Spam musubi
Hawaii’s favorite grab-and-go: crispy teriyaki-glazed Spam pressed onto a block of warm rice and wrapped in a strip of nori.
- 45 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.84 a serving
- 600 calories
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups sushi rice
- 1 can spam, 12 oz
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 4 nori sheets
From your pantry
- 1¾ cups water
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp sugar
Each serving has about 600 calories, 18 g protein, 77 g carbs and 24 g fat, and costs about $1.84 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice until the water runs almost clear.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring it in a with the water.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Stir once, cover, and cook on low 15 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Leave it covered off the heat 10 minutes.
Timer: 10 min
Slide the Spam out of the can and cut it into 8 slices about ¼ inch thick. Wash out the can and save it.
Dolly’s tip: The empty can is your mold, so keep it.Fry the slices in a large dry nonstick over medium-high 2 to 3 minutes a side, until and at the edges.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Stir the soy sauce, sugar and mirin together, pour it into the skillet, and let it bubble over medium 1 to 2 minutes, flipping the slices, until the sauce turns into a thick, shiny .
Glaze. A glaze is a thin, glossy coating, often sweet, brushed or spooned over food near the end. It adds shine and flavor, and because it has sugar, it can burn quickly.
How you’ll know: The food looks shiny and evenly coated, sticky at the edges but not blackened.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: The glaze goes from syrup to burnt fast. Pull the pan off when the bubbles turn big and slow.Line the Spam can with plastic wrap, leaving extra hanging over the sides. Cut the nori sheets in half .
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
Lay a nori strip shiny side down and set the can in the middle of it. Press ½ cup of rice firmly into the can with a wet spoon, lay a slice of Spam on top, and press again.
Dolly’s tip: Press harder than feels right. Loose rice crumbles when you pick it up.Lift the can off by pulling up the plastic wrap, fold the nori ends over the Spam, and dab the seam with water to seal. Repeat with the rest.
Dolly’s tip: Rest them seam side down for a couple of minutes so the nori softens and holds.Serve warm, or wrap each one in plastic to eat later the same day.
Dolly’s tip: Musubi are best within a few hours at room temperature. The fridge makes the rice hard.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
