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If you love Hawaii and all things delicious, you’re in luck! A delicious and easy homemade Hawaiian Spam Musubi is just one of the great things you can make at home with this recipe.
What is Spam Musubi?
Now, you may be wondering what Musubi is. You also may be asking yourself why I want you to try Spam. Well, a little history, Spam became increasingly popular in Hawaii after WWII, it was sent to the troops stationed in Hawaii and kind of spread from there. It was cheap. It was easy to cook. And it still is! It is actually still one of the staple foods there today. It is so famous that even McDonald’s Hawaii breakfast platters includes Spam.
Ingredients in Spam Musubi
- Spam
- Oyster sauce
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
- Nori roasted seaweed
- Sushi rice
- Furikake (optional)
What is Spam?
Spam is a canned meat made mostly with ham. When I lived in Hawaii, I had Spam all the time, mainly because it was pretty much all I could afford. I had it for breakfast with eggs and rice and dinner with noodles and rice. And for lunch, I made this Spam Musubi. You can buy Spam Musubi in Hawaii at any grocery store or gas station but on the mainland it’s a bit harder to find. Luckily, it’s super easy to make and the ingredients can be found at most grocery stores.
You may be skeptical (I know Spam has a bit of a reputation), I was too until I tried it. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of Spam, this is worth a try! No joke, if you ask any of my kids what their favorite snack or school lunch is, they will all tell you it’s Spam musubi. Last time we went to Hawaii it was all they wanted to eat (especially when it was Mickey shaped). Don’t knock it ’til you try it!
Make your own Musubi mold
First of all, you will need a Musubi mold. You can also make your own. First, you will need to get a Spam can (you will need Spam anyway to make the Musubi). If you use the full-size can, cut it down to about half the original height. Clean it out well with soap and water. CAREFULLY cut off the bottom with a utility knife or an exact-o knife, then cover the sharp edges with electrical tape or duct tape (make sure the tape you use non-lead based).
More Tasty Authentic Hawaiian Recipes:
Loco Moco
Chicken Long Rice
Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken
Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki
Authentic Hawaiian Mac Salad
Haupia
Malasadas
Chocolate Haupia Pie
How to Make Spam Musubi
Spam Musubi
Video
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Spam
- 1/4 cup oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Nori roasted seaweed used for sushi, cut into halves or thirds (I cut it into thirds to make it go further)
- 6 cups cooked sushi rice WITHOUT the vinegar mixture added –Click HERE for the Sushi Rice Recipe
Instructions
- Slice the SPAM into about 8-10 slices (depending on how thick you like it) and put in a Ziplock bag. Mix oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar until sugar is dissolved and add to the bag with the SPAM. Marinate for about 15 minutes.
- Drain off marinade and fry SPAM on each side over medium heat until slightly crispy or until desired doneness. Some people like to glaze the SPAM with the marinade/sauce AFTER frying, either way tastes great!
- Place a strip of nori on a cutting board or clean surface (shiny side down). Place your Musubi mold across the middle of the nori.
- Add Sushi Rice to the mold, pressing down firmly and evenly so there is about 1-1 ½ inches of rice. Dip the mold and your fingers in water as you go to prevent sticking.
- Optional: Add a sprinkling of furikake (a mixture of sesame seeds and little bits of nori) for extra flavor.
- Next, remove the mold from the rice. Now you will have a nice little block of rice right on the nori. Add some of the cooked SPAM to the top. Wrap up one side of the nori and stick it to the top of the SPAM, then wrap up the other side. Just like you are wrapping a nice little package. Use a little water on your finger to seal if needed. Serve warm.
- Some like it dipped in soy sauce, some like it with ketchup, and some like it as is.
I marinated the Spam overnight and the meat was fabulous!
Great job. Made it easy for us new bee’s to follow. Thanks Much
WonTonJon AC New Jersey
Ono!!! Mahalo for this recipe! I just spent a week on Oahu and had musubi almost everyday. It really is a Hawaiian energy bar. This has all the flavor of the Island and is so easy to make.
Made this for my partner, who is Native Hawaiian, as a surprise “taste of home”. He ate it, so there’s that, but it did not remind him of home. His comments — everything is too sweet — don’t season the rice and don’t marinade the Spam, it doesn’t need it. Easier for me next time I want to surprise him!
Mahalos for the history lesson and recipe but the rice mold instructions are not only not Food Service Safe but dangerous.
Use plastic wrap, waxed paper, sushi mat or anything but cutting up a can
This recipe is a lot better than the water and soy sauce recipe! Thank you!
My son told me about Spam Masubi. I am very allergic to seafood or any fish. Other than adding more soy sauce, is there anything else that I can sub for the oyster sauce?
