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Musubi
Musubi is a popular Hawaiian snack found all over the Hawaiian islands, at convenient stores and gas stations.
Its origin is Japanese omusubi, which is steamed white rice formed into rice balls and wrapped with nori or seaweed.
There are many versions of musubi, but the most popular ones are Spam musubi.
It’s an all-American invention, with steamed white rice in a block, topped with a slice of Spam and then wrapped with a small piece of nori seaweed.
Musubi Recipe
My son loves musubis and he requested a homemade recipe. It’s very easy to make these quick snacks at home.
All you need are the following ingredients:
- Steamed white rice.
- Spam. I prefer to use low-sodium Spam.
- Japanese toasted seaweed or nori.
- Teriyaki sauce.
You will also need a musubi mold or maker, which you can get from Amazon or from Japanese food stores. It’s less than $10.
How to Make Spam Musubi?
It’s very easy to assemble this wonderful Hawaiian snack once you have the tool.
First, pan fry the ham. On a flat surface, line a sheet of plastic wrap, then add a nori seaweed and place the Musubi mold in the center of the seaweed.
Wet both hands with water, arrange the rice into the musubi maker and press it tight using the presser. Remove the mold from the rice.
Brush some teriyaki sauce on top of the rice and place a piece of spam on top of the rice.
Pull both sides of the seaweed up and seal tight. The spam musubi is now ready to eat.
Cooking Tips
To make the best musubi that doesn’t follow apart, please follow the following tips:
- Use fresh steamed rice because it’s sticky. Do not use overnight or leftover rice in the refrigerator. The rice grains will be too dry.
- Remember to wet your hands with water before assembling.
- To enhance the flavors of the rice, add 2 tablespoons of Japanese rice vinegar into the water. When you dip your hands into the vinegared water, the flavor will transfer to the rice.
- Hawaiian musubis are wrapped with plastic wrap. This makes it easier to enjoy the snack and prevent the rice from falling apart. You may do the same.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Add Egg to Musubi?
Yes, you can add fried egg to musubi. Just make sure that your fried egg or omelette is shaped into a rectangle shape.
How to Make Spam Musubi Sauce?
The easiest sauce to make is teriyaki sauce. It calls for only 3 ingredients: soy sauce, mirin and sugar.
Please check out my recipe for teriyaki sauce. The sauce can be made in advance and keep in the fridge.
Use a pastry brush to brush the sauce on the rice while assembling.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 102 calories per serving.
What to Serve with This Recipe?
Serve this snack with healthy side dishes. For a Hawaiian-style dinner at home, I recommend the following recipes.
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Spam Musubi
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon cooking oil
- 1 can low-sodium spam (cut into 6 slices)
- 2 cups warm steamed white rice (divide into 6 portions)
- 3 sheets toasted seaweed (nori, cut into 2-inch ( 5 cm) wide strips)
- Teriyaki sauce
Instructions
- Heat up a skillet, add the oil, pan-fry the sliced Spam on medium heat until both sides are slightly brow in color. Remove from the skillet, drain the excess oil on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Keep a bowl of water next to you. On a flat surface, line a sheet of plastic wrap, then add a sheet of cut nori seaweed (2 to 3-inch wide). Place the Musubi mold in the center of the seaweed.
- Wet both hands and arrange each portion of the rice into the musubi maker. Make sure all the corners are filled with rice.
- Press down the rice using the presser of the musubi maker. Make sure the rice is tightly packed. While pressing down, remove the rectangle mold from the rice.
- Brush some teriyaki sauce on top of the rice.
- Place a piece of spam on top of the rice.
- Pull both sides of the seaweed up and seal tight. To seal the seaweed, I use a few grains of rice on one end of the seaweed. The sticky rice will make the nori seal together.
- Repeat the same until all the ingredients are used up.
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Love spam!
I love spam musubi and all kinds of musubi. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
Thanks!
This certainly brings me back to many good memories involving Hawaiian gas stations :)
Hi Jessica, yes!
This is a nice dish. This is similar to Japanese sushi, isn’t it? But what to use if we don’t have nori?
Hi Nausheen, yes it’s sort of like sushi but the rice is not seasoned. If you don’t have nori, you can still enjoy it. Just skip the nori part.
Love spam musubi. A couple of years ago I had to travel to Hawaii on business a lot. All of us would meet at the hotel Starbucks in the morning, but I soon found a better option. I’d hit the ABC store (Hawaiian quickie mart) and pick up a cup of good Kona coffee and a spam musubi for less than the price of a regular coffee at Starbucks. Better coffee, and a tasty and filling breakfast, all for less money. Their musubi usually also had a formed scrambled egg in it as well.
Hi Sev, yes, ABC store Spam Musubi is yummy!
When I lived in Hawaii made this all the time. we made it a little different. First used sticky rice, then split a sheet of Nori in half, put rice in bottom of musubi maker and pushed it down, then the spam, then more rice on top. Push the whole thing down , remove maker and wrap in Nori. The Nori covers the whole wrap and has rice on top and bottom. Kids love it……It’s a staple.
Hi Judy, sure, sounds good!
While I can’t even imagine making this as an adult, I can certainly see it’s appeal to kids. I grew up on fried Spam with eggs and fried Spam sandwiches myself, and seeing this recipe makes me a little nostalgic
Yes, I made spam musubi for my son. Not for me!
Question that has social media in an uproar. Is the Spam Musubi Originally from Hawaii using Japanese Influences of the Onigiri “Rice Ball”? Is Spam Musubi Japanese origin?