Crispy Panko Fried Onigiri with Kimchi and Cheese

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.

I’ve been making onigiri forever, and this crispy panko version shot straight into my rotation. These panko fried onigiri take a plain rice ball, stuff it with kimchi and melty mozzarella, then coat the whole thing in panko and air fry it until it’s golden and crisp all around. You bite in and get crunch, then gooey cheese, then that tangy kimchi hit, all in one go. Dunk it in a little mala KBBQ sauce and it’s basically the perfect handheld snack. If you love kimchi and cheese together, these are calling your name! 🔥

Get Recipe Ingredients

View this reel on Instagram

What Makes These Panko Fried Onigiri So Good

It’s the crunch that makes these. Most onigiri are soft the whole way through, but wrapping a rice ball in panko and air frying it gives you a crisp, golden shell that snaps when you bite in. Underneath that, the mozzarella goes full melty and the kimchi brings this tangy, spicy funk that cuts right through the richness. Crunchy, cheesy, tangy, all at once!

Plus, it’s such an easy flip on a classic. At the end of the day an onigiri is just a ball of rice, so anything that goes well with rice works inside one, and kimchi and cheese are a match made. It’s a cousin of my kimchi fried rice onigiri, but instead of working the kimchi into the rice, here it’s tucked in the middle with the cheese and locked behind a panko crust. Same Korean-Japanese lane, but a totally different texture, and I’m here for both!

Tips for Making Panko Fried Onigiri

None of this is hard, but a few things keep your onigiri from falling apart in the fryer.

1. Season the rice while it’s warm

Mix your rice with the sesame oil and roasted sesame seeds while it’s still warm, since warm rice is stickier and packs into a tight ball way easier than cold rice. That oil also adds a nutty backbone that plays off the kimchi. I like using instant white rice here to keep things fast, but any short-grain rice works.

2. Squeeze the kimchi before it goes in

Chop your kimchi small and give it a good squeeze to wring out the liquid first. Wet kimchi makes everything soggy, and a soggy rice ball won’t hold its shape or crisp up right. Save that kimchi juice for fried rice another day, I never toss mine.

3. Seal the cheese all the way in

Wrap the rice completely around the cheese and kimchi so there are no gaps. Any exposed cheese will leak out and burn onto the fryer basket while it cooks. Cheese in the middle, then compress the whole ball tight so it stays sealed through the breading and frying.

4. Bread it in the classic order

Flour, then egg, then panko, in that order. The flour gives the egg something to grip, the egg glues on the panko, and the panko is what turns into that crispy shell. Press the panko on so it really sticks, and don’t skip the oil spray in the fryer, that’s what gets it golden instead of pale and dusty.

Storage & Leftovers

I think these are best hot and fresh, right when that shell is at its crispiest and the cheese is still molten. If you’ve got leftovers, keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. The panko softens as it sits, so reheat them in the air fryer at 350F for a few minutes to bring back the crunch, not the microwave, which just turns them soft and sad. You can also freeze the breaded, uncooked onigiri and air fry them straight from frozen, adding a few extra minutes.

Equipment

• Air fryer
• Mixing bowls
• 3 shallow bowls, for breading
• Cutting board
• Knife

Ingredients

• 2 instant white rice cups (14 oz cooked rice)
• 1 tbsp Assi Sesame Oil
• 1 tbsp Assi Roasted Sesame Seeds
• 1/4 cup kimchi, chopped
• 1/3 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1 cup Assi Panko
• Vegetable oil, for spraying
• 1/2 sheet Assi Sushi Nori
• Assi Mala KBBQ Dipping Sauce, to taste

Substitutions and Swaps

This one is pretty forgiving, but a few of the pieces are doing real work:

