Delicious Chicken Katsu Onigirazu made with healthy baked chicken katsu, tonkatsu sauce, mustard, steamed rice, and thinly sliced cabbage.
Onigirazu for school lunch has been mutual love between my children and myself. As a mom, I love that I can easily stuff leftovers inside the square shape onigiri sandwich. For the children, they said they love that all the ingredients (rice, main dish, vegetables) are in one rice ball/sandwich which is portable and fits in their small hands.
I asked them to give me their top 5 onigirazu that I make, and they answered. This Chicken Katsu Onigirazu (チキンカツおにぎらず) is their #1 top favorite onigirazu.
Since they love tonkatsu and chicken katsu, I’m not too surprised that this is their favorite. From their answers, I realized that my kids prefer simple filling rather than my “creative” onigirazu.
What is Onigirazu?
Onigirazu is a rice ball (onigiri or omusubi in Japanese) that is NOT squeezed tightly into the traditional shape, like round or triangle.
You can put more fillings inside, as the “rice ball” shape is square and you can spread the ingredients just like how you lay them out for a sandwich. You wrap the fillings from the four corners of nori. So it is kind of like “wrapped rice ball”.
If you want to learn more about, you can read this post.
How To Make Baked Chicken Katsu
For Chicken Katsu Onigirazu, I almost always use my Baked Chicken Katsu, a popular recipe on Just One Cookbook.
If you’re new, you can check out how I make my chicken katsu “baked”, by pre-toasting panko with just one tablespoon of olive oil.
Other Onigirazu Recipes
Chicken Katsu Onigirazu
Ingredients
- 1 baked chicken katsu
- 1–2 leaves green cabbage
- 1 sheet nori (dried laver seaweed)
- 1 cup cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1–2 Tbsp tonkatsu sauce
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Cut 1–2 leaves green cabbage into julienned slices.
- Place a plastic wrap on a working surface and put 1 sheet nori (dried laver seaweed) on top (shiny side facing down), with a corner pointing up.
- Evenly spread about ½ cup cooked Japanese short-grain rice in a thin layer and form into a square shape in the center of nori sheet. Sprinkle ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. For Japanese rice ball (onigiri) that are enjoyed at room temperature, we add salt to the rice to keep the food fresh longer.
- Place the shredded cabbage evenly on top of rice and then 1 baked chicken katsu on top.
- Spread 1 tsp Dijon mustard and 1–2 Tbsp tonkatsu sauce.
- Flip over chicken katsu so the sauce is also on the cabbage.
- Place another ½ cup steamed rice on top. Try to keep the square shape as you spread the rice evenly in a thin layer. Bring 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 like the onigirazu to showcase the filling after cutting in half, mark with a piece of shredded cabbage perpendicular to the filling. Wrap with plastic wrap tightly and set aside for 5 minutes.
- Cut the onigirazu with a sharp knife (following the direction of the “cabbage” mark). Run your knife in cold water before cutting so that the cross-section will be clean.
To Store
- If you plan to make it ahead of time, wrap the onigirazu with a thick kitchen towel and keep it in the refrigerator overnight. The towel will prevent the rice from getting hard and dry from cold air (but it‘s impossible to keep it moist/fluffy). I strongly recommend making onigirazu on the same day you enjoy it.
This has become a staple food in my family. Everyone loves it.
Hi Will! Aww.🥰Thank you very much for your kind words!
We are so happy to hear your family enjoyed Nami’s Chicken Katsu Onigirazu recipe!
Hi Nami, I was wondering – wouldn’t the chicken katsu get soft and soggy if not consumed immediately? Is there any way to prevent that from happening?
Hi Sab! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post!
Yes. Like any other deep-fried food, The Katsu will get soft and a little soggy if you don’t consume it immediately. You can try using Baked Katsu instead of the deep fry version. It would be less soggy. https://www.justonecookbook.com/crispy-baked-chicken/
We hope this helps!
Hey Nami! I want to know, is this possible with any normal chicken, or just it have to be chicken Katsu? 🤔
Hi Raichu, Yes, you can use Teriyaki Chicken or any cooked meat.
Here are many other ingredients Onigirazu: https://www.justonecookbook.com/#search/q=onigirazu
We hope this helps!
I used a frozen chicken patty (that I cooked in my toaster oven), homemade tonkatsu sauce and followed the directions. Oh my gosh it was so good. I was unsure of using tokatsu sauce and mustard but it was wonderful together. The cabbage gave it a great crunch. I will be making these again soon!!!
Hi Erica! Yay! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and thoroughly following Nami’s recipe! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed this Chicken Katsu Onigirazu. Thank you for your kind feedback.
Awesome lunch recipe! From start-finish, it took about 2 hours for everything, but it came out great. I will definitely be experimenting more with onigirazu.
Hi Kristella! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! Really happy to hear it came out well. Hope you have fun making different types of Onigirazu!
Do you use make this with hot rice and hot Katsura or is everything at room temperature?
What I really wanted to know is, if I need to reheat leftover katsu before using it in the onigirazu.
Hi Suko! I usually reheat everything if it’s not freshly made – so I’d reheat both rice and katsu and then make it. That way nori will be wilted and pliable to wrap around. 🙂
Hi i cannot find the dijon mustard and the tonkatsu sauce in my country do you have any sugestions??
Hi Celine! Don’t worry about Dijon mustard, but do make tonkatsu sauce and here’s the recipe: https://www.justonecookbook.com/tonkatsu-sauce-recipe/. 🙂
Hi Nami! Just to check: you use the same Rice as you use for sushi but after steaming the Rice you do not add the sushi vineagar? Just salt? I think this will be my kids going-back to school lunch this monday!
Hi Nienke! Correct. Japanese short grain rice. Just regular steamed rice, NO seasonings (sushi vinegar or salt). Hope your children enjoy this on their back to school day!
If you wrap the onigirazu with a towel to place in the fridge, do you use a dry towel or a damp towel?
Hi S! It’s a dry towel – it’s basically try to create a buffer so cold air doesn’t surround the onigirazu and make the rice cold and hard. 🙂
What happens if I forget to add the salt?
Hi Bell! Don’t worry, it’s not big deal. It’s the classic way to make onigiri with salt being rubbed on your hands before making into mold. It helps preserve the rice/food at room temperature, besides the flavor.
Hi, there is a Korean Market close to where I live.They have almost all the Japanese ingredients.Except short grain Japanese rice.Can I use medium grain/sushi rice instead?The label says all purpose rice.
Hi Ramon! Yeah, you can use medium grain. Korean or Japanese brand work. 🙂