SPAM Musubi

It's Spam Musubi time!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can of SPAM (whatever flavor you like though original, low sodium or SPAM Lite are the traditional Spam Musubi Standard)
• 3 cups of sushi rice
• Easiest way to sushi rice: sushi type short grain rice (my preferred is Nishiki) cooked in a 3 cup rice cooker.  In a microwave safe vessel, mix together 4 tbsp rice vinegar, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp table salt.  Heat in microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring frequently until sugar and salt dissolve into vinegar.  In a wood or plastic bowl, fold vinegar mix into freshly cooked rice until well combined.  A small standing fan can be positioned in front of you to aid rice cooling.
• Spam Sauce
• Mix together the following:
• 6 tbsp soy sauce/shoyu
• 4 tbsp mirin
• 4 tbsp sugar
• furikake to taste
• nori
• sesame seeds (optional)

You'll also need:

• frying pan
• rice cooker or pot to use on stovetop
• musubi mold
• food safe gloves (optional)
• plastic wrap (optional)
• parchment paper (optional)
• cutting board
• Knife / lunch meat slicer
• Scissors (to cut nori into strips)

Slice spam into 8 slices, fry in a frying pan (you shouldn't need any oil but you can use a light cooking spray if you're paranoid). Remove cooked slices to a paper towel lined plate.

Once all slices are fried, remove from pan and add Spam Sauce mixture. Heat in pan over medium or medium low heat.  Stir with a whisk regularly until sauce thickens slightly, remove from heat.

This can also be thickened in the microwave or in a separate pot on the stovetop.  Reusing the spam pan, however, reduces your overall amount of dishes created).

Return Spam slices to pan and coat them with the sauce.  Discard paper towel and line plate with parchment paper.  (Parchment paper is optional but it helps keep the sauced spam slices separate).
Coat spam slices thoroughly with sauce and move to plate.  Slices should be allowed to cool long enough so that you can handle them safely with clean bare hands (or cleaned hands in food safe gloves)

One day I will photograph our musubi making process and hopefully better demonstrate how to assemble a musubi.  Alas, that day is not today :(

Assemble your musubi!
I like to wrap a cutting board with plastic wrap to assemble my musubi on.  It helps everything be less sticky.

Fill a wide bowl/pie pan/deep plate - should be wide enough to fit your musubi mold - with water and place next to your prep area.

Place your mold on the prepared cutting board and fill LOOSELY with rice.  Using the tamper that can with your mold that thing that looks like a rounded flat square with a handle on the top) to gently smash the rice.  You're trying to force it into a flat squarish shaped piece so don't use TOO much force.  Feel free to add more rice after tamping if you prefer.  Once flattened, sprinkle furikake across the surface of your rice.

Place a saucy slice of spam carefully over the top of your furikake covered rice.  Dip the tamper in your water bowl and shake off the excess.  Use your tamper, again, to push down on the spam.  The spam likely won't stick perfectly to the rice but you want the whole thing to be solid enough so that when you remove the mold, your rice stays in shape!

Once you have smooshed your musubi to your satisfaction, push down gently on the spam with one hand, and remove the mold by gently wiggling and pulling up with the other.  Place mold and tamper in water bowl.

Using DRY hands, take a nori strip and wrap it around the middle of your musubi.  The nori should like a belt running across the thinnest part of the musubi.  Seal nori together on the rice side of your musubi with a touch of water.

Your musubi is done! Enjoy!!

Notes:

• If you'd rather assemble your musubi with spam on the bottom, go ahead! It's easier to lay your nori down on the cutting board BEFORE positioning your mold and spam if you do it this way.  But go ahead and experiment and find what works best for you!
• If you're going to be doing this regularly, you may want to invest in a lunch meat slicer like this one.
• If you don't own a rice cooker, you can prepare the rice on the stovetop with success. However, if you plan on making this regularly, your life will be INFINITELY easier if you invest in a rice cooker. For those worried about "what am I ever going to use this thing for?" you should know that rice cookers can also be used to steam vegetables and prepare quick one pot meals in a pinch.
• If you will be transporting the musubi anywhere, I highly recommend wrapping the musubi individually in plastic wrap.  Not only is this more authentically representative of how they are sold in Hawaii, they are also a bit easier to eat when sealed in plastic wrap.
• You aren't required to use any specific brand of any ingredient but if you don't know what to buy or are looking for guidance, these are the brands that I can 1 - usually find at my local Asian grocer or local grocery store and 2 - I've used many times before with success:
• Hormel Spam Lite
• Nishiki rice
• Kikkoman Soy Sauce (usually low sodium)
• Kikkoman Aji-Mirin.