'I Made This Crispy Rice Copycat Appetizer From Nobu Using a Mini Waffle Maker and Saved $30'
Make the sushi waffle dupe at home using a $7 waffle maker.
By now, it should come as no surprise that most TikTok food trends, although typically weird, are also typically delicious. And it’s even better when one comes along that tastes just as good as the original but also saves you a pretty penny. If you’re part of the cool crowd, you may have already shelled out the $30 for Nobu’s famous Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice appetizer which is one of the most popular (if not the most popular) menu items at the swanky see-and-be-seen hotspot.
But believe it or not, using a $7 waffle maker and some simple ingredients from your local Asian market can get you a nearly identical app on your dinner table in less time than it’ll take for you to grab your car from the valet.
Ahead, we reveal the easy hacks behind the sushi waffle rice trend.
What is the Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice Appetizer at Nobu?
Nobu’s Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice goes for around $32 at most of Nobu’s locations including Los Angles, NYC and Dallas. The dish is fairly simple—six crisp skewers of white rice with a dish of ponzu sauce and a side of tuna tartare. The app is served DIY-style at the restaurant: dip the rice cube, top it with the tartare and pop it in your mouth. Six skewers don’t go a long way and at $5 each, the tab can add up quickly.
Related: 16 Restaurant Copycat Recipes You Can Make Yourself
How To Make a Dupe Version of the Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice
Instead of the crispy, pillowy cubes of rice from Nobu, TikTokkers are turning to a simple small appliance to get their rice crispy for this recipe dupe—their mini waffle maker. So I grabbed a $7 mini waffle maker from Marshalls and then headed to my local Asian market for the rest of the ingredients. For about $15 (tuna was the most expensive ingredient), I was able to make eight mini waffles with a generous portion of tuna on each and plenty of ingredients left over for more rice waffles and sauce.
Courtesy Jessica Wrubel
Following the recipe by TikTokker Alexa Santos (@alexawhatsfordinner), I first cooked the sushi rice and added in the rice vinegar, sesame oil, mirin and salt. I then marinated the tuna cubes with more rice vinegar, soy sauce (I used tamari) and sriracha. After spraying down the mini waffle maker, I packed it with my seasoned rice and waited. And waited. It took more than a few minutes for it to get crispy enough that it would come out of the waffle maker in one piece. I added a dab of wasabi into the tiny crevices of the rice waffle and topped it with the marinated tuna mixture. I then added sliced scallions and diced cucumber before the requisite artistic zigzag of sriracha and Kewpie finished with crumbled nori and white sesame seeds.
Related: 11 Home-Made Sushi and Sashimi Recipes
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Tips and Tricks for Success
The most challenging part of the recipe is finding super fresh tuna. If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, an Asian market, Whole Foods or a seafood market should have it. Make sure to ask if it’s sushi- or sashimi-grade and trust your nose: Fresh tuna that you’re consuming raw should be bright in color, firm to the touch and shouldn’t smell fishy or off in any way. If you have a rice cooker, use it as it’ll make cooking the main ingredient in this appetizer a snap. Finally, make sure you coat that waffle maker with plenty of cooking spray so you don’t end up with a seasoned rice hot mess on your hands.
Related: So You're Craving Sushi—Here Are the Healthiest and Unhealthiest Items On the Menu
Courtesy Jessica Wrubel
Alternative Versions of the Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice Appetizer
TikTokkers are coming up with alternative versions of this recipe now, from a simple salmon swap that Santos came up with, to swapping one crispy carb for another and using Trader Joe’s frozen hashbrowns instead of the rice waffle (genius, right?). If you want to stay true to the original and don’t mind a bit of a mess, you can always follow a recipe for frying your rice cubes.
Related: Is It Safe to Eat Sushi?
Salmon Instead of Tuna
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Hashbrowns Instead of Rice
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Pan-Fried Rice Cubes Instead of the Waffle
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My Honest Review of the Copycat Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice Appetizer
Like most of the TikTok food trends, I was dubious about this. I wasn’t sure that cooking rice in a waffle maker would work, but I am a true convert now (what else can I put in there?). It was super easy to whip up (and clean up), required practically zero actual cooking and would be a fantastic, impressive appetizer to serve at a dinner party (or, let’s be real, a fancy mid-week lunch for one).
The chunks of fresh pink tuna took to the salty marinade well and paired nicely on top with the crispy slab of seasoned rice. The cucumber and sesame seeds added another level of crunch and the sriracha, of course, gave every bite a slightly spicy punch. I loved the elevated feel of the whole thing.
Next time, I’ll amp this up even more with sliced avocado, tobiko or even a drizzle of chili crisp. While the presentation is indeed different than the Nobu version, I would argue that this is even easier since you’re not dealing with a hot pan full of oily rice cubes. That’s the only real difference aside from the tuna being a tartare in the original version as opposed to cubed. The sauce and toppings are nearly identical to the Nobu version. This recipe is incredibly versatile so use your creativity in the kitchen to make it your own and get ready to impress those dinner guests.
Next: 75 Easy Rice Recipes
