Delicious Teriyaki Salmon Onigirazu with grilled asparagus sandwiched between steamed rice and wrapped in nori seaweed. It‘s a great quick lunch or snack idea!
My Teriyaki Salmon recipe is one of the most popular recipes on my blog. I’ve received nice compliments from many readers since I published the recipe in 2013 (thank you♥).
Today I want to suggest an easy recipe that you can make with teriyaki salmon. Whether it’s leftover pieces or an extra fillet you made, this Teriyaki Salmon Onigirazu (照り焼きサーモンおにぎらず) is great for your work/school lunch the next day!
What is Onigirazu?
Onigirazu is a rice ball (onigiri or omusubi in Japanese) that is not formed into the traditional round or triangle shape. It is usually a square or rectangular shape. You “sandwich” the fillings with steamed rice just like how you would make a sandwich with 2 pieces of bread.
Unlike traditional ongiri or omusubi, you can put more fillings inside onigirazu than traditional rice balls as the shape is square. You can also spread the fillings just like how you lay them out for a sandwich.
You wrap the rice sandwich with a sheet of nori and cut it in half to serve or pack in your lunch box.
If you want to learn more about onigirazu and its origin/history, please read this post.
Onigirazu Mold
Many of you have asked me about my wooden onigirazu mold. This beautiful mold was a gift from Mark, a JOC reader from Oregon. He handcrafted this mold with Port Orford cedar and there is not a single nail used in this mold! For those of you who are interested in this mold, check out his Etsy page!
Authentic Teriyaki Salmon Recipe
Today’s filling for the onigirazu is Teriyaki Salmon (照り焼きサーモン). My recipe is different from the majority of “teriyaki salmon” recipes you find on the web.
Most (non-Japanese) salmon teriyaki recipes you find will require oven baking, but you can make my recipe with simple pan frying. My method is definitely not unique; it’s simply how the typical home cooks prepare teriyaki salmon in Japan. You’ll need just 15 minutes to prepare this recipe and I hope you will give it a try if you haven’t.
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Teriyaki Salmon Onigirazu
Ingredients
- 1 sheet nori (dried laver seaweed)
- 1 cup cooked Japanese short-grain rice (warm)
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 fillet teriyaki salmon
- 8 stalks grilled asparagus
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Reheat the ingredients (for food safety).
- For one onigirazu, place a sheet of plastic wrap on a work surface. Put 1 sheet nori (dried laver seaweed) on top with the shiny side down. Rotate the sheet 45 degrees so a corner points up. I’m using an onigirazu mold to create the perfect shape.
- Divide 1 cup cooked Japanese short-grain rice into 2 portions. In the center of the nori sheet, evenly spread a thin layer of one portion of rice in a square/rectangular shape. Sprinkle with ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. We add salt to prevent the food from spoiling as we eat onigiri, onigirazu, and bento at room temperature, and typically without refrigeration.
- Place 1 fillet teriyaki salmon and 8 stalks grilled asparagus on top. When you add the filling, consider how you will cut the onigirazu later. You want to arrange the filling so it looks delicious when the ingredients are revealed.
- Place a thin layer of another portion of steamed rice on top, maintaining the same square/rectangular shape. If you have an onigirazu mold, moisten the “lid” before you press down so the rice does not stick to it. Place the lid on top and press gently.
- Pull up the mold carefully while pressing down on the lid. If you‘re not using a mold, make sure to stack the ingredients nicely.
- Bring the left and right corners of the nori sheet towards the center. Fold gently but tightly to wrap around the rice and filling 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 your onigirazu is a square shape, you can mark the onigirazu with a rice kernel so you will remember which way you wanted to cut.
- Wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside for 5 minutes with the nori’s seam side down.
- Cut the onigirazu with a sharp knife. Run your knife blade under running water before cutting so that the cross-section will be clean.
To Store
- If you plan to make this the previous night, wrap the onigirazu with a thick kitchen towel and keep it in the refrigerator overnight. The towel will prevent the rice from getting hard due to the cold temperature. Consume the onigirazu within 24 hours.
I made these today using my new onigirazu mold that I purchased from Mark. They were so fun to make and so easy to make and eat! We really enjoyed the salmon preparation. It was so much tastier than baked salmon. I like the way the flour makes the sauce cling to the fish. Delicious! I can’t wait to try the different filling ideas that you have posted for onigirazu. I encourage you to share more onigirazu “recipes”. Thanks!
Hi Christine, Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for the lovely review! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the Teriyaki Salmon version! We hope you also enjoy other Onigirazu recipes with your new Onigirazu Mold soon!😃 https://www.justonecookbook.com/#search/q=onigirazu
GUYS PLEASE HELP … I am about to buy nori from e-shop but can’t make up my mind which one. In recipes is allways stated just sheet of nori seaweed but what kind ??? Roasted ? Seasoned ? In my shop are also nori for sushi, which one I should go for ? thanks
Hi Vladis, Seasoned Nori is normally used for making Onigiri, and Roasted Nori (unseasoned) is for Sushi. You can use either one for making this Onigirazu. It just your preference. We hope this helps!
Thank you for quick response, it sure did help ! just one more questions I have if you don’t mind, is there a real difference between roasted/seasoned and the ones my shop describes as “sushi nori” ?
