Cook: Spam Musubis
I’ve made over 1000 spam musubis in my life and I am very, very excited to share this recipe. Mostly so that you all can make them on your own and stop asking me to bring them to parties. JUST KIDDING! Seriously though, no potluck, holiday meal or big family gathering is complete without these bite-sized, delicious snacks. Before you think, “ew - spam is gross”, ask yourself if you’ve eaten a hot dog. Trust me, hot dogs have a much longer list of ingredients. Spam is made of only 6 ingredients: pork shoulder, water, potato starch, sugar, sodium nitrate (a common preservative) and salt. I’m all about debunking myths of foods so more to come on that later, MSG I’m talking to you!
The most interesting part of spam is its history. It became popular in Hawaii during WWII because the US banned deep sea fishing (as an unfair sanction) which was how Japanese immigrants made their livings. Spam and sardines (canned goods) were used to replace fish as many of the immigrants were close to starvation. Years later, Japanese-Americans created the spam musubi. It involves lightly marinating and frying the spam in teriyaki sauce, and pairing it with rice (gohan) and nori (seaweed).
Now, spam has lost most of its stigma, and even shows up on gourmet restaurant dining menus. I like to add special ingredients for a variety of flavors. Here’s to hoping that everyone around the world enjoys spam as much as I do.
The first thing you want to do is make your rice ahead of time. Click here to find my recipe on cooking perfect rice. The rice should be room temperature or cooler when you make these, or else the nori gets soggy.
Gather your ingredients before you start. You’ll need a spam musubi maker, you can find these at your local Asian market or online. You’ll also need nori and spam to make it the traditional way. If you don’t have teriyaki marinade, just make your own by adding sugar to shoyu (soy sauce). Anything else like eggs, furikake, togarashi, kimchi or green chilies are considered extra credit. You’ll need some kind of citrus fruit as well, lime or oranges work best.
Total Time: 1 hour for 4 rolls
Ingredients (for 4 rolls - that can be cut into 4 or 8 pieces)
2-3 cups of cooked rice
1 packet of sushi nori (you’ll use 4 sheets)
1 can of Spam
1 cup of teriyaki sauce or soy sauce mixed with 1 tbsp of sugar
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
Pinch of salt
Lime or orange for cutting (if you slide your knife through the citrus, the rice and seaweed won’t stick once you’re cutting the rolls up)
Extras: egg, kimchi, seasoned green chiles, togarashi, furikake (rice sprinkles)
Directions:
Cut each block of spam into 8 pieces lengthwise. One can will make 4 large rolls that you can cut into either 4 or 8 pieces. Marinate your spam in teriyaki sauce (this only needs to be for 5-10 minutes). Heat a pan to medium heat - fry the slices until they turned nice, dark and crispy.
Before you start making the rolls, add some rice wine vinegar and salt to your rice. It should taste sweet but still savory.
Take your musubi maker and place the nori on a cutting board shiny side down with the lines running perpendicular to the sushi mold (the fold lines of the nori should run vertically). Line the inside of the maker with a thin layer of water with your fingers. Add about an inch high layer of rice, and use the topper to smash it down. (Wet that before too to avoid the rice sticking).
Now the fun part! After you smush your first layer of rice, add in 2 slices of spam and any other toppings your heart desires. I like to add tamago/egg (made in a Japanese square pan for easy shaping) and shoyu marinated green chilies. Stick one more layer of rice on and smash. All of the ingredients should reach about 3/4 of the way to the top of the mold.
Remove the mold and you are ready to fold. Bring up the sides and seal with a little bit of water.
When you are ready to cut, stick your knife through the lime or orange. This will prevent the rice and nori from sticking to your knife.
If for whatever reason you’re still not 100% on using spam, you can always use eggs as the base or even add cucumbers or avocado for a more vegetarian friendly musubi.
I was asked to cater a corporate event so Elliott helped me make around 500 pieces!