Sharing is caring

Learn how to make delicious vegetarian kimbap in an onigirazu (rice sandwich) form! This healthy and fun meal is perfect for your lunch box!

vegetarian kimbap onigirazu cut in half to show the fillings

What is Kimbap?

Kimbap is a Korean rice roll with different vegetables and sometimes with different proteins inside. It looks very similar to a sushi roll. You use short-grain rice to make both kimbap and sushi. However, you season sushi rice with vinegar, salt, and sugar. And for kimbap, you season your rice with salt and sesame oil. Also, there is no raw fish in Korean kimbap!

What is Onigirazu?

Onigirazu is a rice ball sandwich wrapped in seaweed paper/nori. Between each rice patty, you can add different fillings such as chicken katsu, eggs, and vegetables.

Ingredients to make vegetarian kimbap onigirazu

Ingredients in vegetarian Kimbap Onigirazu

The ingredients for vegetarian kimbap onigirazu is exactly the same as making kimbap.

I use cooked short-grain sushi rice and seasoned with sesame oil and salt.
Vegetables - I used carrot, cucumber, bulgogi seasoned mushroom, and Korean pickled radish.
Egg - Egg is what makes this onigirazu vegetarian. If you are vegan, feel free to skip the egg and you have yourself a vegan kimbap onigirazu.

How to make Kimbap Onigirazu

Place a seaweed paper on top of a surface, rough side up and shiny side down.
Add about ⅓ cup of seasoned rice in the middle of seaweed paper.
Then, add the fillings on top of the rice.
Finally, place about another ⅓ cup of seasoned rice on top of all the fillings.

How to fold onigirazu

Bring the side corners of nori toward the center.
Then, gently fold the top and bottom corners of nori toward the center while holding on to the layers. To secure each corner, you can use a couple of grain of cooked rice on seaweed paper/nori. Cooked rice will act as glue.
Flip your onigirazu over so the folded sides will face down. By using a plastic wrap, gently but tightly wrap your onigirazu. This step will ensure your onigirazu will stay in shape.
When you are ready to eat your onigirazu, cut it in half, and remove the plastic wrap to enjoy.

How to eat kimbap onigirazu

Onigirazu is best to enjoy right away. But if you have some leftover, you can wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and store them in the fridge for a couple of days. When you are ready to eat them, heat them up in the microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute until the rice is no longer hard. At this point, the seaweed paper/nori might be soggy. What I do is to unwrap the plastic wrap from the onigirazu and wrap the onigirazu one more time with a fresh piece of nori. So the re-heated version of onigirazu will have two wrappings of nori but I find this is the best method to enjoy.

Did you enjoy this recipe?

If you enjoy this recipe, I'm sure you will love these recipes as well!

two vegetarian kimbap onigirazu cut in half and placed on a white plate

How to make vegetarian Kimbap Onigirazu

kimbap onigirazu cut in half to show the inside

Print Recipe

★★★★

4 from 2 reviews

Learn how to make delicious vegetarian kimbap in an onigirazu (rice sandwich) form! This healthy and fun meal is perfect for your lunch box!

Author: George
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 8 onigirazu 1x
Category: Main course
Method: Assemble
Cuisine: Korean inspired
Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Scale

6 cups cooked short-grain rice/sushi rice
2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 tablespoon Mirin (optional) (see NOTE)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
2 carrots, cut into thin match sticks
3 king oyster mushroom, cut into thin match sticks (you can use any mushroom)
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (you can use regular soy sauce)
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of black pepper
½ English cucumber, thinly sliced
Salt to taste
6 ounces of Korean pickled radish, cut into thin disks (optional) (see NOTE)
8 seaweed papers/Nori sheets

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

For the rice

In a large bowl, mix together cooked rice, sesame seed oil, and 1 teaspoon salt until everything is well mixed.
Let the rice cool to room temperature.

For the fillings

In a medium-size bowl, whisk the eggs, Mirin, and ¼ teaspoon of salt together until everything is well mixed.
Cut the English cucumber into thin slices. Sprinkle some salt over This will draw water out of the cucumber and season the cucumber.
Heat ½ tablespoon of oil on a large non-stick pan. Add the egg mixture and swirl it around so the egg mixture will cover the bottom of the pan.
Turn the heat down to medium-low and continue to cook the egg until the edge is cooked. Carefully flip the egg over and cook the other side for a couple more minutes. Take the egg out of the pan and cut it into strips. Set aside.
On the same pan, heat the rest of the oil and cook the carrot for a couple of minutes. Once the carrot is vibrant in color take them out and set them aside.
Thinly slice the Korean pickled radish and set aside.
By using a paper towel dab the cucumber so it can absorb the water.

For making onigirazu

Place the seaweed paper diagonally and the rough side up on the board.
Place about ⅓ cup of seasoned rice in the middle.
Place all the toppings on top of the rice carefully
Add another ⅓ cup of rice on top of the fillings.
Fold each side of the seaweed paper towards the center.
Fold the top and bottom corners of the seaweed paper towards the center while gently holding on to the layers.
Place your wrapped onigirazu folded side down. To secure and shape them further, wrap the onigirazu again with plastic wrap and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
Repeat until you use up the rest of the ingredients. You will make about 8 onigirazu.
Cut them in half and serve right away.

Notes

Adding mirin to the egg mixture makes the egg softer and slightly sweet. However, this is optional. If you don't have Mirin at home, omit this ingredient.
Korean pickled radish may be a difficult ingredient to find. It has a distinctive taste (sweet and sour). This is one of the main ingredients in making kimbap but if you can't find it, you may skip this ingredient.
This is best to enjoy right away. If you have leftover, read the section above about How to eat kimbap onigirazu.
If you are vegan, omit egg to make this recipe vegan.

Keywords: vegetarian kimbap onigirazu, kimbap onigirazu, korean rice ball sandwich, onigirazu, kimbap