A Quick Tasty Appetizer

photos taken by my phone... pretty good, huh?

I had a holiday party to go to this weekend and wanted to take an appetizer/dessert. The rain pretty much made my decision because I didn't really want to make too many trips to the market and I just wanted to make something quick.

I'm sorry there aren't any measurements but it all depends on how much you want to make, your preference of spiciness... etc.

Ingredients
Rice (Korean/Japanese rice, like sushi rice)
Tuna (Canned/Sushi Grade,)
단무지 (Pickled Radish, also called 다꽝)
ふりかけ (Furikake, I use the one with laver and sesame seeds only)
Sriracha/Rooster sauce (I recently found out that this is named after a city in Thailand)
Kewpie Mayonnaise (the Japanese mayo, or you can just use regular)
Sesame Oil
Perilla Leaves (깻잎-- Don't use the Japanese ones, they're completely different)

After cooking rice, allow to cool. You can spread the rice out on a plate to allow faster cooling time. Sometimes, I cook the rice earlier in the day and cook this dish later when the rice is completely cooled.


Canned Tuna:
Drain the canned tuna. It's really important to drain all the water from the canned tuna or you'll get really soggy tuna. Then mix with mayo and sriracha to your liking.

Sushi Grade Tuna:
Chop the sushi grade tuna into small cubes (like spicy tuna). Mix with sriracha.

(I also added a small amount of sesame oil to the tuna for taste and also to mix a bit easier.)

Coarse chop the radish in to cubes and pulse a few times in a food processor. They make this radish in different colors. Red, yellow, and without color. Don't be put off by the unnatural alien-esque neon yellow color. It still tastes good! I promise.


Wash and dry the the perilla leaves and spread out on a plate or serving dish.

By this time, hopefully the rice will be somewhat cooled. Add sesame oil and mix together. If you add too much, the rice won't stick together anymore. With your hands, roll a small amount of rice into a ball and place onto the perilla leaf. Top with the tuna mixture followed by the minced radish and then the furikake.

This is a horrible picture, but you get the point.
It's really yummy and really easy to make. I promise! =)

p.s. I love how I have sesame seeds, sesame oil, sesame leaves... I find it really fun. I dunno.
p.p.s Apparently perilla leaves and sesame seeds come from different plants... hm.