Hi Vladis, You are welcome! The “Sushi nori” is usually not seasoned with extra sugar, soy sauce, etc. If you look at the ingredient list on each package, you will see a long list for the seasoned Nori. You can also taste the difference when you make sushi or onigiri etc. We hope this helps!
great recipe! I had a question about the plastic wrap. I do not use this in my home and wondered if there was an alternative way to keep the nori from unfolding.
Hi Lorena!
No problem! Parchment paper or Sushi Roller – Bamboo Rolling Mat (Makisu) may work.
Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
I’ve got a leftover piece of your butter salmon and some asparagus. It will be smaller, but I’m making it in a Spam musubi mold since that’s the only one I have. It uses a half sheet of nori. All the ingredients can be cold and it sticks together well.
Hi Suzy! Hope you enjoy(ed) the recipe! 🙂 Sounds so delicious!
Dear Nami,
I made onigirazu few times before, but this is first time when I saw onigirazu mold, and must to say – amazing idea (well, now it is obvious to use mold, haha 😀 ) I tottaly must try it!
Best wishes!
Thank you Ariel! Have fun making Onigirazu at home! 🙂
Hi Nami,
is there any other trick to shape the onigirazu if we dont have the square mold?
Thanks,
Julie
Hi Julie! I made this diagram before… do you think this is helpful? I hope so. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/bulgogi-onigirazu/
I made teriyaki salmon and intentionally made extra for this recipe. I placed them in the fridge to use a couple days later. Do I have to warm up the fillings again before making the onigirazo? Or do I placed them cold right out of the fridge? そのまま？
Hi Kessia! I would heat up the salmon before adding to warm rice for Onigirazu (for food safety). Remember rice needs to be warm. Hope you enjoy!
Dear Nami,
is there a way to keep nori sheets a little bit crispy after onigirazu has been wrapped in them? My problem is they get really soggy after half an hour. I’d love to take onigirazu as a work lunch but they tend to fall apart, or taste not that good as those eaten straight after I prepare them.
Hi Janka! The nori gets wilted from warm rice. You “can” use room temperature rice so that nori will be crispy. The only problem is that it’s hard to wrap into square… Sushi roll is easier to roll with nori when the sushi rice is at room temperature, but Onigirazu is square and you have to fold the corners… so that’s why we use warmer rice. Onirigazu or onigiri that already has nori attached to rice tends to have same texture and that’s kind of the way it is. You know, even the sushi roll that has been sitting there has same texture – the nori gets soggy. It’s kind of nature of nori. Sorry I wish I have a better suggestion, but I don’t know how we can make it crispy or non-soggy… Maybe one way to do is to use plastic wrap as nori, and then right before you eat, you wrap with fresh nori? It can be messy with broken pieces of crisp nori pieces when you fold, but at least it’s crisp? The fall-apart can be fixed by wrapping tightly. Probably it was loose. Don’t squish too tight, but still you can make it more packed without damaging the rice texture. 🙂 Hope this helps a little…. sorry I couldn’t give you a straight answer.
Hello! Thanks for your reply 🙂 I guess I might have been using too warm rice then. Next time I’ll try to cool it down a bit before wrapping it into nori. Thanks for that advise! I also thought about wrapping rice with filling into clingy wrap, but I feared it might fall apart on the way to work. Anyway, I’ll try slightly cooler rice as I don’t mind soft nori (I love the scent nori starts to release when it’s becoming moisturised by rice, oh dear my mouth waters on the memory of that scent!) but what I got was a sheet of nori not being able to hold onigirazi together because it was so soggy.
Cheers and keep on doing great work with your blog!
Thank you for your response, Janka! Hahahaha, my mouth waters all the time when I see pictures of food…. LOL. Good luck with your next Onigirazu! 🙂 Thanks again!
I like Teriyaki Salmon Onigirazu. It is a perfect choice for lunch as it is not too big.
Hi Amy! Yes, it’s great size and portable… and I really like the whole meal in one idea. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
that mold is really a good idea! I think I’m going to try making one for myself although most-likely not as good as that.. Thanks for the recipe too 😀
Hi Roy! It is a very good idea, and I like that it’s made of wood. I can see my kids (one of my kids) take this mold when they get older and hopefully next generation too! 😀 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I love the look of the salmon against the asparagus! The trick with the towel to keep the rice soft in the fridge is I will definitely try because I have always struggled with whether to re-heat rice (along with everything else, which makes it less optimal).
Hi Kimmi! I use the towel trick whenever I need to refrigerate rice (freezer keeps the rice fresh, but can’t freeze sushi rolls and Onigiri). 🙂 I usually keep the rice out for sometime so it goes back to the room temp before I eat. 🙂
Delightfully simple and appetizing recipe especially with my love of salmon. And tho’ having a mold would be nice, I can think of a number of dishes in my kitchen which would happily suffice !!
Hi Eha! Onigirazu is so fun as we can be very creative, and doesn’t have to be traditional (and more fillings can be inside!). 🙂
素敵なおにぎらずですね！And how cool to have such a beautiful mold for it.
どうもありがとう、Miss J! Yes, this mold is so beautiful AND useful and I love it very much! 🙂