I don’t know enough. =P Oh you’ll LOVE this bulgogi and gochujang sauce recipes (sorry I’m self promoting my own recipe…). I HIGHLY recommend using Asian pear. I try without it when I can’t find it, but it’s not the same. It gives such a wonderful flavor that I make effort to find one. 🙂 I had too much fun (and spent too much time) making that diagram… xD
Thank you Nami for this awesome recipe and especially for the language background! I love it. I will try to do this onigirazu in a vegetarian version, vill it be maybe tamago onigirazu with egg? Or some vegetarian “meat” replacement such as quorn or soy mince, are there some of those in japanese, what would they be called? I kan imagine any japanese would be scared of idea of processing edamame into veggie chunks? (oh yes, as a vegetarian I think this idea is crazy, too, I don’t use such vegetarian instead-of-meat products very often)
Have a nice week!
Hi Genus! Thank you for checking this recipe! I thought people are curious what “Onigirazu” means… many of my readers study Japanese so I thought why not sharing it. 🙂 With onigirazu, the filling choices are endless! So many variations you can put inside! Veggies, eggs… just like sandwich (but should go with rice, at least). Don’t worry too much about meat substitute because I think vegetables itself is great. For example, you can put stir fried vegetables in the onigirazu and I know it tastes fantastic! 🙂 Have a nice week too~~~ xo
Whoops! I tried to twitt you at @justonecookbook but it doesn’t work as it seem… 🙁
As reply to the recipe of the day, I love yuzu, another ingredient that is very hard to find in Europe, but it seems to come more and more! I hope we can enjoy the hinamatsuri day? and celebrate with some great recipes!!! I’m very intrested in getting to know more about this tradition!
Hi Genus! Oh! Sorry, I don’t think I didn’t receive a tweet from you. Yuzu is so delicious. Hope it’s easily available everywhere in the world. 🙂 Thank you for your kind words!
This looks delicious! My children’s taste buds change constantly. They don’t like sushi anymore but they still love rice. This should be a great meal to try!
Hi Lu! Haha, I know what you mean. It’s okay, keep introducing new foods and they will come back. 🙂 Hope your children enjoy this recipe!