if filet-o-fish was an onigiri
If my Dad’s favorite Filet-O-Fish burger from McDonald’s was transformed into an Asian fast food menu item..I’d make it into a Japanese onigiri.
This onigiri has the iconic fried white fish fillet, half a slice of American cheese, tartare sauce and even more…
The inspiration
My parent’s favorite fast food burger is the Filet-O-Fish..and I’ve always wondered why.
Maybe it’s the steamed bun, or the fact that there’s seafood inside, or it’s the simplicity of it all.
Either way, I LOVE this burger too. And it got me thinking…what if this was paired with rice instead of bread?
sushi rice!
Making sushi rice at home is super easy! Of course, if you’re not super technical about it. After all, some famous sushi spots in Japan have their staff learning how to make rice for over five years..
To make sushi rice, you start with cooking sushi rice. I prefer cooking my rice in a rice cooking, trust me, it’s so much easier.
Then add some rice vinegar, sugar and salt to get that sushi rice taste.
And that’s it! Super easy 🙂
the fried fish fillet
You can choose to deep fry, shallow fry or air fry the fish fillets.
To make the dredge, all you have to do is dip the fish fillet in plain flour (with some seasonings – see recipe below), then into egg, then coat it in Japanese panko breadcrumbs.
Then fry until it’s golden brown and crispy!!
the packaging design
For the packaging, I used a kraft burger box which surprisingly just fit my massive onigiri haha.
The orange, green and red waves are inspired by the 7-Eleven logo. Did you spot that?
What do you think?
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a small bowl, crack one egg and whisk. Set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together plain flour, salt, black pepper and paprika. Set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, add panko breadcrumbs.
- Pat the fish fillet dry, then dredge in the flour mixture, followed by dipping into the egg, then lastly coating in panko breadcrumbs.
- Fry the fish fillet in vegetable oil at 350F (175C) for ~3 minutes per side, or until golden brown on the outside and fully cooked inside.
- In a bowl, add cooked sushi rice, rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Mix gently until combined.
- Wet your hands fully with water
- Grab half the sushi rice and roll it into a ball. Then flatten it onto the palm of your hand.
- Add in the fried fish fillet, half a slice of cheese, tartare sauce, followed by the salmon sashimi and soy sauce.
- Stack the remaining half of sushi rice on top, and use your hands to shape it into a ball shape. Use your fingers to pinch the edges to form a triangle.
- Wrap the onigiri with toasted nori and enjoy!
