Pork Bulgogi and Kimchi Onigiri

Name: Pork Bulgogi, Spinach and Kimchi Onigiri
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: ½ green kiwifruit, peeled and roughly chopped; 1 tbsp home-made toasted sesame oil (see separate recipe); 1 tbsp White Mill brown sugar; 2½ tbsp Asia Green Garden soy sauce; 2 tsp Asia Green Garden sriracha hot sauce; 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped; 2 tsp grated ginger; 600g Ironbark pork fillet, trimmed; 2 tbsp Pure Vita canola oil; 200g Imperial Grain sushi rice; 1 tbsp Remano white wine vinegar; 2 tsp White Mill caster sugar; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp home-made toasted sesame oil (see separate recipe); 50g cooked baby spinach, squeezed dry and roughly chopped; 1 tbsp Deli Originals kimchi, chopped; 1 tbsp cooked carrot, roughly chopped; 1 tbsp finely sliced spring onion; 1-4 Urban Eats nori seaweed sheets

How to make Pork Bulgogi and Kimchi Onigiri

Prep Time: 45 minutes, plus marinating | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Serves: 4

Ingredients

Bulgogi marinade:

½ green kiwifruit, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp home-made toasted sesame oil (see separate recipe)
1 tbsp White Mill brown sugar
2½ tbsp Asia Green Garden soy sauce
2 tsp Asia Green Garden sriracha hot sauce
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tsp grated ginger

Pork:

600g Ironbark pork fillet, trimmed
2 tbsp Pure Vita canola oil

Rice:

200g Imperial Grain sushi rice
1 tbsp Remano white wine vinegar
2 tsp White Mill caster sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp home-made toasted sesame oil (see separate recipe)
50g cooked baby spinach, squeezed dry and roughly chopped

Filling:

1 tbsp Deli Originals kimchi, chopped
1 tbsp cooked carrot, roughly chopped
1 tbsp finely sliced spring onion

To assemble:

1-4 Urban Eats nori seaweed sheets

Method

Pork bulgogi:

1. Place the marinade ingredients into a small blender or smoothie maker and whizz until smooth.

2. Cut the pork into very thin slices and place into a bowl. Add the marinade and stir well to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

3. Place half the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and stir-fry half the pork until coloured and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining oil and pork. Set aside to cool.

Filling:

4. Roughly chop 50g of the cooked pork and mix with the kimchi, carrot and spring onion. Set aside.

Rice:

5. Cook and rest the rice according to packet instructions. Meanwhile, mix the vinegar, sugar and salt together until dissolved.

6. Place the warm rice into a mixing bowl, sprinkle in the vinegar mixture, sesame oil and chopped spinach and mix gently, folding to combine evenly.

To assemble:

7. Using slightly wet hands, place about an eighth of the rice in the base of an onigiri mould. Flatten down to make a well in the middle and add about a quarter of the filling. Depending on the size of your mould, you may have some filling left over. Do not overfill or the onigiri will be difficult to form.

8. Place another eighth of the rice on top to enclose the filling as much as possible. Press down on the rice to create a firm triangle. Place the lid on and shake gently to create neat edges. Do not worry too much if a bit of filling shows. Repeat until you have 4 onigiri. Cut a piece of nori into strips and wrap half of one around the base of each onigiri. Alternatively, wrap each one with a whole sheet of nori.

9. Serve as is, or wrap each onigiri well with cling film to serve later.

TIP:

An inexpensive onigiri mould is a life saver and is available from Japanese or Korean grocery or homeware shops. If you don't have one you can form these by hand, but they won't be as tidy. You can completely wrap your hand-formed onigiri in a nori sheet to keep it neat. Leftover bulgogi pork is handy and can be used in stir-fries, noodles, salads or rice dishes. You can customise the filling to suit your tastes. If you're time-poor, pork bulgogi can be swapped out with any leftover chopped protein of your choice.