Spam Musubi

In Hawaii, Spam musubi, a tradition of Japanese onigiri,  is a very popular snack   Spam musubi is composed of a block of rice, be it jasmine or sushi rice,  with a slice of grilled spam(luncheon meat can be used, then the snack will be called Luncheon Musubi) on top and nori (seaweed) wrapping to hold it together. There are no fast rules to making this yummy snack except for the 3 main ingredients, cooked rice, Spam and Nori.  The sauce is of your own choice and if you are like me, i like mine naked - meaning 'no sauce' cos i find that the Spam is flavorful enough, in fact too salty.  A musubi mould would be good to have but until i visit Hawaii to get one, i will have to continue to make my musubi with a homemade improvised mould - an empty small can of Spam with both ends removed and a thick cardboard cut to the size of the can, covered with several layers of aluminium foil to be used as a press. A word of caution, the edges of the bottom of spam can is very sharp, so neaten sharp edges and use with caution.   I love making spam musubi for breakfast cos it is fast to make.  You know - asian household -  i always have leftover cooked rice and i will just heat it up in the microwave.  I even use the microwave to brown my slices of Spam - no washing of pans.  Yes, in a jiffy you can assemble and a sumptous breakfast/snack can be served.

Ingredients:

5 cups cooked sushi rice/jasmine rice, room temperature
5 sheets nori, cut in half lengthwise
1 (12 oz.) can Spam
Furikake(optional), to taste

Sauce:
6 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp sugar






Method:Cut Spam into 10 slices. Fry until slightly crispy. Remove and drain on plate lined with paper towels.

To make the sauce, in another pan, combine soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to low. Add Spam slices, coating them in the mixture. When mixture has thickened, remove Spam from pan.

To assemble, lay a sheet of nori lengthwise on a clean surface. Moisten lower half of musubi mould and place on lower third of nori. Fill musubi mould with rice and press rics flat until the rice is 3/4-inch high(this height is desirable but it does not matter, if you have put in more rice, then the height will be taller -  no rocket science). Sprinkle rice with furikake if using. Top with slice of Spam. Remove musubi mould with the press still on top of Spam,  keep in a bowl of warm water to keep it clean and moist.



Starting at the end towards you, remove the press and  fold nori over Spam and rice stack, and keep rolling until completely wrapped in the nori. Slightly dampen the end of the nori to seal it.

Repeat with the other nine Spam slices, making sure to rinse off musubi maker after each use to prevent it from getting too sticky.