Spam musubi
![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2014) |
![]() Spam musubi made from Spam and rice | |
Course | Snack |
---|---|
Place of origin | United States |
Region or state | Hawaii |
Serving temperature | Hot or cold |
Main ingredients | Spam, rice, nori, soy sauce |
Spam musubi is a snack and lunch food composed of a slice of grilled Spam sandwiched either in between or on top of a block of rice, wrapped together with nori in the tradition of Japanese onigiri.
Inexpensive and portable, Spam musubi are commonly found near cash registers in convenience stores or mom-and-pop shops all over Hawaii, Guam and Hawaiian Barbecue restaurants in the mainland United States. [1] 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 made from homemade spam is served on catering trays at formal events by celebrity chefs such as Alan Wong at his exclusive restaurants.[2]
History[edit]
The origin of Spam musubi is disputed. Survivors of the Japanese American internment camps on 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.[3] However, most origin stories focus on Spam's ubiquity in Hawaii during and in the aftermath of World War II. With few other options, the canned meat was incorporated into local cuisines wherever American troops were stationed. For example, South Korea's budae-jjigae, a stew of surplus U.S. military foods, included Spam. In the United Kingdom, where Spam was ubiquitous during the hardship of the post-War years, Spam acquired a stigma exemplified by the 1970 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.[4]
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin stated 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 in Honolulu and by the early 1980s was selling 500 handmade Spam musubi a day out of her own shop, Michan's Musubi.[5] The other person said to be the creator of Spam musubi is Barbara Funamura of Kauai. Funamura sold Spam musubi out of the Joni-Hana restaurant in the Kukui Grove Center. The Garden Island in 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)," with Funamura quoted, "That's the Spam musubi." Eventually Funamura's musubi was made using a box mold, taking on its familiar form.[6]
In 1999, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue introduced the Hawaii regional snack as a menu item in its first mainland U.S. restaurant in Puente Hills, California.[7] 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 the Hawaii-based restaurant the first restaurant chain to make the snack available nationally.[8] On August 8, 2021, L & L created National SPAM® Musubi Day to celebrate the iconic snack.[9] The occasion was honored by Hawaii State Governor, David Ige as well as the Hawaii county mayors.
Preparation[edit]
Typical preparation begins with grilling or frying slices of Spam, sometimes with a light teriyaki flavor. 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.[10] It is served sometimes with soy sauce or Japanese mayonnaise.[citation needed] Guam's Pacific Daily News describes the local version: "a slice of Spam is bathed in teriyaki sauce before topping a mound of rice with a dash of furikake and wrapped in a strip of nori."[11] Another Guam recipe calls for Sriracha mayonnaise.[12]
See also[edit]
- Cuisine of Hawaii – Food and drinks from Hawaii
- Loco moco, another Hawaiian dish that can involve rice and Spam
References[edit]
- ^ Korfhage, Matthew (7 February 2021). "At Virginia's only location of L&L, plate-lunch barbecue like you'd get it in Hawaii". Hawaii News Now.
- ^ Chew, Cynthia (1 November 2015). "The Land of SPAM". The Food Pornographer.
- ^ Toth Fox, Catherine (24 June 2015). "The History of Five Local Grinds". Hawaii Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ Li, Ang (28 May 2019). "Asian American Chefs Are Embracing Spam. But How Did the Canned Meat Make Its Way Into Their Cultures?". Time. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ Shimabukuro, Betty (19 June 2002). "The musubi mystique". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ Fujimoto, Dennis (24 May 2016). "Spam musubi lives on". The Garden Island. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ Lynch, Russ (26 November 1999). "L&L Drive-Inn restaurateur seeking mainland meal ticket". Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Sietsema, Robert (24 April 2015). "Hawaiian Food Surfs Into NYC on a Wave of Spam". Eater.
- ^ Staff, HNN (5 August 2021). "L&L Hawaii celebrates National Spam Musubi Day on 8/08". Hawaii News Now.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Kysar, Alana (2019). "Spam Musubi". Aloha Kitchen: Recipes From Hawai‘i. Ten Speed Press. Retrieved 14 March 2021 – via Wright-Ruiz, Kiera; The New York Times.
- ^ Martinez, Lacee A. C. (15 June 2016). "Shortcut sushi: Spam musubi and sushi (non) bake". Pacific Daily News. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ "Traditional Spam Musubi". Guam Pay-Less Markets. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
External links[edit]
- Jones, Jay (28 March 2014). "In Hawaii, it's Spam morning, noon and night". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on 5 April 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
- "Spam Musubi, Obama's Hawaiian Lunch: History, Recipes, Video". HuffPost. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
- Walsh, Robb (3 March 2009). "Obama's Lunch Fave: Spam Musubi". Houston Press. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
- Engle, Erika (27 August 2014). "High-end items in New York now include Spam musubi". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014. (subscription required)
- "Spam Is Making A Comeback At Hip NYC Restaurants". Gothamist. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2021. (cited in previous link)