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Hawaiian Musubi: A Traditional Island Classic

Greetings from Kauai!  This story starts when we were invited to a friend’s home for a Holiday breakfast. There’s a nice tradition on the island that everyone invited for a meal brings a dish or two to share, even if the host tells you not to. We’re bringing musubi, an island favorite. Musubi means something like ‘sandwich’. Out here it refers to a slab of Spam, with sticky rice, wrapped up in typical sushi nori (seaweed wrap).

I know, Spam is gross, whatever. The first time I brought it to a pot luck in Maine, despite Lisa’s protest, people made icky faces and sniffed un-approvingly. Then they tried one. Trust me, these things disappear like minnows in the shark tank; you won’t have to deal with leftovers. For you East coast folks, they’re an easy to make novelty. Musubi is generally sold in convenience stores with a slice of spam the size of a cellphone, almost meal sized. For parties, I like to serve it in bite size wheels, sushi roll style.

You can follow my directions, or there’s a very entertaining instructional video available showing the traditional musubi way, without the Spam: http://www.musubi.org

Ingredients: (makes about 50 wheels, an appetizer for 10-12 people)

• 1 can of Spam

• Sushi Rice, about 2 cups cooked.

• Nori wrap, 12-15 half sheets, about 4 x8 inches.

• Wasabi

• Soy Sauce (here it’s called shoyu)

Method:

Bring rice pot to boil, 1-1/2 cups rice with 2-1/4 cups sushi rice, stir and turn to low heat until all water is absorbed. Stir occasionally to keep the bottom from forming a skin. Slice the Spam loaf lengthwise into four slabs, then again making 16 square sticks. Brown the Spam fingers in a skillet, nice and brown; this leaves a hint of crunchiness which is very satisfying.

You need to roll ‘em while the rice is still warm; the steam cures the dry, crackly nori into a sturdy wrapper. The secret to this whole thing is to keep your fingers free of sticky rice, which will make a mess out of the fragile nori. Keep a bowl of water and a roll of paper towels handy for frequent clean-up.

Place a half sheet on a clean, dry surface. Use a wooden or plastic spoon to scoop rice onto the nori. Use a scoop about the size of two golf balls. Starting at one end, gently spread the rice into an even layer, about ¼ inch thick that covers about one half of the wrapper. Finger paint a stripe of wasabi across the rice layer. Place a Spam stick across the rice and roll it up. The aim is to get the Spam centered in the roll with an even layer of rice around it.

Don’t wrap too tight, the nori will shrink as it cools and dries, it will split like a boiled hot dog if it’s too tight. Place the rolled musubi on a plate with the flap on the bottom, the moisture from the rice will glue the whole thing together in about 10 minutes.

Use your sharpest knife to slice the rolls in half, then in half again to make 4 wheels from each roll. You can trim the ends if you like. Take care not to crowd them on the plate, they can stick together as they cool and ruin your party. Most people like to dip them into soy sauce, with a little wasabi stirred in.

Here are some other Hawaiian Recipes to remind you of the islands:

Kalua Pig: http://singleguychef.blogspot.com/2007/07/no-nonsense-kalua-pig.html

Tuna Poke: http://www.foodfashionista.com/food_fashionista/2008/09/sam-choys-spicy.html

Lomi Lomi Salmon: http://www.fishmaui.com/fish-recipes/lomilomi.html