• Kimchi is the soul here, don’t skip it. Its tang and funk are what make these pop, so this isn’t the swap to make. If you truly can’t do kimchi, finely chopped quick-pickled cabbage with a little gochugaru gets you in the neighborhood, but it won’t be the same.
• Mozzarella for the melt. Low-moisture mozzarella gives you that clean cheese pull without leaking. A slice of American or a mild cheddar melts great too. I’d skip anything crumbly like feta, since it won’t give you that stretchy center.
• Panko over regular breadcrumbs. Panko is the move for maximum crunch, its bigger flakes crisp up light and crunchy where fine breadcrumbs go dense. Regular breadcrumbs will work if that’s all you’ve got, just expect a tighter, less craggy crust.
• No air fryer, no problem. You can shallow-fry these in a bit of oil, turning to brown all sides, which is the route I take in my spicy chicken onigiri, or deep-fry for the most even crunch. The air fryer is just the hands-off, less-oil version.
• Swap the dipping sauce. The mala KBBQ sauce brings a numbing, spicy kick, but a drizzle of spicy mayo, gochujang mayo, or even plain soy works if that’s what you’ve got.

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the rice with the Assi Sesame Oil and Assi Roasted Sesame Seeds. Chop the kimchi into small pieces and squeeze out the excess liquid.
2. Take a small handful of rice and flatten it into a disk in your palm. Add a little mozzarella, then kimchi, then more mozzarella. Top with another handful of rice and compress it all into a ball, shaping it into a triangle if you like. Repeat for two more.
3. Set up 3 shallow bowls with the flour, beaten egg, and Assi Panko. Coat each rice ball in flour, then egg, then panko, pressing so it sticks.
4. Place the coated onigiri in the air fryer. Spray with vegetable oil and cook at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes. Flip, spray again, and cook another 10 minutes, until golden brown all around.
5. Optional: cut the Assi Sushi Nori into 1-inch strips, dab a little dipping sauce on one side, and press a strip onto each onigiri so it sticks.
6. Serve with Assi Mala KBBQ Dipping Sauce and enjoy!

Can You Air Fry Onigiri with a Panko Coating?

Yes, and honestly the air fryer is the easiest way to do it. Once your onigiri is breaded in flour, egg, and panko, spray it well with oil and air fry at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes, then flip, spray again, and give it another 10 minutes until it’s golden all over. The hot circulating air crisps the panko on every side evenly, which is the tricky part in a pan, where one face can brown while another stays pale. The oil spray matters, though, since panko needs a little fat to turn crunchy and golden instead of dry and dusty.

What Cheese Works Best Inside Onigiri?

Low-moisture mozzarella is my top pick, because it melts into that long, gooey pull without releasing a ton of water that would make the rice soggy. Fresh mozzarella tastes great but holds a lot of moisture, so pat it dry first if that’s what you’re using. A slice of American cheese is a great shortcut since it melts super smooth, and a mild cheddar works if you want more flavor. The one rule is to keep it fully sealed in the center, so whatever cheese you pick stays molten inside instead of leaking out and burning in the fryer.

What Is Fried Onigiri Called?

A pan-fried or grilled rice ball is traditionally called yaki onigiri, usually brushed with soy sauce and crisped on the outside while staying plain rice throughout (Just One Cookbook has a great breakdown of yaki onigiri). These panko fried onigiri are a different animal, since they’re breaded and fried, which puts them closer to an age onigiri or a rice korokke, where that crunchy panko crust is the whole point. Either way, “fried onigiri” is the umbrella people search for, and this stuffed, breaded, air-fried version is one of the crispiest takes on it.

Look, this is the kind of snack that makes people think you went way harder than you actually did. It’s just a rice ball, some kimchi, and cheese, but that panko crust turns it into something crispy and craveable that vanishes off the plate FAST!

These are perfect for game day, for a snacky lunch, or for finally using up that half jar of kimchi living in your fridge door. And if you want to keep the onigiri train going, my bulgogi onigiri swaps in savory-sweet Korean beef for another easy handheld.

So, would you try these panko fried onigiri? Make a batch, find your favorite dipping sauce, and let me know how they come out in the comments. If they hit, drop a star rating on the recipe card below, it really helps other people find the recipe! 🙌

Print