Spam musubi

Spam musubiis a snack and lunch food composed of a slice of grilledSpamsandwiched either in between or on top of a block ofrice, wrapped together withnoriin the tradition of Japaneseonigiri.
Inexpensive and portable, Spam musubi are commonly found near cash registers inconvenience storesor mom-and-pop shops all over Hawaii and inHawaiian barbecuerestaurants in the mainland United States.Musubi can be easily made with the right materials, and typically only uses spam, rice, some salt, nori and shoyu (soy sauce). In Hawaii, musubi with spam from a can or homemade luncheon meat is eaten as a snack or served in formal restaurants.
Spam musubi is a form ofmusubi, which originally came from Hawaii. It was a popular item among the lunchboxes ofHawaiian plantation workers.
The origin of Spam musubi is disputed. Survivors of theJapanese American internment campson the mainland of the United States claim to have invented the precursor to Spam musubi, when they placed seasoned slices of Spam on white rice in a baking pan.However, most origin stories focus on Spam's ubiquity inHawaiiduring and in the aftermath ofWorld War II. With few other options, the canned meat was incorporated into local cuisines wherever American troops were stationed. For example,South Korea'sbudae-jjigae, a stew of surplus U.S. military foods, included Spam. In theUnited Kingdom, where Spam was ubiquitous during the hardship of the post-War years, Spam acquired a stigma exemplified by the1970 Monty Python sketch. Spam may not have been abandoned in the Pacific like it was in the U.K. simply because of the comparative economic deprivation experienced in the Pacific region.
TheHonolulu Star-Bulletinsaid of Spam musubi in 2002 that "There is no definitive history for this aberration." Still, the newspaper relayed that a 2001 cookbook stated that the potential creator is Mitsuko Kaneshiro, who began selling them out of City Pharmacy on Pensacola Street inHonoluluand by the early 1980s was selling 500 handmade Spam musubi a day out of her own shop, Michan's Musubi.The other person said to be the creator of Spam musubi is Barbara Funamura ofKauai. Funamura sold Spam musubi out of the Joni-Hana restaurant in theKukui Grove Center.The Garden Islandin 1983 described it as, "Spam and rice, two local favorites, are combined in an enormous musubi (rice ball) wrapped in nori (sheets of dried seaweed)." Eventually Funamura's musubi was made using a box mold, taking on its familiar form.
In 1999,L&L Hawaiian Barbecueintroduced the Hawaii regional snack as a menu item in its first mainland U.S. restaurant in Puente Hills, California.As the Hawaii-based chain grew across several American states, so did the awareness and popularity of the snack, eventually becoming a mainstay on the menu, and making L&L the first restaurant chain to make the snack available nationally.
On August 8, 2021,L&L Hawaiian Barbecueestablished "National Spam Musubi Day" to celebrate the iconic snack from Hawaii. The holiday was officially recognized by Hawaii Governor David Y. Ige. with a public proclamation.
Spam musubi is theserving suggestionon tins of Teriyaki flavor Spam.Spam Musubi, generally together with egg and sometimes called Potama (for Pork+Tamago/Egg), is a staple ofOkinawan cuisine.The nori is generally larger and wraps the entire sandwich.
Typical preparation begins with grilling or frying slices ofSpam, sometimes with a lightteriyakiflavor. It uses a sauce in which soy sauce and granulated sugar are typically the basic ingredients. Using a mold the same size as a slice of Spam, a layer of cooked rice is pressed down over a strip of nori, with a slice of Spam on top of that, and then, optionally, another layer of rice. The mold is removed and the nori is wrapped over the top and around the musubi.Guam'sPacific Daily Newsdescribes the local version: "a slice of Spam is bathed interiyakisauce before topping a mound of rice with a dash offurikakeand wrapped in a strip of nori."Another Guam recipe calls forSrirachamayonnaise.