Oyster sauce adds a savory flavor so you could substitute it with hoisin sauce or a little bit of mushroom broth!
Amazing recipe!
Used it to make spam for kimbap rolls!
Valerie you can actually find vegetarian oyster sauce at a lot of Asian supermarkets!
They make a vegetarian oyster sauce. It’s vegan. I use it to make my husbands chicken lo mein.
Wan Ja Shan Vegetarian Mushroom Oyster Sauce
Love it!
it was the best spam musubi i ever had i will definetly make it agian!
This recipe is great! But I made a major mistrep on my first attempt. I hate overly sweet food and halved the sugar thinking I was so smart. The salt from the soy and the spam easily overpowered the rest of the flavors. I redid it as written and it was delicious. Thank you for sharing it!
Can I leave these on the counter overnight so I don’t need to microwave in the morning?
No, we don’t recommend leaving these on the counter, as they could spoil.
I love eating spam musubis now! They can give you a great snack when you are starving!
Agreed!
I love spam
I wouldn’t have expected this recipe to become a favorite with our family so I was geniunely surprised at their reaction when I made it. They loved it!
That’s awesome! So glad it was a hit!
I had to dig around to find this recipe that I had used before and loved! Spam musubi doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, but this recipe is the perfect blend of everything. Other recipes, even from “serious” food blogs and “authentic” Hawaiians are just a little off, like they’ll omit the sushi rice, or too sweet, etc.. This one is perfect and I have now permanently saved this in a file.
This was an interesting thing to eat! I had been wanting to try it for a while and I’m glad I did. The only adjustment I made to the recipe was I used two uncooked cups of sushi rice instead of I guess the three that the recipe calls for? But we still ended up with leftover rice, so I think maybe just one cup would be enough. Looking at the pictures now though, I guess I didn’t use that much rice in each one. The marinade was very good but I stirred and stirred for about 15 minutes and the sugar never fully dissolved so I gave up.
My husband and I loved eating Spam Musubi when we lived in the west coast, but since we’ve moved to the Midwest couldn’t find a place that makes them. Just made these and they turned out amazing! Don’t skip the marinade or the sushi rice! Definitely worth it for all the yummy flavors! Trip dipping in Siracha if you like spice.
I am excited to try this recipe tomorrow. Not sure where you are in the Midwest but Pokeworks in Omaha has Spam Musubi I have been obsessing over and hope this recipe is close!
It was super good even without any sauce! I think this is my all time favorite snack!! 💗
I’m still tan from my first trip to Hawaii a couple weeks ago. This popped up on my feed and soon as I saw it, I realized this is one thing that I never got around to trying on my trip. Thanks to you, it looks like I’m going to be making it, so I CAN try it! The reviews are great, so I’m really looking forward to it. Thanks for sharing.
yummy
I just made this, it’s amazing! Thank you!! Question: I now have a ziploc of marinade stuff. Can I store this in the fridge/freezer for re-use? If so, how long would that be good for you think?
I haven’t tried freezing it, but it should stay good in the fridge for 5-7 days.
I have a question- If the rice is supposed to be made without the vinegar mixture, wouldn’t that just be regular rice??
Yes, you would just follow the same method for making the sticky rice, but without the vinegar mixture.
I made this several weeks ago and it was delicious as I did not marinate the spam first❣️I’m getting up in the morning and making this again marinading spam first then glazing❣️Wonderful recipe❣️Do you put all of the marinade in the pan after the SPAM is brown on both sides?Merry Christmas 🎄🎁 ✝️🎅🏻
Can I substitute truvia for the sugar in the marinade?
Looking forward to this recipe.
Kathy
I think that would work!
Absolutely superb! I used two cups of dry sushi rice, and the amount was just right for 8 slices of Spam which was just the right thickness. These tasted better than the ones I had in Maui last week. I used “2.5 lines” worth of seaweed for each. Now I’m just wondering how well these will keep over the coming week wrapped in cling film individually. I have high hopes! Oh, and I didn’t bother with the tape on the Spam can…just was careful about the slightly jaggedy and no doubt super sharp edge. The marinade was amazing, and I only used half and am saving the rest for next time. Thank you for this recipe!
This was really good. My son really likes these and he said they were better than our local L&L. I only had jasmine rice instead of the sushi rice so I didn’t wash it as thoroughly and it was nice and sticky. Added water to the remaining marinade and reduced to a nice consistency before adding siracha. Was a nice dipping sauce. Great recipe.
Easy to follow! Turned out great, just like the ones we had in Hawaii. I made one change, subbed Hoisin for Oyster Sauce and added a bit of water to thin out. Wow!!
