Taking a break from my Studio Ghibli recipe series to get back into sharing some of my regular favorite recipes again! As we push into summer, I want to share some of my favorite summer dishes.
And today I am sharing my FAVORITE recipe for SPAM MUSUBI!
What is Spam Musubi?
Spam Musubi is a popular snack food in Hawaii that is made up of rice and spam and formed into a really easy-to-eat handheld dish, similar to onigiri (rice ball). They’re easy to make and are great for a quick lunch or a potluck or party!
A lot of Hawaiian cuisine is a mix of traditional Hawaiian flavors, Japanese/Chinese/other Asian cuisines, and American cuisine – which I love. Spam Musubi stems from the Japanese onigiri or omusubi, which is a rice ball. Except it includes one of Hawaii’s national treasures: SPAM. I wish I could properly convey how much Hawaiians love spam.
I have been extremely lucky to grow up and live in an area with a decent Hawaiian and Japanese American population. Which means I grew up eating some really good spam musubi. This recipe, however, is one of my favorites!
The recipe is actually my roommate Disa’s. You’ve seen me rave about them on my Instagram and so many of you asked how to make it for so long – I finally got permission from Disa to share the recipe with you! (Thank you Disa!)
Do I need a musubi mold?
While you can make spam musubi without the mold, it’s SIGNIFICANTLY easier to do so with a mold. With the amount of musubi we make, it’s been completely worth it to buy an inexpensive mold. I’ve linked the mold we use below in the “Shop this post” section or you can find it in my Tools.
I’ve seen people use the spam can to shape their musubi or just by hand but it is definitely easiest and fastest to use a mold.
Spam Musubi / スパムむすび
Equipment
- musubi mold
Ingredients
- 1 can spam
- 2 sheets roasted nori (seaweed)
- 3 cups short or medium grain rice (Japanese rice) cooked
Sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup oyster sauce
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
Instructions
- Cut spam into slices at preferred thickness (aim for about 8 slices out of a can).
- In a nonstick pan over medium heat, fry the spam slices until thoroughly cooked and slightly crispy.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
- Place hot spam sliced into the bowl and allow the heat from the spam to fully dissolve the sugar.* Let sit for a bit. (*see note a)
- Toast nori lightly over your range or a flame and cut into strips (each strip should be slightly thinner than the length of a piece of spam).
- Place a piece of nori on a cutting board and put the musubi mold in the center of the seaweed.
- Take a slice of spam from the bowl and lightly tap off the excess sauce. Place the slice in the mold and scoop rice on top. Place as much rice as preferred but make sure it's not so much that you won't be able to wrap the seaweed.
- Take a spoon and drizzle a little bit of sauce onto the rice. This will help add more flavor to the rice as well as help to keep the rice from sticking to the mold.
- Firmly press down on all the layers with the mold lid so the rice will hold its shape.
- Hold down on the lid of the musubi mold and pull the square portion of the mold up. Remove the lid.
- Fold the ends of the nori until the layers are fully wrapped. Place the side of the musubi with the seaweed ends facedown on a plate and allow heat and moisture from the rice and sauce to keep the seaweed in place.
- Continue until all spam slices are used up. Use the leftover sauce for dipping.
- Serve immediately or save for later at cool room temperature. Don't leave it in the fridge as the rice will become hard.
Notes
Shared with permission by Sylvia Wakana (http://sylviawakana.com)
Shop this post:
Japanese Short Grain Koshihikari Rice (Shirakiku)
California-grown Medium Grain Japanese Rice
Spam Musubi Mold
Nori (Dry Seaweed) / のり
Spam
Oyster Sauce
Soy Sauce / 醬油
Shop more items in my Pantry, my Tools, or my Amazon shop.
*Links and products on this page may be affiliate links. There is no extra cost and it allows me to keep creating free content for you!
