Vegan Yaki Onigiri aka Japanese Grilled Rice Balls Recipe (with Video)

Rinsing and Cooking the Rice
1. Rinse and cook your rice in a rice cooker or stovetop.
Frying the Vegan Beef
1. Meanwhile, pan fry your vegan beef with a little oil until golden crispy on both sides.
Shaping the Rice Balls
1. When rice is ready, fluff it up with a spatula and let it cool down a little till it won't burn your hands, but do NOT let it cool down completely, start shaping the rice balls while the rice is still warm.
2. Wet your hands to prevent sticking, add about 1/2 cup amount of rice in your palm, press firmly into a ball, then flatten, and poke a dent in the middle.
3. Add vegan beef to the dent, then cover with more rice, press again into a ball, use your thumbs and index fingers to form a triangle shape.
4. Repeat till you use up the rice.
5. Heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat, brush on a little bit of oil, pan-grill the onigiris till golden brown, about 3 - 5 minutes per side. Do not flip too often! Let one side crisp up then flip to fry the other side, too much flipping can cause the onigiri to fall apart.
6. Meanwhile, mix together the soy sauce and sweetener, when both sides of the onigiri are golden brown, brush the sauce on one side, and before you flip the sauced the side down onto the pan, LOWER the heat to low, keep in mind the sauce can burn easily.
7. Flip the side with the sauce onto the pan, grill for about 1 minute to 1 1/2 minute to caramelize, brush sauce onto the other side, flip, grill for another minute or so, remove from heat and transfer onto a plate.
8. Wrap on the nori strips while the onigiris are hot, the heat from the crust will give the nori a nice toasted aroma.
9. Top with some furikake, this is optional but I like the added ocean flavor and extra crunch.
Serving the Onigiris
1. Serve hot or cooled down, enjoy!