SPAM Musubi
When I was little my dad used to make SPAM and eggs for lunch on the weekend.
I didn’t know what SPAM was. I just remember seeing a rectangular piece of meat on my plate. It was salty, kinda rubbery and for awhile I just ate it because it was on my plate.
Then I found my voice one day and I told my dad that SPAM was weird (since he wouldn’t tell me what kind of meat it was) and that I didn’t want to eat it anymore. He just laughed, and that was the end of SPAM.
It wasn’t until college that I decided to befriend SPAM once again.
While vacationing in Hawaii, some of my friends bought SPAM musubi (rice ball) at a fast food Hawaiian restaurant and I was peer-pressured into buying one for myself when I announced that I didn’t like SPAM. “WHAT? You don’t like SPAM?!? How can you say you don’t like SPAM if you’ve never tried a SPAM musubi?”
Ohhhh-K. So I tried it, and thought it was weird at first, but also surprisingly tasty!
I’d run into SPAM Musubi occasionally at a potluck in college, or sometimes my roommate would make it and I’d enjoy a few of them, but I never had the courage to make them until my early 20’s. (Not really sure why – I think I was still suffering from “SPAM aversion.”)
But I got serious.
I bought a SPAM musubi-maker at Marukai and learned how to make ’em.
My girlfriend N adds layers of furikake in between her SPAM musubi and it’s absolutely delicious. Until I discovered this little secret, I just made it with rice and SPAM – – – boring in hindsight.
Today I made myself SPAM musubi for lunch. Woo-hoo! What an indulgence since I don’t make this very often. (Not the healthiest thing but I do use SPAM Lite.)
Also, big onechan is coming over after school and although she thinks that she wants strawberry pie for her snack today, she will probably have SPAM musubi. :)
SPAM Musubi
- 1 can SPAM Lite
- Nori Komi Furikake rice seasoning
- 3 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 to 4 cups rice
- Sushi nori (seaweed)
1. Cook rice and let cool to warm or room temperature.
2. Mix shoyu and sugar until sugar is mostly dissolved.
3. Slice SPAM into 10 slices. We like ours thick.
4. Heat a large pan over medium heat and lay SPAM on pan side-by-side. Pour about 1 tablespoon shoyu mixture onto each slice of SPAM and spread to cover the entire slice. Pour a little bit of the mixture into the pan. Let cook for about 4 minutes on each side or until desired “burntness”. I usually cook them until they are brown and crisp, just before they turn black.
When you flip the SPAM slices over, pour a little bit more of the shoyu mixture over each slice.
After the SPAM is cooked, let cool to room temperature.
5. Cut sushi nori in half,lengthwise. WET the musubi-maker with water (both pieces: the box piece and the lid piece).
6. Lay a large piece of plastic wrap over a cutting board, lay a piece of seaweed down then place the musubi-maker at the top edge of the seaweed. Anytime I work with anything rice-based, I always use plastic wrap. It prevents the rice from sticking everywhere and really makes the whole process more pleasant and less frustrating. :)
7. Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of rice in the bottom of the musubi-maker. I use only a little bit of rice because I don’t like it to be too “ricey.” Sprinkle a layer of the furikake over the rice. I use the furikake generously as it adds good flavor to the SPAM musubi.
8. Lay a piece of SPAM into the musubi-maker, and sprinkle another layer of furikake over the meat.
9. Add another layer of rice on top of the furikake. Make sure the “lid” piece of the musubi-maker is WET and put on top of the rice, inside the “box” piece of the musubi-maker. Then press the lid through the box, while sliding the box upwards, essentially pushing the musubi out of the bottom of the musubi-maker. Gently lift the lid of the musubi-maker.
10. Fold the seaweed over the musubi and tuck under the bottom. To seal it, I line the edge of the seaweed with water and press it to “glue” it down. TADA!!!! You are done! Well, almost.
11. To make the next one, you must wash off all the rice and seaweed residue from both pieces of the musubi-maker for the next musubi to be “clean-looking” and so that you won’t get frustrated with the sticky rice. I just rinse with warm water.
While the musubi’s are typically sold in one long rectangular piece, I tend to cut them in half when serving them at home or for parties. For a clean-cut, use a very sharp knife and WET the blade with water before slicing. Wash knife before cutting the next one.
SPAM musubi make great snacks on the go. Just wrap each rectangular musubi with wax paper. Their easy to eat this way and don’t make a mess in your hands. I used to make these for my brother for his fishing trips and now I send these to school with big onechan for lunch.
It may seem like a lot of work making each individual SPAM musubi, but trust me, it’s totally worth it, and your family and friends will enjoy it.
Aloha,
bebe mama
- 1 can SPAM Lite
- Nori Komi Furikake rice seasoning
- 3 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 to 4 cups rice
- Sushi nori (seaweed)
- Cook rice and let cool to warm or room temperature.
- Mix shoyu and sugar until sugar is mostly dissolved.
- Slice SPAM into 8 or 9 slices.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat and lay SPAM on pan side-by-side. Pour about 1 tablespoon shoyu mixture onto each slice of SPAM and spread to cover the entire slice. Pour a little bit of the mixture into the pan. Let cook for about 4 minutes on each side or until desired "burntness". I usually cook them until they are brown and crisp, just before they turn black.
- When you flip the SPAM slices over, pour a little bit more of the shoyu mixture over each slice.
- After the SPAM is cooked, let cool to room temperature.
- Cut sushi nori in half,lengthwise. WET the musubi-maker with water (both pieces: the box piece and the lid piece).
- Lay a large piece of plastic wrap over a cutting board, lay a piece of seaweed down then place the musubi-maker at the top edge of the seaweed.
- Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of rice in the bottom of the musubi-maker. I use only a little bit of rice because I don't like it to be too "ricey."
- Sprinkle a layer of the furikake over the rice. I use the furikake generously as it adds good flavor to the SPAM musubi.
- Lay a piece of SPAM into the musubi-maker, and sprinkle another layer of furikake over the meat.
- Add another layer of rice on top of the furikake. Make sure the "lid" piece of the musubi-maker is WET and put on top of the rice, inside the "box" piece of the musubi-maker.
- Then press the lid through the box, while sliding the box upwards, essentially pushing the musubi out of the bottom of the musubi-maker.
- Gently peel-off the lid of the musubi-maker.
- Fold the seaweed over the musubi and tuck under the bottom. To seal it, I line the edge of the seaweed with water and press it to "glue" it down.
- To make the next SPAM musubi, you must wash off all the rice and seaweed residue from both pieces of the musubi-maker for the next musubi to be "clean-looking" and so that you won't get frustrated with the sticky rice. I just rinse with warm water.
- While the musubi's are typically sold in one long rectangular piece, I tend to cut them in half when serving them at home or for parties. For a clean-cut, use a very sharp knife and WET, and clean the blade with warm water before slicing. Repeat before cutting each one: wash and clean knife.
