Spam Musubi …and Aloha from Hawaii!

Spam Musubi ...a Hawaiian favorite!
You can tell I really miss our vacation in Hawaii by the fact that I have SPAM in my house! And now on my blog!

Spam Musubi is a hugely popular treat in Hawaii and one of the few things my family and I didn’t eat while we were on Oahu earlier this month. Right after we got back, though, I came across this cute magazine ad for Spam which showed illustrations for how to make musubi:

The Spam ad that prompted me to make musubi

That was all the nudge I needed — I ordered my little $6 musubi mold (very authentic — the entire packaging is written in Japanese, I have no idea what it says!) — and we’ve been continuing our enjoyment of the islands back at home.

Read on to see how to make Spam Musubi, plus some fun memories from our trip!
Another gorgeous day at Aulani

I shared a few fun highlights from the first part of our trip over on my other blog, Panini Happy (along with an awesome recipe for Grilled Banana Bread!) — here’s a little more of what we were up to!
Pineapple fun at the Dole PlantationAlthough we were staying at Disney’s Aulani, which is basically kid paradise, we still took the opportunity to venture outside the resort and take in other parts of the island. Yeah, the Dole Plantation is touristy but it’s also fun. After chugging around the plantation aboard the Pineapple Express train and scavenging the Pineapple Maze (it is really easy to get yourself lost in there!), we all sat down for what we were mainly there for — a Dole Whip. It’s pineapple soft serve, and it does come close to living up to all the hype.

Mike and I decided that one of our top highlights of the trip was discovering amazing (and cheap!) sushi at a strip mall in Kapolei, called Sushi Bay. We loved it so much, we went back again the next night. It’s one of those conveyer belt places, so in addition to being able to order off the menu, you can also ogle what’s passing by your shoulder and pick up plates that look interesting. Look at the size of that maguro!!

This is the best spicy ahi roll I’ve ever had, I’ll go ahead and say it. And, by the way, two of these beauties was only $2.20 at Sushi Bay!! It easily would be twice that in San Diego. Proof that not everything is more expensive in Hawaii!

Lagoon 1, at Aulani
It was so incredibly beautiful at the Ko Olina lagoons. My kids are used to going to the beach here in San Diego, but I think they especially learned to love it in Hawaii. My 4-year old has been asking about going “to the next island!” ever since we’ve returned home. I’m right there with him!
Spam!Here on the mainland, there’s kind of a culinary stigma cast on Spam, but it’s much loved in Hawaii — in fact, Hawaiians consume the most Spam per capita in the United States. All it takes to make Spam Musubi is sushi rice, fried Spam and seaweed. It’s a little sweet, a bit salty, with a touch of umami — I’m way smitten.
How to Make Spam Musubi ...a Hawaiian favorite!I managed to figure out how to use my little musubi maker, leveraging the universal language of pictures. 🙂 You basically fill the mold to the top with sushi rice and press down on the plunger thing to pack it into a block. Then you top it with a piece of fried Spam and wrap it with a piece of seaweed (the seaweed sticks to the rice rather easily). That’s it!

Alooooha!!

 

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8 Comments

  1. Angela wrote:

    So excited for this recipe! I used to eat these all the time from a food truck in DC!!

    Posted 3.7.14 Reply
  2. Mike from Class wrote:

    We totally had the Spam sushi at Sushi Bay in Kapolei… Wasn’t that Spam Musubi?

    Posted 3.7.14 Reply
    • Maybe?? It definitely was the same ingredients, just not the same big block.

      Posted 3.7.14 Reply
  3. Tiffany wrote:

    Lived there for three years. The kids and I loved spam musubi. It is even better if when you fry the spam add some teriyaki sauce. I think it takes to a whole mother level. Lol

    Posted 3.8.14 Reply
  4. Jean wrote:

    There is a lot of ways to make spam musubi but mixing rice vinegar and sugar and putting it in the rice is not one of them. It’s not sushi. And 3/4 of it is way too much, even for sushi rice.

    Posted 3.9.14 Reply
    • I’ve definitely seen it made with sushi rice, but to each his/her own!

      Posted 3.9.14 Reply
  5. YUM!! Jorge loves spam musubi. I just ordered one of these molds 😉

    Posted 3.21.14 Reply
    • Awesome! I made more again yesterday. 🙂

      Posted 3.21.14 Reply