I've tried explaining to people what Spam musubi is, and the only description I can come up with is this: "It's Hawai'ian sushi made with Spam, instead of fish." It's salty and sweet and tasty, oh so tasty. In Hawai'i, you can find it in gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. It's usually lukewarm from sitting out. I guess that the shelf life of Spam is longer than say, a tuna sandwich. This recipe is my take on Spam musubi, but in bowl form. It makes it feel more like a meal, rather than a snack. The sauce is similar to a terriyaki sauce, but slightly sweeter because of the pineapple juice. When I eat this, I want to run across the ocean Forrest-Gump/Jeebus-style to Hawai'i.
Prep time: ~10 minutes
Total cooking time: ~60 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients.
- 1 can Spam cut into 1 inch x 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch pieces
- 1 tbsp cooking oil (peanut or sesame works great)
- 2 cups sushi rice
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup simple syrup (or 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 large chunk of fresh, peeled ginger
- 1/2 cup nor cut into 1 inch x 1/4 inch strips
- (Optional) Green onion cut into 1/4-inch rounds
- (Optional) Soft-boiled eggs
Tools.
- Sharp knife for chopping
- Cutting board
- Wok or pan
- Spoon
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Rice cooker
- Bowl
- Chopsticks
Cooking steps.
- Add cooking oil to wok and heat on medium-high until oil starts to ripple. Add the Spam pieces and cook until Spam is slightly crispy on the outside. Set Spam aside.
- Add the rice and 2 1/2 cups water the rice cooker and start rice cooking. The rice should be ready by the time the sauce is reduced and the Spam has cooked in the sauce a bit.
- Add pineapple juice, soy sauce, mirin, rice wine vinegar, simple syrup (or sugar and water) and ginger chunk to the wok and keep on medium high. Bring to a rolling boil. The goal is to cook down this mixture/sauce until it has reduced by slightly more than half. This will take between 20 to 45 minutes, depending on how hot your stove gets. For example, my stove is more like a warm summer day than the deepest recesses of Hades, so it takes much longer to reduce liquids. While the mixture is reducing, it will get bubbly and look similar to cooking caramel.
- Continue reducing sauce until it has reduced by slightly more than half and remove ginger chunk. Add the Spam to the wok and reduce heat to medium. Cook the Spam in the sauce for approximately 10 minutes or longer (the longer you cook the Spam in the sauce, the crispier it gets). Stir semi-frequently.
- Add a scoop of cooked rice to a bowl. Top rice with nori (to taste). Spoon some of the Spam and sauce over the rice and nori.
- (Optional) Add green onions. The green onions are optional because it is not a flavor in Spam musubi. However, the crisp, brightness of the green onion is a nice complement to the rice, Spam and sauce.
- (Optional) For an extra saturation of awesomeness, add a couple soft-boiled eggs into the bowl.
- Put food in your face.
- Wish you were in Hawai'i, sipping on a Mai Tai under the banyon trees.
< older / top of page / newer >
