Plate 08 of 10

Spam Musubi

Name: Spam Musubi
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 8 musubi
Cuisine: Hawaii
Ingredients: 340 g Classic Spam, cut into 8 equal slabs; 45 ml Japanese shoyu; 30 ml Mirin; 30 g Granulated sugar; 400 g Calrose medium-grain rice; 480 ml Water, for the rice; 15 ml Rice vinegar; 20 g Furikake; 4 sheets Roasted sushi nori, each cut lengthwise into 2 strips; 10 ml Neutral oil

The island's handheld fuel, from surf contests to every convenience store on Oahu. Calrose rice cooked and seasoned with a little rice vinegar, slabs of Spam fried crisp and glazed in shoyu, mirin and sugar until the syrup clings, pressed onto a block of rice dusted with furikake in a musubi mould, and wrapped in a band of nori.

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 15 min
Serves: 8 musubi
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

Eight Spam musubi on a plate, each a block of white rice topped with a glazed brown slice of Spam and wrapped in a band of dark nori.

Spam came to the islands with the Second World War, when civilian shipping was cut off and military rations flooded the Pacific. The mainland saw emergency food; Hawaii saw salty, shelf-stable savouriness and kept it.

The musubi is credited to Barbara Funamura of Kauai in the early 1980s, who crossed the Japanese onigiri with the local canned meat: seasoned rice pressed in a mould, a slab of Spam glazed in sweet shoyu, and a band of toasted nori. It is sold at school cafeterias, surf contests and every 7-Eleven on Oahu.

Ingredients

340 gClassic Spam, cut into 8 equal slabs
45 mlJapanese shoyu
30 mlMirin
30 gGranulated sugar
400 gCalrose medium-grain rice
480 mlWater, for the rice
15 mlRice vinegar
20 gFurikake
4 sheetsRoasted sushi nori, each cut lengthwise into 2 strips
10 mlNeutral oil

Medium-grain or nothing

Calrose is about 80 percent amylopectin, the branched starch that turns sticky when steamed and holds a pressed block together. Long-grain rice crumbles the moment you bite.

The glaze is the glue

Fried in a dry pan the Spam browns and renders. Shoyu, mirin and sugar poured over it boil down into a caramel that sticks to the meat and then to the rice.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the cured pork, shoyu and nori. Fat is rendered Spam fat on clean rice. Acid is a touch of rice vinegar in the rice. There is no heat. Umami is cured pork, shoyu, nori and furikake.

Equipment

Rice cooker or lidded saucepan
12-inch non-stick skillet
Musubi press mould, or a cleaned Spam can lined with plastic wrap
Tongs

The mould is an acrylic press the size of the can. The can itself, lined with plastic wrap, works the same way. Dip the mould in water so the rice does not stick.

Method

Cook the rice30 min
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Cook with the 480 ml water until tender, rest 10 minutes, then fold in the rice vinegar with a damp paddle.
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Cook with the 480 ml water until tender, rest 10 minutes, then fold in the rice vinegar with a damp paddle.
Slice the Spam2 min
Turn the block out and cut crosswise into 8 slices about 8 mm thick.
Turn the block out and cut crosswise into 8 slices about 8 mm thick.
Mix the glaze1 min
Whisk the shoyu, mirin and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
Whisk the shoyu, mirin and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
Fry6 min
Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high and fry the slices 2 to 3 minutes a side until browned and crisp at the edges.
Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high and fry the slices 2 to 3 minutes a side until browned and crisp at the edges.
Glaze2 min
Pour the glaze over the sizzling slices, lower to medium, and turn them 1 to 2 minutes until it thickens to a glossy syrup that coats each one.
Pour the glaze over the sizzling slices, lower to medium, and turn them 1 to 2 minutes until it thickens to a glossy syrup that coats each one.
Set the mould1 min
Lay a nori strip rough side up on the board and set the mould across its centre.
Lay a nori strip rough side up on the board and set the mould across its centre.
Press the rice2 min
Wet the mould and press. Add about half a cup of warm rice and press firmly into an even 2.5 cm block.
Wet the mould and press. Add about half a cup of warm rice and press firmly into an even 2.5 cm block.
Top and wrap2 min
Dust the rice with half a teaspoon of furikake and lay a glazed slice on top. Press down on the Spam while lifting the frame off. Fold one side of the nori over, then the other, sealing with a drop of water.
Sprinkle rice with ½ teaspoon furikake; top with one glazed Spam slice. Press Spam down while lifting the mould. Fold each nori end over the top and seal with a drop of water.
Repeat10 min
Make the other seven. Wrap each in plastic while warm if it is going to the beach or a lunchbox.
Make the other seven. Wrap each in plastic while warm if it is going to the beach or a lunchbox.
10
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a compact block of white rice speckled with furikake under a glossy bronze Spam slab, banded in dark nori.
- Auditory: a loud sizzle as the Spam lands, bubbling as the glaze reduces, a crackle as the nori wraps.
- Olfactory: sweet teriyaki, caramelised pork, toasted sesame, seaweed.
Check for compact rice blocks under glossy bronze Spam, wrapped in dark nori. Expect frying sizzles, glaze bubbles and nori crackle, with sweet teriyaki, caramelised pork, sesame and seaweed aromas.

Troubleshooting

The block falls apart.: Long-grain rice, or a light press. Calrose, pressed firmly.
Burnt glaze.: Poured into a screaming pan. Sear first, drop to medium, then glaze.
Loose rice.: Press harder and evenly; the base has to be compact.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Classic Spam	Spam Tocino or Teriyaki, or a thick-sliced plant-based luncheon meat	Keeps the rectangle and the caramelised bite
Calrose rice	Koshihikari sushi rice, or sticky steamed short-grain brown rice	High amylopectin holds the block
Furikake	Toasted black and white sesame with crushed nori and sea salt	The nutty, seaweed crunch

Scaling

Half

Four musubi from half a can and 200 g rice, fried in an 8-inch pan.

Double

Sixteen from two cans; fry in two batches.

What to serve it with

Chilled papaya, pineapple and mango
Unsweetened iced green tea or barley tea
A passion-orange drink, the convenience-store pairing

Questions

Low-sodium Spam?

Yes; many home cooks prefer it because the glaze adds salt. The method is unchanged.

No mould?

Line the empty can with plastic wrap, press the rice in, add furikake and Spam, and lift the wrap to unmould.

Crisp nori or soft?

Fresh, it shatters. Wrapped in plastic for lunch, it softens. Both are loved.