Vegan Bunny Elle

Give your leftover rice a makeover and turn it into these crispy rice sushi cups! They are quite literally little flavor and protein bombs.

Do you ever have leftover rice that you don’t know what to do with, but at the same time feel bad about wasting it? I think we all do… Especially when I order Chinese food deliveries, the restaurants always send a lot of those takeout paper cartons full of rice that we can’t finish.

So here’s a super fun way to use them up! This crispy rice cup idea was inspired by an iconic Nobo dish – their crispy rice squares topped with salmon or tuna tartare. But instead of fishies, I used tofu, which is equally high in protein and has a similar tender, silky texture!

To season the tofu mixture, I highly recommend using a vegan fish sauce to bring that oceanic flavor without the actual fish. My favorite is from a Thai brand called Chef’s Choice. If you can’t find a vegan fish sauce you like, worry not, I will include an alternative in the recipe below.

Crispy Rice Sushi Cup

Turn your leftover rice into these flavor & protein bombs!

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Ingredients Equipment Method Video Notes

Ingredients

  

• *makes 9 sushi cups
• 2 1/2 cup leftover white rice short grain, not long grain
• 10 oz extra firm tofu
• 1 scallion chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon vegan fish sauce see notes
• 1 tablespoon storebought vegan mayo or homemade silken tofu mayo see notes
• 1/2 tablespoon sriracha sauce
• Sesame seeds for garnish optional
• Avocado oil spray

Equipment

• Cupcake pan

Method

 

1. Spray your cupcake pan with oil, fill each cup cavity loosely with rice;
2. Oil the outside of a 1/4 cup measuring cup, press into each cup cavity to shape the rice cups;
3. Pop the cupcake pan into the freezer for 20 minutes;
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F, if your oven has an air fryer function, use that, otherwise use convection baking;
5. Once the rice is done freezing, bake/air fry for 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown, the time and temperature might vary based on your oven, please monitor and adjust as needed;
6. Meanwhile, cut the tofu into small cubes, toss with the vegan fish sauce, mayo, and sriracha;
7. When the rice cups are finished baking, let them cool down before taking them out of the mold;
8. Fill each rice cup with the tofu mixture, top with sesame seeds, chopped scallion greens, and more vegan mayo and sriracha to your taste, enjoy!

Video

Notes

If you can’t find any vegan fish sauce you like, you can substitute with regular soy sauce or tamari sauce, then add 2 tablespoons of finely shredded crispy seaweed for the oceanic flavor.

You can of course use any store-bought mayo you like, or, follow this recipe to make your own!