Spam Musubi( recipe Gena Sakahara-Gonzales)
1 cup brown rice 1 cup short grain rice 1 can low sodium Spam 1 / 3 cup favorite teriyaki sauce 1 Tbsp oil 2 Tbsp furikake *( Japanese seaweed rice seasoning) 4-5 sheets of nori *( dried sushi seaweed) or a package of snack nori which can be purchased in the Asian aisle of grocery store)
Kaiden making Spam Musubi with an acrylic sushi mold.
Carrot and Daikon Slaw
2 ½ cup shredded carrots 2 ½ cup shredded daikon 2 Tbsp minced parsley( optional) 1 Tbsp black sesame seeds( optional)
Slaw Dressing: 6 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar 2 Tbsp sugar 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp ginger, minced ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp ground pepper
Mix carrot and daikon in a bowl. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate vegetables and dressing separately until ready to serve. Toss together and garnish with either parsley or black sesame. Serves 10.
—— Sometimes it is difficult to find all the Asian ingredients in these recipes at your local grocery store. Gena Sakahara-Gonzales suggests you take a little adventure and go to an authentic Asian market like Santo Market on Taylor Street or Nijiya Market on Jackson Street, both in San Jose. Another possibility is Mitsuwa Marketplace on Saratoga Avenue, also in San Jose. While there, pick up some great soup!
Prepare rice according to package directions or if using a rice cooker, wash rice thoroughly. Add 3 cups of water and cook.
While rice is cooking, slice spam into 9-10 segments depending on how many musubi you’ d like to make. Fry spam in oil, flipping until there is some light browning on the spam. Add teriyaki sauce and let simmer and bubble. We like to turn spam often and simmer on low for 3-5 minutes to thicken the sauce. Once done, set aside.
Once the rice is cooked and cooled a bit, start preparing your assembly line and set all the items in arms distance; cutting board, spam, rice, furikake, nori and sharp knife. Fill a medium sized bowl with water. Wet hands and utensils are the secret to not driving yourself crazy with rice! Asian markets and Amazon also sell spam musubi molds. They are invaluable for making neat rectangular musubi. They also have single molds and ones that fit 2 ½ pieces of spam( the best if you are making a tray of small pieces). We like the acrylic sushi molds.
Lay a piece of nori on cutting board. Dip the musubi maker in water to moisten and lay musubi maker across the sheet of nori matching the size to your mold. If making a single musubi the size of the spam, cut the nori sheet in half. Spoon rice into the mold and press down to flatten. If you don’ t have a musubi mold you will do this by hand, using the bottom of a glass to flatten and mold. Remember to use wet hands and utensils so rice doesn’ t stick to everything.
Next layer, snack sized piece of nori. Add spam segments and we like to spoon extra teriyaki sauce onto spam. Spoon more rice on top and sprinkle furikake. Use mold to flatten the whole segment. TIP- don’ t add too much rice. You want an even flavor of spam and rice. If you make a too thick a layer of rice, you will have a bland musubi.
Once the musubi is mushed together, carefully slip off the outer mold and remove top mold segment. Starting with the nori closest to you, wrap up over the musubi. Gently, roll the musubi until the whole segment is covered. Moisten your finger and wet the edge of the nori. This will allow the seam to stick and your musubi to stay covered and tight.
—— Google Spam Musubi recipe and there are lots of videos that can walk you through the process. Dip a sharp knife in water and then slice musubi into whatever sizes you wish. There are lots of variations. You can add scrambled eggs, hot dogs or chicken teriyaki. Really, whatever your family enjoys. Musubis can be wrapped in plastic wrap but need to be eaten within 24-36 hours.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN APRIL / MAY 2018 gmhtoday. com
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