This is perfection! Better than ohana hawaiian bbq. This is the third recipe I’ve tried and it has absolutely blown my mind, and others love it so much too. Thank you for sharing it!
Is it better with white sugar or brown sugar?
I usually use white sugar!
Perfect & easy – thanks!
This is AMAZING if you do a soy sauce, Gyoza sauce, and Gochujang marinade! A dash of Gochujang on the rice before you put the Spam on makes it even better <3 10/10 would recommend
Hello,
Thanks for the recipe. Can I put a dollop of wasabi before wrapping, or does wasabi not go with spam musubi?
You can add wasabi if you’d like! It is not in traditional spam musubi, but I don’t think it would be bad.
i live in maui my whole entire life, spam musubi is also good
Musubi is such neat, easy, and fun snack. Tasty too!
This is THE one!! Perfection. I only used about 3 cups of cooked rice though, I like my rice to spam ratio a little more even. The sweetness of the marinade goes perfectly with low sodium spam.
Awesome simple recipe and great suggestion for using the can as the mold!
Just tried this. Came out PERFECT!!! The marinade was delicious and the mold made out of the can was an awesome idea!
Can you show how to use the triangle molds?
We don’t actually own the triangle molds for musubi, just the rectangle. I will have to check them out! Thanks for the head’s up!
Triangle molds are for Onigiri a Japanese rice ball, google for recipes. If you have a Japanese market in your city you can purchase there. Lots of you tube videos on the use of this mold.
Would it still taste good if I used other alternative flavors of spam, like hot and spicy spam?
Sure!
After these are made can you freeze if you don’t need all 8 servings?
Hi Phyllis – Rice actually doesn’t freeze very well. To store, we will wrap tightly and refrigerate and eat within a few days. It might be easiest to make smaller batches at a time rather than freeze for later. Musubi definitely tastes the best when it is fresh! Hope this helps!
Actually cooked rice freezes well. I’m not sure if the combination of these items would work out though.
Not sushi rice tho. All rice is not the same
I was very happy to see that someone actually wrote about Spam musubi! I am native Hawaiian and now living in West Texas where Spam musubis are unheard of. You can even make a thin layer of egg and add it to the musubi between the rice and the Spam. It’s soooo good! I hope your readers try this recipes and make it for their families.
I’m visiting Hawaii and ordered this yesterday at a restaurant. It was so good I went back today to order more!
Can you use jasmine rice?
Unfortunately, the jasmine rice won’t stick together the same way sushi rice or calrose rice does.
I am born and raised in Hawaii. Nobody I know who makes musubi marinates their Spam before frying! Just slice, fry, make musubi. This is a different recipe for Spam musubi, but it’s not what you buy in the stores in Hawaii. Auwe.
Yeah, no one I know in Hawai’i ever marinates their Spam, either. If anything, we always put a LITTLE oyster sauce on the rice before we put the Spam on.
Aloha all, I too am from Hawaii and normally we’ve never marinated the spam, but I do know a few that have tried this version and I must say it is wonderful! Like any other recipe, some people like myself love to experiment with recipes and much to my surprise, I really prefer my teriyaki musubi marinated. So now I make them both ways, depending on what I’m craving. Either way, both methods are very good!.
6 cups of sushi rice seems like a lot, are we using about half a cup per musubi/spam slice?
6 cups is what we usually use. If you have leftovers you can use it for sushi or fried rice!
The step by step photos were so helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Love how easy this recipe is. It’s perfect for our family!
Hey, I always made my spam marinade with shoyu, mirin and sugar, but I’m gonna try the oyster sauce instead of mirin.
‘nother question: do you think it’s fine to use left over rice? I read that someone else had the problem of an impossible nori and they were told to let the heat from the rice make it softer, do you think it’s possible to just leave it for 10 mins, even if the rice is cold to begin with?
I’ve used leftover rice before and it turned out fine! Let me know how it goes if you try it!
We love Hawaii so much! These really brought us back to our vacation and we had fun making them. So full of flavor! Thank you for sharing these!
This was a fun and super yummy recipe. We really enjoyed it!
We are currently missing a Hawaiian vacation that we’re supposed to be on so this was a nice way to bring Hawaii to us! Totally impressed my husband so thank you.
For the marinade, it indicates to use Regular Kikkoman soy sauce. Will it be just as good with Light Kikkoman soy sauce – that’s what I have on the shelf. I’m going to try this out this evening. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Yes that should still be good! I hope you enjoy!
Paul Kim here from Hawaii I cannot find a good heavy duty spam slicer does anyone know where to find one that isn’t just plastic? I saw a great one on Andrew Zimmern but I can’t find a good one anywhere thank you
How long do you cook the spam? I feel the batch I made burned a little. I also made another batch and cooked less but the spam didn’t Brown very much. Any suggestions?
