Made with only a handful of ingredients, these Tuna Mayo Rice Balls make for a great snack or meal. All you need are 5 simple ingredients and a few minutes to roll them together.
I first saw these rice balls on Jihyunkkung’s Youtube channel a year ago and knew I had to make it. It’s very similar to this dish I got at a Korean restaurant (Mapo Gamjatang in North York) where they give you a pair of gloves, a bowl of rice with mayo, and seaweed for you to roll your own balls. However, it never really occurred to me to add canned tuna to the mix.
Over the year, it’s been one of my go-to recipes for when I’m not in the mood to do a lot of cooking. Simply roll all of the ingredients together and voila! You’ve got dinner. Want to be even lazier? Skip the rolling part and just enjoy the rice with everything mixed together. Plus, it’s super budget-friendly as it relies on kitchen staples (it’s $7.99 for this dish, minus the tuna at Mapo!).
Ingredients You’ll Need
- cooked rice — I use sushi rice but in a pinch, you can use jasmine rice in a pinch.
- tuna — I use canned tuna. It’s much more convenient than cooking tuna for this rice ball recipe.
- sesame oil — you can use toasted sesame oil or pure sesame oil.
- mayo — I use Japanese kewpie mayo as it tastes more flavourful.
- seaweed — I love shredded seaweed flakes and they add a nice texture and flavour to the rice balls. You can also tear or shred your own seaweed from the sheets.
How to Make Tuna Mayo Rice Balls
- To a large bowl, add the rice, sesame oil, mayo, tuna, and seaweed.
- Mix until everything is combined. Add more mayo if needed.
- Press down the mixture and use a spatula to “cut” the rice into 8 triangles, like you cut a pizza. Alternatively, you can simply eyeball the amount of rice mixture you use per ball.
- With clean hands or while wearing gloves, roll up each portion into a ball. Serve immediately.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- These rice balls are best eaten immediately. They don’t reheat very well so it’s best not to make too many unless you’re sure you’ll eat them all.
- For more crunch, you can serve these rice balls wrapped in a nori sheet.
- Furikake is a great addition to the rice balls.
- For a fun change, I like to stuff these rice balls into inari age.
- Make sure your rice is warm to hot while you make these.
- For dinner, I love serving these rice balls with something saucy such as these Tteokbokki Inspired Korean Meatballs.
Tuna Mayo Rice Balls
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked sushi rice
- 150 gram canned tuna
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2-3 tbsp Japanese mayo, kewpie
- 1-1½ cup shredded roasted seaweed
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add the rice, sesame oil, mayo, tuna, and seaweed.
- Mix until everything is combined. Add more mayo if needed.
- Press down the mixture and use a spatula to “cut” the rice into 8 triangles, like you cut a pizza. Alternatively, you can simply eyeball the amount of rice mixture you use per ball.
- With clean hands or while wearing gloves, roll up each portion into a ball. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Per Serving
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