If you are keen to try out a snack that tastes really good and is equally nourishing, then you can prepare spam musubi at your home. Spam is very popular in Hawaii and the Hawaiians love to have it in their stews, soups and even in the form of snacks. Spam musubi is made of a slice of spam that is generally grilled or fried and put on top of a block of rice. To complete the dish, Hawaiians put Nori or seaweed right on top of this entire block and wrap it so that all the ingredients stay together in place. This snack is eaten in the form of a sandwich and is easily available at local groceries, shops, supermarkets and various other places in Hawaii. You can either choose to have the regular spam musubi or munch the deluxe spam musubi that also contains furikake (Japanese rice seasoning) and scrambled egg in it. Hereâs a simple way for you to make spam musubi at home.
Complexity Level: Basic
Time Required: 55-60 minutes
Resources Required:
- Five cups of cooked sushi rice (room temperature)
- Five sheets nori (seaweed), cut in half lengthwise
- Six tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 (12 oz.) can spam (you can choose any kind of spam)
- 4 tablespoon mirin
- 4 tablespoon sugar
- Furikake (Japanese rice seasoning) to taste
Instructions:
1. Gathering the Items: The first step towards making spam musubi is to collect all the ingredients and then look for a musubi maker. If you are unable to find a musubi maker then you will have to design or create something that will help you in holding the rice together in place and that will also allow you to pound the rice down.
2. Preparing rice: You will now have to make rice and for this you must follow the same procedure that is required to make sushi rice but remember not to add any flavor to it. To begin with, you will need short grain rice (5 cups), six cups of water and konbu. Now, rinse the rice with the help of a strainer till water runs clear. Put the rice in a saucepan along with six cups of water. Following this, wipe the kombu clean using a damp cloth piece and place it on top of the rice in water. Now, cover rice and allow it to heat over medium heat till the time it starts boiling. Lift the kombu and keep it aside and reduce the flame and cook over low heat till the water gets absorbed completely. Turn off the heat and keep the rice aside.
3. Cutting the seaweed pieces: Now, cut the seaweed into half small pieces and then lay them down (remember to keep the shiny side facing down) and keep the pieces aside for a while.
4. Spam container: You must now open the spam container and before you do that shake the can properly (preferably upside down as it allows the content to stay in place) and then cut the spam into small slices.
5. Frying, baking, boiling or using the mircowave for spam: If you are going to bake or fry the spam then continue to do that till it has turned brown or appears crispy. In case, you want to use the microwave then put the spam for at least one or one and a half minute. Once the spam is properly cooked, you may add a mixture of brown sugar and soy sauce in equal quantities and allow it to soak for a couple of minutes. If you choose to boil then put the spam in a mixture of half portion of soy sauce, sugar and a portion of water for at least five minutes and allow it to boil.
6. Using the mold: Now, place one piece of seaweed in the vertical position on the chopping board. Dampen the musubi mold and then place it right in the middle of the seaweed. Remember not to dampen the mold too much. Scoop the rice into the musubi mold (not all of the rice). You can flatten the mold to check how much rice you would want to have in your musubi. If required, you can also sprinkle furicake on the rice if you want to.
7. Laying spam: Now is the time to lay a piece of spam right on top of the rice and then take another scoop of rice on top of the spam.
8. Using the musubi maker: Dampen the top flat piece of musubi maker and then continue to flatten the entire thing. Now, hold the top flat piece of the maker and gradually slide the entire mold up all around the top piece and off of the musubi. You can take off the flat piece later on, however, be careful about the stickiness of rice while doing that. In the end, fold both the sides of the seaweed and use some water for dabbing on the edge for sealing it. (Remember, the rice you are using should be hot. In case, you are using rice that was lying in the fridge or even standing rice then put it in microwave for few minutes before making it.)
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Do I need sushi rice when making spam musubi?
Yes, you will have to prepare sushi rice. This particular rice is made using white short grain Japanese rice. In order to make sushi rice, you will require three cups of short grain rice, four cups of water, rice vinegar, sugar, salt and konbu. Begin by rinsing the rice using a strainer till you notice the water running clear. Now place the rice in saucepan (medium sized) along with four cups of water. You will now have to wipe the kombu clean using a piece of cloth that is damp and then place it on top of rice in water. Cover the rice and continue to heat over medium heat till it is boiling. Now, remove the kombu and put it aside. You will now have to reduce the flame and cook at low temperature for at least twenty minutes or till the time the water has been completely absorbed. Now, turn the heat off and leave the rice just like that for about ten minutes. Prepare the vinegar dressing while the rice is kept aside for ten minutes. Now, dissolve the salt and sugar.
2. How do I make turkey spam musubi?
You need to cook or heat rice. Heat a pan and put some mirin, soysauce and sugar in equal quantities. When it starts boiling then add some slices of spam with small slices of a couple of onions. Once the spam has turned brown in color, lay down seaweed and then rice, followed by spam and finally put some onion. Finally, give it a shape and wrap it properly.
Quick Tips:
- For storing these snacks, you can wrap them one by one in a plastic wrap and put them in refrigerator.
- Microwave the snacks whenever you wish to have them.
- You must wet the flat piece and the mold every time you plan to use it. This will make your task easier and even the rice will not stick to the mold or flat piece.
Things To Watch Out For:
Do not put the rice in the refrigerator as it has a tendency to get flaky and hard. However, if you are using medium-sized rice grains then you can put them in fridge.
