Rice ball recipes your kids will love: Tuna Mayo Rice Ball! Tuna Mayo is easily one of the favorite types of rice balls for kids.
What are onigiri?
Onigiri are Japanese rice balls. They are most commonly thought of to be triangular in shape, but can come in many different shapes. Onigiri are always made from steamed Japanese rice and oftentimes combined with different ingredients. This portable food is one of the most popular in Japan among adults both and children and can be found in convenience stores to specialty artisan onigiri shops and in pretty much every household.
Onigiri are very easy and quick to make and completely customizable to your tastes!

Tuna Mayo Onigiri
Tuna Mayo is one of the most popular flavors or onigiri. Typically the tuna and mayo mixture is contained on the inside of the rice and oftentimes has seaweed wrapped around the exterior. Its slightly creamy, full of umami, but also very simple.
It utilizes canned tuna, which usually makes this recipe very popular among kids, even picky ones.
How to shape the onigiri
There are many ways to shape onigiri. You can use just your hands (make sure they are wet), a mold, or in plastic wrap. You can make them shaped into a triangle, ball, cylinder, or pretty much any shape you would like!

Why Kewpie mayo?
Kewpie is the most popular brand of Japanese mayo. While you can use any type of mayo you would like, if you want as close to the flavor of a typical Japanese onigiri, I recommend getting Kewpie mayo. It is tangier, more flavorful, and creamier than typical American mayo. And in a recipe that you can really taste the mayo (like a Tuna Mayo Onigiri), I think it makes a difference.

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Tuna Mayo Rice Ball / ツナマヨおにぎり
Ingredients
- 2 rice cooker cups Japanese rice cooked
- 1 can tuna in water
- 2 tbsp kewpie mayonnaise or mayo of choice
Instructions
- Cook Japanese rice.
- In a bowl, combine tuna and mayo.
- Place some rice (in your hand, in a mold, or on plastic wrap), add some tuna mayo, place more rice on top, and mold into desired shape.
- And done!
Shop this post:
Rice Ball (Onigiri) Mold
Tiger JPW Rice Cooker
Japanese Short Grain Koshihikari Rice (Shirakiku)
California-grown Medium Grain Japanese Rice
Nori (Dry Seaweed) / のり
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