Spam Musubi
Pau Hana: Sunset Bites & The Pūpū Platter
Spam Musubi is the undisputed king of Hawaiian comfort food. Born out of wartime rationing when fresh fish was heavily restricted, the Japanese-Hawaiian diaspora applied their traditional knowledge of portable onigiri to military-issued canned pork. Today, it’s the ultimate working-class snack, found at every local gas station and beach potluck. For a first-generation American longing for the tastes of a Hawaiian childhood, this is exactly what it tastes like at home. No fancy sushi vinegar, no complex marinades—just the magic of salty rendered meat, sweet shoyu glaze, and a warm, blank canvas of sticky white rice.
Before you start
Prepare the free musubi mold.
You do not need a special acrylic press to make this dish. Thoroughly wash and dry the empty Spam can, then line the inside with a large piece of plastic cling wrap, leaving plenty of overhang.
Whisk the glaze.
In a small bowl, whisk together the shoyu and dark brown sugar until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
Ingredients
- Spam (25% Less Sodium)12 oz
- medium-grain or short-grain white rice2 cup
- roasted nori2 sheet
- shoyu or soy sauce1/4 cup
- dark brown sugar1/4 cup
- furikake seasoning1 tbsp
Method
- 01
Crisp the meat naked.
Place the Spam slices in a large dry skillet over medium-high heat. Fry them without any added oil until they develop a beautiful, crispy golden-brown crust, about 3 minutes per side. Do not add the sauce yet, or the high sugar content will quickly burn.
- 02
Simmer the sticky island glaze.
Turn the heat down to medium-low and pour the shoyu-sugar mixture directly over the meat. It will bubble furiously; let it reduce for 1 to 2 minutes, flipping the slices so they act like sponges, soaking up the dark, sticky, caramelized syrup before removing the pan from the heat.
- 03
Engineer the rice block.
Lay a strip of nori on your cutting board, shiny side down. Place your plastic-lined Spam can directly in the center of the strip, scoop about 1/3 cup of warm rice into the can, and press it down firmly with wet fingers until it forms a tight, flat block. It needs to hold its shape, but don't mash it into a dense paste.
- 04
Assemble and wrap.
Sprinkle a pinch of furikake over the compressed rice, then lay a warm, glazed slice of Spam directly on top. Pull the edges of the plastic wrap upward to lift the perfect block out of the can, set it back on the nori, and fold the seaweed ends tightly over the meat. Seal the seam with a single grain of cooked rice or a dab of water.
Notes
Respect the unseasoned rice.
A common mainlander mistake is treating musubi like sushi and adding vinegar to the rice. Don't do it. The beauty of this dish relies on the intense savory-sweet meat contrasting against pure, plain, unseasoned white rice.
Use Calrose, never long-grain.
Long-grain rice like Jasmine lacks the starch content to stick together. Medium-grain Calrose rice is widely available in mainland supermarkets and is exactly what you need to keep the musubi from crumbling in your hands.
Reviving day-old musubi.
The rice will naturally harden in the refrigerator overnight. To bring it back to life, leave the musubi wrapped in plastic, drape a slightly damp paper towel over it, and microwave for 30 to 45 seconds until the steam restores the sticky texture.
From Cook Hawaiian in America.