Teriyaki Spam Musubi is a local favorite from Hawaii they are so popular you could find them in every convenience store on the island. It’s commonly enjoyed as an on-the-go snack that can be easily transported, as they’re individually wrapped.
Spam musubi is an easy snack or lunch made with rice topped with fried slices of rich & salty canned spam pan-fried until golden, then glazed in a simple teriyaki-style musubi sauce and wrapped in nori seaweed. It’s ready in only 10 minutes and requires just a few ingredients – spam, cooked rice, and nori. The ingredients are pretty easily available in all supermarkets, except for the musubi maker. Thankfully, the tin that holds the spam could be doubled up as a mould as well. Whew! Such a genius 😉
For me this Teriyaki Spam Musubi is a perfect low-effort snack or lunch treat for a beach day, game day, potluck, or picnic that the whole family can enjoy!
What is Spam Musubi?
Musubi, also known as onigiri or omusubi, is a Japanese rice ball with a deliciously rich history. Traditionally it’s a triangular-shaped handheld comfort food made with steamed rice and fillings wrapped in nori seaweed.
Spam musubi is Hawaii’s take on this Japanese food made with local-style ingredients. Barbara Funamaura, a Japanese-American woman living in Hawaii, is credited with inventing Hawaiian spam musubi around the 1940s. Her creation took the beloved Japanese rice ball and used spam, a canned mixture of ground pork and ham, as the musubi filling, but there are endless variations of meat that can be substituted for Spam. We also love to add teriyaki sauce to our Spam musubi for extra rich flavor.
Today, spam musubi is one of the many dishes that reflect the unique blend of cultures on the Hawaiian islands and is an iconic local Hawaiian food as well as Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken.
What You’ll Need
- Spam – Spam is a surprisingly delicious and flavorful meat. You can use less sodium if you want lighter and slightly healthier without sacrificing flavor.
- Rice – Japanese short grain rice is best for musubi because it is both sticky and fluffy enough to retain its shape.
- Mirin – For the salty-sweet umami flavor.
- Furikake – is a Japanese seaweed seasoning consisting of dried nori, sesame seeds, and salt. Sprinkling furikake on the musubi adds a new flavorful dimension.
- Sugar – Adds sweetness.
Teriyaki Sauce
- Soy sauce – Soy sauce or Shoyu in japanese is an essential condiment in Japanese cooking and adds a rich umami flavor to the teriyaki sauce.
- Mirin – Mirin is a Japanese sweet rice wine that adds umami flavor and is the base of many Japanese sauces.
- Sugar – Adds sweetness to the sauce.
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Teriyaki Spam Musubi
Description
Spam musubi is a rice topped with fried slices of rich & salty canned spam pan-fried until golden, then glazed in a simple teriyaki-style musubi sauce and wrapped in nori seaweed.
Ingredients
For Teriyaki Sauce
Instructions
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Prepare and cut 2 nori sheets into 8 strips.
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Combine mirin and sugar. Stir until sugar melts. Add the mixture to the cooked rice, mix until well combined. Sprinkle with furikake seasoning, set aside.
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Cut spam into 8 slices. Heat oil to the pan and cook spam 3- 5 minutes or until golden brown.
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Combine soy sauce, sugar and mirin, stir until well combined. Pour in the mixture and cook under medium high heat until the sauce bubbles and coats the spam, flip and coat the spam with the sauce.
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Line the inside of the tin with cling wrap. Scoop 3 – 4 tbsp rice into the tin and gently pat it evenly, sprinkle with furikake seasoning. Place 1 sliced of spam on top.
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Gently lift the spam stack out of the can. Lay one piece of nori sheet at the center, carefully wrap the nori around the spam musubi.
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Enjoy your spam musubi warm or at room temperature.
Note
Storage and Reheating: If you don’t plan to enjoy all Spam musubi immediately, wrap each tightly in plastic wrap or wax paper and store in the refrigerator. Leftover Spam musubi will keep for up to 5 days. You can enjoy it cold straight from the refrigerator, but I think leftover Spam musubi is much better warm. To reheat, simply place it in the microwave for 30 seconds – 1 minute, then carefully unwrap and enjoy.Â
