Tenmusu (Shrimp Tempura Rice Ball). Crispy battered shrimp flavoured in a sweet tsuyu sauce wrapped in sushi rice and crispy nori. These are so good!
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What is Tenmusu?
Tenmusu is a Shrimp Rice Ball from Japan. It's made of nori-wrapped sushi rice stuffed with shrimp tempura flavored with a sweet and savory sauce. These are served well as a handheld portable snack or as a light meal. You'll find them mainly sold in Japan as street food or at select Japanese restaurants. They're absolutely delicious and the concept is similar to Tuna Onigiri.
I love onigiri but when I found out that you could have a rice ball with shrimp tempura inside, I was blown away and had to make this Japanese recipe myself. I’m excited to share this dish with you because it's not a popular as tuna onigiri. So I’m happy I can introduce it to you!
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Cooked short-grain rice: aka sushi rice or Calrose rice
- Nori sheets
- Salt
- Jumbo Shrimp: get the easy peel deveined kind to make it easier on you! I like using the black tiger breed but use any large jumbo sized shrimp.
- Neutral oil: any flavorless oil like avocado oil, peanut oil, grapeseed oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil or coconut oil due to its heavier scent.
Shrimp Tempura Batter
- Potato starch: or substitute with cornstarch
- Cake flour: must be cake flour not all purpose flour
- Salt
- Cold water
Sauce
- Tsuyu concentrate soup base: store bought
- Cold water
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
How to make Tenmusu
Season hot cooked short-grain rice with ¼ teaspoon salt. Allow this to cool down but keep it covered to prevent the rice from drying out.
In a large bowl, combine shrimp tempura batter ingredients as listed. Add in peeled shrimp into the batter and give it a mix. Set aside.
In small pan filled with 2 inches of vegetable oil, bring to medium heat. Place a wooden chopstick into the oil and when you see bubbles, it’s time to fry.
Carefully lower battered shrimp into the hot oil in small batches. Cook the shrimp on each side for 1 minute until golden brown and crispy.
Remove shrimp from hot oil and transfer to a cooling rack or a paper towel lined plate. Allow the excess oil to drip off to prevent soggy shrimp.
On a clean working surface, rest a ⅓ cup measuring cup. Then lay a large sheet of plastic wrap into the measuring cup. Fill it with seasoned rice until levelled.
Twist the ends of the plastic wrap together to shape it into a triangular ball. Next, poke a deep hole at the top of the triangle with your thumb. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine Tsuyu soup concentrate and cold water to make the sauce. Dip battered shrimp into the sauce.
Insert the seasoned shrimp into the hole of the rice ball. The rice will break apart here which is normal, so cover the ball with the plastic wrap and shape it back into a triangle.
Next, cut a sheet of nori into 4 equal-sized vertical strips with scissors.
Remove the triangle from the plastic wrap and wrap it with a strip of nori. Serve with more Tsuyu sauce as desired and enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
Tenmusu is best enjoyed immediately. Leftover tenmusu will last up to 2-3 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot.
Expert Tips
- Buy easy-peel deveined shrimp to cut down the prep time!
- Season the rice while it's hot. Keep it covered to keep moist.
- Use plastic wrap to help you shape the triangular rice ball.
- Don't worry if the rice ball breaks after inserting the shrimp, you can easily fix this but wrapping the entire ball in plastic wrap again and re-shaping it.
Other recipes you may like!
- Japanese Tuna Onigiri
- Spicy Tuna Onigiri
- Pork Katsu Onigirazu
- Jumeokbap (Korean rice balls)
- Folded Kimbap
- Pork Belly Kimbap
📖 Recipe
Easy & Simple Tenmusu (Shrimp Tempura Rice Ball)
Ingredients
- 2 ⅔ cups cooked short grain rice or 320 ml uncooked rice cooked according to packet instructions
- 2 sheets nori
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 pieces jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 cup vegetable oil or as needed
Shrimp batter:
- 2 tbsp + 2 tsp potato starch or cornstarch
- 2 tbsp + 2 teaspoon cake flour (not all purpose flour)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water cold
Sauce:
- ¼ cup Tsuyu Soup Concentrate store bought
- ¼ cup water cold
Instructions
- Season hot cooked short-grain rice with ¼ teaspoon salt. Allow this to cool down but keep it covered to prevent the rice from drying out.
- In a large bowl, combine shrimp tempura batter ingredients as listed. Add in peeled shrimp into the batter and give it a mix. Set aside.
- In small pan filled with 2 inches of vegetable oil, bring to medium heat. Place a wooden chopstick into the oil and when you see bubbles, it’s time to fry.
- Carefully lower battered shrimp into the hot oil in small batches. Cook the shrimp on each side for 1 minute until golden brown and crispy.
- Remove shrimp from hot oil and transfer to a cooling rack or a paper towel lined plate. Allow the excess oil to drip off to prevent soggy shrimp.
- On a clean working surface, rest a ⅓ cup measuring cup. Then lay a large sheet of plastic wrap into the measuring cup. Fill it with seasoned rice until levelled.
- Twist the ends of the plastic wrap together to shape it into a triangular ball. Next, poke a deep hole at the top of the triangle with your thumb. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine Tsuyu soup concentrate and cold water to make the sauce. Dip battered shrimp into the sauce.
- Insert the seasoned shrimp into the hole of the rice ball. The rice will break apart here which is normal, so cover the ball with the plastic wrap and shape it back into a triangle.
- Next, cut a sheet of nori into 4 equal-sized vertical strips with scissors.
- Remove the triangle from the plastic wrap and wrap it with a strip of nori. Serve with more Tsuyu sauce as desired and enjoy!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
I've never tried making fried shrimp before, but I definitely need to give it a try. Your crispy shrimp look absolutely heavenly!