my mom’s recipe for the most delightful, savory snack.
the taste of my childhood
my mom grew up most of her life in Hawaii, and after moving back to the main land, she brought her spam musubi recipe into her children’s lives. this was her go-to on what we called “appetizer nights.” typically on a friday or saturday evening, my family and i would cook small, snackable dishes, perfect to use up leftover ingredients, or to hold us over for irregular lunch times throughout the weekend. hands down my favorite of the appetizers was spam musubi. savory and a little sweet, it’s a hearty, comforting dish that requires few ingredients and is a lo of fun to make!
how to cook the spam
when i asked my mom for the details to the musubi sauce, she said “I literally just pour soy in the pan and then sprinkle sugar in it.” well, thanks mom. LOL. so i did a little bit of experimenting. i tried mixing the sauce both directly in the pan and out of it, and adjusting the sugar to soy sauce ratios. i found the best method to be cooking the spam first, then pouring the combined soy sauce sugar (1:1) mix over it. this minimizes the chances of burning the sauce, which gave me trouble when adding it directly to the pan. essentially it’s a method of making the sweet & sticky unagi sauce that you’ll find on sushi!
i HIGHLY RECOMMEND using a reduced sodium spam. i used spam lite as the regular spam is far too salty for me, and that’s before cooking it in oil and sauce!
set up a musubi making party
this is one of the most fun recipes i’ve ever made in my life! i have vivid memories of helping my mom make it after school — and by help, i mostly mean stealing bites of spam and rice. but it’s still a great recipe to make with others!
set up your “assembly station.” cut the sheets of seaweed and have them on deck beside the cutting board. a plate of freshly cooked spam to the other side, along with a pot of steaming rice. keep a medium bowl of water nearby to dunk your mold in between musubis. and now you have the set up to a fun hosting night, musubi party, or even a solo movie-cooking night!
so… why do your musubi look like that?
typically you’ll find spam musubi that have the spam on top of a block of rice. my mom would always put the spam in the middle, sandwiched by two, even layers of rice. resembling something closer to sushi, she explained this way allows for the best enjoying experience. and i can’t argue with mom. spam has a strong, salty flavor. once cooked in the soy sauce sugar mix, you’ll need the rice to balance out all that flavor. i definitely prefer to assemble my musubi this way, but feel free to try it the classic way if that’s more of your vibe!
getting the perfect shape every time
the 4-inch musubi mold i use was passed down from my mom when i moved into my first apartment. i have no idea when or where she got this thing, but you can find cheap musubi molds on amazon! THIS ONE is nearly identical to the one i have. if you don’t feel like purchasing one, you can DIY your own with a spam can. carefully cut the can in half length-wise and you’ve got a mold the exact size of the spam!
you can use your hands and/or plastic wrap to shape the musubi as well, however, it can be difficult packing the rice and spam tight enough. and since you should be using fresh rice, be careful when handling the hot rice.
how-to:
prep work — cook up to 3 cups of rice (approximately 2 dry rice cups). you want to use fresh warm rice so everything sticks together! cut the spam into 8 even slices. combine the sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl and whisk until combined. you may want to pop it in the microwave a few seconds to aid in dissolving the sugar. cut your seaweed sheets accordingly.
cooking — heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. cook the spam in a single layer, 2-3 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. next pour the soy sauce sugar mix over the spam. cook for another minute on each side, until it becomes a thick glaze. remove the spam from skillet.
assembling — fill a medium bowl with water and give the mold a quick dunk. place musubi mold at the center of the cut seaweed sheet (the short ends of the mold should align with the edge of the sheet). scoop rice into the mold, filling it 1/3 of the way. place a piece of cooked spam on top and use the top of the mold or the rice paddle to flatten. Sprinkle spam with furikake. fill the rest of the mold with rice, again, pressing down with the top of the mold to ensure the rice and spam are tightly packed together. holding the mold down on the top, gently pull the mold body up and off of the musubi. tightly fold the ends of seaweed over the musubi. roll the musubi over so the ends of the seaweed are on the underside. dunk mold in the bowl of water and repeat the process.
serve — serve as is, or slice each musubi in half for a snack size!
spam musubi
Equipment
- 4-inch musubi mold
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz can spam lite
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 0.5 tbsp neutral oil
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 4 8×8" sheets seaweed
- furikake
Instructions
- Cut spam into 8 even slices. Combine sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook spam in a single layer, 2-3 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. Pour soy sauce mix over spam. Cook for another minute on each side, until glaze thickens. Remove spam from skillet.
- Fold and tear seaweed sheets in half. Fill a medium bowl with water and give the mold a quick dunk. Place mold at center of seaweed sheet so the short ends of the mold align with the edge of the sheet.
- Scoop rice into mold, filling it 1/3 of the way. Place a piece of spam on top and use the top of the mold or the rice paddle to flatten. Sprinkle spam with furikake. Fill the rest of the mold with rice, again, pressing down to ensure the rice and spam are packed together. Holding the mold down on the top, gently pull the mold body up and off of the musubi.
- Tightly fold the ends of seaweed sheet over the musubi. Roll the musubi over so the ends of seaweed are on the underside. Dunk mold in the bowl of water and repeat process.
- Serve as is, or slice each musubi in half for a snack size!
Made it with the grandkids and they loved it! All your food looks so delicious 🙂 <3
aww that’s so sweet! thank you for trying it Bev <3
I have been watching your videos for awhile now and I am proud to say that I am more motivated to cook for myself ever since I picked it up from you a lil <3
<3 <3
one of my favorite meals!!! thank u for the recipe, its delicious! <3