Spam Musubi

I was watching Anthony Bourdain's food show "No Reservation" about Hawaiian cuisine on Sunday and already knew what Monday dinner would be; Spam Musubi!!!  I ran to supermarket to buy Spam but I only found Tulip, which is practically the same luncheon meat but I found the container tin a bit thinner and taller than Spam (I think!).  No wonder why Spam is hard to find in Germany, his rival Tulip is from Denmark, just across the border!    

My love story with Spam Musubi goes like this.  About 15 years ago I went on family vacation to Hawaii and saw that mysterious presence everywhere (at seven-eleven, ABC store, supermarket's deli, local open-air markets, even food cart at golf courses had it...).  When my dad brought one back from his morning walk to a local market, I was a bit skeptic about that brown Sushi? Onigiri?-ish food wrapped tight in plastic film but tried it anyway.  Love at first bite.  It's our family's favorite ever since.  Many of my friends from US dislike anything with Spam, maybe because it has a image of cheap, porky and unhealthy meat.  They should try Spam Musubi and it will change their life.  It's the right moment to forget about calories, nutrition blah blah.  Everyone makes it in his own way but my must-have ingredients are Usuyaki-Tamago (super-thin sweet egg crepe) and Furikake(Japanese rice topping).  Here's the recipe to change your life!!      

-Feb. 24 grocery shopping € 20.28/ € 34.73 left

Ingredients (for 8 pcs.)

3 cups Japanese sticky rice/Sushi rice 

1 tin Spam

3 tbsp. Furikake

2 Nori sheets

1tbsp. soy sauce

1tbsp. Mirin

2/3 tbsp. sugar

 ...<for Usuyaki-Tamago>

2 eggs

1 tsp. Sake

2 tsp. sugar

a pinch of salt

Directions

1. Cook rice.

<Making egg crepe> 

2. Beat eggs, sake, sugar and salt mixture.  Oil and heat a pan over low-medium heat.      

3. Pour in the mixture gently to make a thin sheet like french crepe*.  When the surface of egg mixture is almost dry, flip it over and cook for 1 min.

4. Cut egg crepe into the size of Spam slice.

<Cooking Spam>

5. Slice Spam into 8 slices.  Combine soy sauce, mirin and sugar in a small bowl.
6. Saute in a pan 3-4min. each side until slightly browned.







7. Pour in the soy sauce mixture and simmer for 1 min. to
thicken the sauce.








<Making Musubi>
8. Place rice in a mold and press hard. (As I don't have Spam Musubi maker, I used Ziploc type storage container for spaghetti which is perfect size for Spam)

9. Flip it over on a plastic film and cut into the Spam-slice width.  Form the rice ball by pressing a bit.






10. Top with Furikake, egg crepe and Spam.  Wrap with a strip of nori around.ALOHA!

ALOHA!