Spam Musubi
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons soy sauce
- 2tablespoons light brown sugar
- ½teaspooon mirin (optional)
- 1 to 2teaspoons neutral oil, like canola or vegetable
- 1(12-ounce) can Spam, cut horizontally into 8 slices
- 3sheets roasted sushi nori, cut into thirds crosswise
- 2teaspoons furikake
- 5 to 6cups cooked short-grain white rice
Preparation
- Step 1
In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce, sugar and mirin (if using). Set aside.
- Step 2
Lightly coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and heat over medium. Fry the Spam slices until evenly browned and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Turn off the heat. Working quickly to avoid burning, add the soy mixture and turn the Spam slices until evenly coated in glaze. Immediately transfer the Spam slices and glaze to a plate.
- Step 3
To mold the musubi, start by placing a strip of nori, rough side up, on a cutting board or clean work surface. Place a Spam musubi maker mold over it, in the middle, then place a slice of Spam into the mold. (If you don’t have a mold, you can line a clean Spam can with plastic wrap instead, and place a slice of Spam at the bottom.) Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon furikake over the Spam, then fill the mold or can with a generous mound of rice. Press the rice firmly with the musubi maker press or with your hands until it is ¾- to 1-inch thick, adding more rice as needed.
- Step 4
Use the press to hold the rice down with one hand and pull the mold upward to unmold the musubi with your other hand. (If you’re using the Spam can, gently lift the Spam and rice out of the can by gently pulling on both sides of the plastic wrap.) Wrap the nori around the Spam-rice stack, bringing both ends of the strip to the middle, folding one over the other, and flipping it over so the seam is down and the Spam is facing up. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately or wrap with plastic wrap to take with you on the go.
Private Notes
Comments
My in-laws from Hawai'i taught me how to make Spam musubi and it is one of my guilty pleasures. To avoid the guilt, don't read the Spam nutrition info. Two helpful hints--yes, use sticky rice, keep it warm as you make the musubi (this helps the nori mold to the rice), and run a wet finger along the nori bottom seam line before you press the seam together --this keeps the nori seam from breaking open. When the guilt hits too hard, I make Spam-less musubi using tofu instead. It'll do. Sometimes.
You no have Rice Cooker Brah?
This recipe is definitely lacking an important step. It needs to have the rice seasoned. About 2 T. Rice vinegar, 1 t. sugar, and salt to taste for a cup of uncooked rice. Remember the salt in the spam and soy sauce is also there. You'll be glad you did.
Made this for a party Labor Day weekend. We couldn’t believe how quickly they went. I don’t know how authentic it is, but people were into it. Did some with tofu as well, which people also liked. A couple of folks preferred them.
I’ve lived in Hawai’i all my life and have eaten many Spam musubis. This is a musubi and should not have seasoned rice. It is different from sushi rice which needs to be seasoned.
Recently bought a Spam masubi from locals on the north shore of Oahu. Should be equal thickness rice and Spam. Plain short grain Japanese rice, almost fully wrapped with nori, don’t skimp on the nori and make sure it’s fresh and toasted. For a special treat add scrambled, cooled down egg. And that’s all for adding on if you want it authentic.