Look away, Francophiles.
Move over crookies, croissant cubes, flat croissants and cronuts, another croissant creation is taking over. The cronigiri is a new hybrid pastry that melds savoury Japanese rice onigiri and France’s once-elegant croissant, and its viral status is only going up.
The onigiri-like triangle-shaped croissant invention is filled with all manner of savoury inventions, taking a new direction from the cloying renditions of croissant corruptions before it.
According to some reports, the cronigiri was first seen at Le Levain Bakery in Singapore. The bakery unveiled its triangle-shaped croissants, filled with combinations of Sicilian pistachio cream, scallion sour cream, Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp and decorated on one side with a thin slice of nori, in late 2023. And since then the pastry has found cult status, copied as far-afield as Vancouver, New York and even Sydney.
There is at least one previous inventor. In December 2019, years before Le Levain launched its hugely popular creation, a chef, “dough whisperer” and YouTuber called Aston Adiwijaya posted his tuna onigiri croissant on Instagram. His triangular form is crusted on three sides with black and white sesame seeds, a piece of nori wrapped on the lower side like its onigiri muse. “My latest original creation, inspired by the shape of onigiri … filled with tuna roasted sesame mayo,” he says in the caption.
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It’s been ten years since pastry chef Dominique Ansel broke with centuries of European tradition by deep-frying croissant dough, filling it and frosting it like a jam doughnut and calling it a cronut. Now the cronigiri – or onigiri croissant or oniossant as it is also called – has brought new fame to the French original.
In Sydney, Darlinghurst’s newly renovated Tenacious Bakehouse is a vibrant and eclectic bakery turning out the likes of “Jinius”, or croissants filled with raisins, caramelised white chocolate and almond marzipan, and “Takoyaki croissant”, filled with octopus salad and topped with bonito flakes. There’s a Korean inspired “Dak-Galbi” croissant topped with stir-fried spicy chicken and vegetables.
It’s no surprise to also find the cultural mashup that is the onigiri croissant on display at Tenacious Bakehouse. Baker and owner Jin Park says the flavours will change regularly, and most recently three offerings included a tuna mayo version, one filled with spicy chicken curry and another with taco wasabi were on high rotation. “Koreans eat something similar to onigiri called samgak kimbap, which also inspired what I do. But the onigiri is more famous.” He attributes the pastry’s success to his customers’ curiosity and the power of social media. These are familiar flavours but with more texture, there is creaminess and crunch, he says.
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“It has a super-crispy outside, and it’s light and soft inside. We use sourdough pastry, so we can enjoy the croissant onigiri as a lunch or something savoury,” says Park. “I try to listen to my customers and make their dreams. One customer tried our onigiri croissant on the road while driving. After his first taste turned around and came back to buy more.”
In New York, Cafe W created an onigiri-shaped pastry for their customers using their croissant dough in a triangle shape and stuffed with Japanese-inspired fillings. The cafe offers two savoury fillings: a mayo and pollack roe and a chive bacon cream cheese.
The onigiri croissant’s founder Adiwijaya more recently posted on Instagram a “croissant gehu cabe garam”. The square- shaped or cuboid croissant is filled with a mix of chilli mayo, sauteed and smashed tofu, bean sprouts and chilli and is decorated with sesame seeds on four of its six sides. The baker says it’s inspired by his local food gehu pedas, an Indonesian deep-fried and stuffed spicy tofu.
If we can crystal ball the croissant’s future, perhaps this chilli-tofu cuboid creation will be the next big thing.
Related article: Japanese chain brings cult-favourite ‘soupless ramen’ to Sydney
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