Make a Spam Musubi
Spam musubi is a favorite snack in Hawaii. These are popular at beaches, malls and provide a quick bite to eat between work breaks.
Contents
Ingredients
- A pack of seaweed (nori); "sushi nori" can also be used
- Spam
- Rice
- Furikake (optional)
- Soy sauce
Steps
Rice
- Rinse the rice. Rinsing or washing the rice is traditional in preparing Japanese rice, however, you are also washing away nutrients.
- Cook the rice in a rice cooker. A {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} rice cooker will be enough for 10 to 12 spam musubi, depending on how much rice is going to be divided amongst each one.
- Put half an inch of rice on both sides of the spam.
Seaweed and Spam
- Cut seaweed in half. Lay them shiny side down (so that the rough side is to you). Set these aside for now.
- Cut the spam. Open can, remove spam. Cut the spam horizontally into slices.
- Use a sharp knife.
- Cook the spam. Try frying, baking, or boiling the spam. Spam is pre-cooked, so you don't need to cook it long.
- Microwave: Cook approximately 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
- Frying/baking: Cook until it turns brown or crispy.
- Boiling: Boil the spam in 1/2 part soy sauce, 1 part water and sugar or sweetener for approximately 5 minutes.
- Create a "marinade" sauce. Mix equal parts of soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl and allow the cooked spam to soak for a little while.
Assembly
- Place a piece of seaweed vertically on the cutting board. Moisten the musubi mold and place it in the middle of the seaweed. Don't wet it too much, or else the seaweed will be too "gooey."
- Scoop rice into the mold. Add 1/4 inch (0.64 cm) to 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) of rice, depending size of the mold. Flatten the rice.
- Sprinkle furikake on the rice. (Optional).
- Place a piece of spam on top of the rice.
- If you want the spam on top of the musubi, fill the mold with more rice and flatten it hard. Sprinkle with furikake, place the spam slice on it, and wrap with seaweed.
- Scoop rice and place it on top of the spam. Moisten the back of a spoon or the top of a musubi mold to flatten everything down.
- Slide the mold off of the musubi. Holding down the top flat piece, slowly slide the mold up around the top piece and off of the musubi. Take the flat piece off afterwards, being careful of the stickiness of the rice.
- Take both sides of the seaweed and fold it in. This action is very similar as tucking a baby in a blanket. Dab some water on the edge to seal it.
- Serve the musubis hot or warm. Note that the rice has to be hot. If you are using refrigerated rice or standing rice, microwave it for a couple of minutes before making.
Tips
- Wet the mold and flat piece each and every time you use it. This makes your job a lot easier and the rice does not stick to it.
- To store these snacks, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate them. Microwave when you're ready to eat; it's better hot.
- The seaweed can also be cut into thick strips instead of halves. Position the strip vertically, so that the mold is in the middle of the strip.
- If you cannot find any source of getting a musubi maker, create or make something that will hold the rice in place and something that will "pound" the rice down. For instance, you can cut out the top and bottom ends from the spam container. Be careful not to cut yourself on the edges.
- Avoid flavoring the rice; this is not sushi, so don't add any rice vinegar to your rice cooker.
- Try using fish sauce with soy sauce and cooking the same AFTER marinading the spam.
- Try adding cream cheese on your spam for an added flavor.
Warnings
- Depending on the rice, you might not want to put it in the refrigerator because the rice gets hard and flaky. However, you can usually get away with refrigerating medium rice grains. Or, you can learn how to microwave refrigerated rice.
Things You'll Need
- Mold (that holds the "figure" together) or spam container
- Rice cooker
- Cutting board
- Knife
