Spam Musubi
Oops! It seems I kinda forgot about explaining some things in yesterday's comic about omiyage!
In the second panel, Kana's holding a spam musubi mold. It's a simple device made out of hard plastic and comes in a variety of styles. The only prerequisite is that it MUST be able to hold a slice of spam.
There are a number of ways to prepare spam musubi, this is just my family's way of doing it.
Ahead of time, we prepare a batch of sticky, white rice and let it cool slightly. I use some salted water (like making a regular musubi) to help me handle to rice and flavor it. (Some people like to use furikake, a mix of nori/seaweed bits mixed with salt and sesame seeds instead).
I don't know about you, but I like my spam crispy so I pan-fry thin slices. Some people like to use a sugar-shoyu (soy sauce) glaze. That also helps to flavor the rice.
Get large pieces of nori/dried seaweed and lightly toast it over the stove. Cut it into slices thick enough to wrap around the mold. Place the mold in the center of a strip of nori. Place the slice of spam into the mold, then spoon some rice into the mold (usually full-when fluffy) and flatten it with the press. Pull the mold up while pushing down on the press, slide the press off the rice and wrap the nori around the rice. Use a little water to hold the nori flat.
Interestingly enough - KS managed to bring home a spam musubi from work yesterday! Talk about coincidence!
Wrap it up to go in saran wrap and you've got a hand-held meal or snack!
You can add all sorts of extras to make it special - my mom usually makes a batch of tamagoyaki (rolled egg) and a slice of takuwan (pickled daikon/white radish). Other people opt for other interesting meats like chicken or chinese or portuguese sausage.
Spam musubi is one of the foods Hawaii just seems to be known for. Indeed, we love our Spam here - we put it in our fried rice, soups, stews, burgers, and eat it as a breakfast side like bacon and eggs. It definitely isn't the "poor man's food" here, considering the prices a can goes for at the market. O_O;
Hope this clears up some of the mystery behind Kana's gift!
Posted by
Kyubikitsy
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Oh, I get it now, lol...I have something similar for making sushi, only it's longer, thinner, and possibly shorter :P Thanks for the explanation!
SPAM MUSUBIS! My all time favorite local style snack!
oh... MOLD as in a shaping tool. 
The first time I heard about Spam musubi I was fascinated and wanted to try it- nobody wants to eat it with me though, because of the Spam :( Maybe if I tell them it's an exotic treat from Hawaii they'll be more receptive...or maybe I'll just eat it all myself!
Anna: Indeed! The spam musubi mold is a variation of other sushi molds. Just that these fit the spam slices nicely. ^^
Ahh Spam... Having grown up on the stuff in the 70's, I find it a nostalgic meat. It was a bit odd and slightly humerous to see it everywhere in Hawaii, even in the 7-eleven, all cooked with the hotdogs!
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