The Perfect Spam Musubi
The great and occasionally frustrating thing about food is that there’s more than one way to make things. This is especially true for this week’s food — the Spam musubi. A quick google image search will show you at least three different ways of making it.
While it requires some cheap tools and specific sauce, this method gives Spam just enough class to change the minds of people that “don’t even like it” (e.g. my roommate).
Ingredients and Materials
Note: 1 can of Spam can make at most 5 servings, one for each cup of rice that you make. I recommend making at least 3 cups of rice.
- 1 Can of Spam
- 3–5 Cups Calrose/Sushi Rice
- 3–5 Sheets of Nori (Dried seaweed)
- Wasabi (optional)
- Salt
- Serrated knife
- Momoya Brand Seaweed Paste
- Sushi Mold (the shape forming kind, not actual mold)
Everything except the last two can be found in your average grocery store. The sushi mold is required to hold the ingredients together and can be found online or at an Asian food store. The Momoya seaweed paste is fairly hard to find online, so you’ll have to go to a store for that one.
Cooking the ingredients
You’ll want to start the rice before everything else — about 30 minutes to 1 hour before depending on how much you’re making. The goal is for it to be finished as soon as the Spam is.
Preheat a large pan on your stove on medium heat. If you’ve got an electric stove, preheat a second burner to medium to toast the nori.
Grab a cutting board and open the can of Spam on it. You’ll need to squeeze the sides and tap the bottom to get it out. Next, we have to cut it. If you plan on making this often, you should buy a spam cutter to make things easier. If you’re using a knife, cut it along the long side into ten even slices that are just a bit thicker than a quarter-inch.
Next, we need to toast the nori. This is done to make it crispy enough to break apart at your teeth. Ever bite into a pizza and have all the cheese and toppings pull off? That’s what we’re trying to avoid with the toasting process.
Leave it on the burner for a second, then flip over until you see veins of lighter color appear. It should feel noticeably stiffer afterwards too.
Throw all the slices of spam into the pan. Tongs or chopsticks work great for flipping them. Fry until they start to look red/browned and crispy, instead of pink and soft. When done, lay the slices on a paper towel and blot out the excess oil.
Putting It All Together
Gather the nori, rice and sushi mold into a clean area. Sheets of nori have a rough side and a smoother, shinier side. Place the nori rough side up and then place the sushi mold on top. If the mold is wider than the nori, try rotating it until it fits completely underneath.
Fill with enough rice to cover the bottom of the mold and spread out evenly using a rice paddle. Press down strongly using the top handle of the mold. Your goal is a flat surface to place the Spam on.
Place two pieces of Spam on the rice and spread the seaweed paste on top evenly. Add wasabi now if you’d like — its heat and flavor balance out the saltiness of the Spam. Add another layer of rice about the same size as the first and compress with the handle.
Carefully remove the mold, pushing down with your index fingers while lifting the mold up. Next, we have to wrap the rice as tightly as we can to make sure it doesn’t fall out. Fold the flap closest to you over while pressing on the rice. Then, fold the farthest flap over while pulling as tightly as you can without squishing the musubi or ripping the nori.
Congratulations! The hardest part is over. Flip the musubi over to let the heat and moisture seal the nori together. Wet the mold before you start the next one to prevent the rice from sticking. Repeat the steps in this section for you next one.
Finishing Up
Once you have your logs of Spam and rice put together, it’s time to cut and plate them. Grab a serrated knife and a glass of water. Dip the knife in the water and shake off any excess. Cut the log in half, then cut the halves diagonally. Dip the knife in water again if you notice it sticking to the rice too much.
That’s it! Place on a plate and arrange in a fancy way for maximum effect. Thanks for reading and I hope that it turned out well.
