We’re kicking off Aloha Sundays with a favorite Hawaiian dish. Why, you ask, is this called SPAM musubi and not sushi? A musubi is made with plain rice, while sushi is made with a vinegar flavored rice.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• one can SPAM
• app. 2 cups cooked sticky short grain rice
• 4 sheets of dried seaweed, also known as “sushi nori”

Materials:

• musubi mold. You can find these rectangular molds at Japanese grocery stores like Oto’s in Sacramento, but you can also try it free hand.

Directions:

• Slice SPAM into 8 even slices.
• Sear in pan until brown crust forms.
• Add sugar and soy sauce and cook on low until melted together.
• Place 1 sheet of sushi nori on cutting board and place the bottom of the rectangular mold on top of the nori.
• Place some rice in the mold and press it down with the top of the mold.

• Brush some of the sauce on the rice.
• Place two slices of SPAM on the rice.
• Add more rice and press the top of the rectangular mold down onto the rice.
• Lift the mold off.
• Fold the rest of the nori sheet over the molded rice. There will be a seam at the top (which will become the bottom of the musubi roll). Seal it with a bit of the soy sauce mixture, if required.
• Repeat for the other three sheets of sushi nori.
• Let each roll set (about 10 minutes?) before slicing into 8 slices.
• Makes 32 pieces. I usually have to triple the recipe for parties, quadruple for any Komure Family gathering.

– Submitted by Miles Matsuoka
Many thanks to my cousin, Jane Komure, who taught me how to make this recipe