Korean-Style Tuna-Mayo Rice Balls (Jumeok-Bap)

I made beef rice balls for dinner last night (write-up coming soon). We still had a few left over for dinner tonight, but not enough for a meal. I decided, now that we actually have mayo again, I'd try my hand at these tuna-mayo rice balls. They were delicious!

You can't really get much filling in each one, but I solved that by serving some extra tuna salad on the side. And they weren't as difficult to make as I'd feared. I mean, to be sure, mine weren't perfectly shaped and a few of them did fall apart. But overall, I feel it went pretty well! Especially as a first attempt at it. And the oyster sauce "glaze" really added a nice extra touch. I would definitely make these again.

Korean-Style Tuna-Mayo Rice Balls

From the Aaron & Claire YouTube channel

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. short- or medium-grain white rice (like Calrose or anything labelled "sushi" rice)
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 1/2 tsp. seasoned rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 (170g) tin tuna, drained
• 1 tsp. dehydrated minced onion
• 15-20 grinds black pepper
• 1/4 c. mayo
• 1/2 tsp. prepared wasabi
• 1 tsp. light soy sauce¹
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• a bit (~1 Tbsp.) extra sesame oil (for frying)

Directions

1. Add rice and water to InstantPot, seal, and cook on high pressure for 4-5 minutes (depending on rice variety).
2. Allow a 10-minute natural release, then open the valve and release the remaining pressure.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the tuna: Combine tuna, onion, pepper, mayo, wasabi, and soy sauce and mix well. Set aside until rice is done.
4. Fluff rice and stir in seasoned rice vinegar and sesame oil.
5. Combine corn syrup and oyster sauce and mix well. Set aside.
6. Pour 1-2 tsp. of sesame oil into a pan and heat it over low heat.
7. With wet hands, grab a good-sized handfull of rice (~1/4 c.) and squeeze into a ball.
8. Press your thumb into the centre of the ball to make a large divot and create more of a bowl shape.
9. Place a small amount of tuna (no more than 1-1 1/2 tsp.) into the divot/bowl.
10. Gently work the sides of the bowl up and over the tuna to completely cover it and seal it in.
11. Squeeze the ball again to get everything sealed.
12. Carefully compress it vertically and, using your fingers and thunb as guides form it into a slightly flattened triangle.
13. Brush the top (flat triangular face) with the oyster sauce mixture.
14. Place sauced side down into the preheated pan. Brush the other side (which is now facing up) with more of the oyster sauce mixture. Let it cook while you form the next rice ball.
15. By the time the next rice ball is ready to go in the pan, the first one should be ready to flip. Flip it, add the other rice ball to the pan (make sure both top and bottom get brushed with sauce as before), and let them both cook while you make the next rice ball.
16. By the time the third rice ball is ready to go in the pan, the first one should be ready to come out and the second one should be ready to flip. Remove the first rice ball, flip the second one, and add the third one to the pan, brushing it with sauce on both sides as with the other two.
17. Repeat this procedure until all the rice has been used up. (You will have some tuna left over.)
18. Finish cooking the last couple of rice balls.
19. Serve as is or with condiments of your choosing.

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¹ We were all out of light soy sauce, so I used a 1:1 mix of dark soy sauce and fish sauce instead. This seemed to work reasonably well as a light soy substitute. ^Back