Rice Nuggets (AKA Onigiri)

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine tahini, Parmesan cheese, vinegar, soy sauce, and oil in a large bowl. Whisk with a fork to mix. Add rice and toss to coat evenly (rice will be sticky). Set aside for
10 minutes.

Lightly oil your hands and scoop 2 tablespoons of the mixture into the palm of one hand. Place a nut in the center and roll the rice around the nut. Place nugget on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all of the rice mixture has been formed into nuggets. (You can make nuggets one day ahead of time to this point. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. When ready to finish, bring to room temperature and continue with step 4.)

Spread half of the sesame seeds in a shallow dish. Roll nuggets in seeds to cover them completely, adding remaining sesame seeds as required.

Note: We’ve called these tasty bites nuggets, but in Japan, you would be eating onigiri [oh-nee-gee-ree], a rice ball formed around a meat or vegetable filling and shaped into a triangle. Often onigiri are wrapped in nori.

Makes 16 To 20 Nuggets

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons tahini

• 1 tablespoon Vegan Parmesan Cheese

• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar

• 2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari

• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

• 2 cups cooked short-grain brown or black rice

• 16 to 20 walnut halves or 1-inch avocado chunks

• ½ cup white or black sesame seeds

From “The Reducetarian Cookbook: 125 Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Plant-Based Recipes for Omnivores, Vegans, and Everyone In-Between” by Reducetarian Foundation (Center Street, $21.99). Recipe developed by Pat Crocker. Photo by Ashleigh Amoroso.