Usually just 1-2 minutes on each side over medium high heat!
This recipe turns out fine it does taste great. It seems like a big waste with the amount soy sauce, sugar, and oyster sauce that goes into it. I poured most of it down the sink. Also, oyster sauce has a TON of salt in it. With the amount of salt already in Spam, I don’t find it necessary. A lot of recipes tell you to brown the Spam a bit, and then add a small amount sugar, soy, water, and maybe a dab of oyster sauce to the pan to carmelize it. You could also just use a low-sodium store bought asian marinade.
I have made Spam musubi a few times and this time my teenaged son wanted to make it — I liked your clear recipe instructions and the marinade ingredients sounded good. It was SO GOOD — this is our new favorite. So delicious and the marinade keeps the Spam tender. There was enough marinade for two cans-worth of Spam.
Hi Jessica- so happy to hear you and your so liked this Musubi recipe! Thanks for sharing how much spam you could marinate with the marinade. Glad you could get a full 2 cans worth!
Thank you for the recipe! I find the sugar has a hard time dissolving. Is it really 1/2 cup of sugar we should be using?
Yes that is the correct amount. If you find it hard for the sugar to dissolve you can heat it on the stove until it dissolves and then allow it to cool to room temp before marinating. Hope this helps!
Delicious and so so easy! I used brown sugar and lite spam instead and it was perfect
Hi, I make my sauce for the musubi the same way, but I’m trying to figure out what it’s called? Does it even have a name?
I don’t know if it actually has a name– if I were to choose one I would just call it “sweet oyster sauce”. 🙂
DID YOU JUST SAY A SPAM IS A HAWAIIAN HOTDOG!!!!!!!!!!
Please no offense! I meant it in the way that it is common. Of course Musubi tastes way better than a hot dog 😉
Nice! I think my favorite recipe so far. I went to Hawaii for a relative’s wedding and got interested there — strangely I never bought it there, so I’m not totally sure but it seems WAY better when you eat it right away because the rice is the soft and the seaweed is crunchy. Hard to understand how you can wrap it and eat it later when the seaweed gets so soggy and the rice might get dry and crunchy. BTW I bought a musubi maker online for like $5 and maybe another $5 for shipping, it’s a big advantage! I had leftovers this morning with some flattened scrambled egg, a bowl of warm brown rice and some cut up seaweed crisped in the oven — made little breakfast tacos! Delicious!
Wow thank you for the nice comment! I will have to look into the store-bought makers. Definitely would be easier than a spam can haha I love musubi the next day, even if the seaweed is soft. If you wrap it nice and tight in plastic wrap, the rice shouldn’t get dry. Hope this help! Thanks for kind comment and for the 5 stars!
My husband is part Hawaiian but doesn’t know much about the food because he moved to the mainland when he was two. A couple of years ago I wanted to make an authentic Hawaiian dish for his birthday. The musubi I made has become a staple. The version I make has a glaze. I look forward to trying this method. I saw all the other Hawaiian recipes here and feel like I’ve hit the gold mine. Thanks for sharing these!!
Thanks so much! Be sure to come back and let us know how you like them all! 😀
I just tried this for the first time tonight. It tastes great. The only problem I’m having is that it’s almost impossible to bite through the nori. it just refuses to break, and I end up either ripping the musubi apart, or having to stuff the whole thing into my mouth. Any suggestions on what I may be doing wrong?
It could be the brand of nori you are getting? Maybe try moistening the nori using a damp paper towel before wrapping. Let me know if that works. In the meantime I will keep brainstorming..
Thanks for the reply. I refrigerated two of them, and the next day, they were fine. Maybe I was trying to eat them too soon? I’m doing another batch today. I’ll have to experiment a bit and see how they turn out.
A good low sodium alternative to soy sauce is Braggs liquid aminos. Also for a spicy twist add chili paste (not the same as siracha sauce although that too is just as good).
Make the musubi while the rice is hot or warm. After you make it wrap it in saran wrap for a few minutes. The heat from the rice will moisten the seaweed and will keep the musubi together:)
After wrapping the musubi with nori, wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap so the heat from the rice and spam will soften the nori so it will not be chewy. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
It’s all about the sauce and this recipe nailed it! My husband never had it and raved about it. Thanks for the aloha 🌈🌈🌈
It says to make the Sushi rice without the vinegar mixture. The linked recipe says to use white wine vinegar to make the rice. I assume that’s the vinegar mixture you’re talking about. So, you make the sushi rice with only salt, sugar, and water (no white wine vinegar)?
I’m from Hawaii and we make it different. We usually soak it in just a shoyu (soy sauce, aloha brand) and sugar mixture. You can also just cook the sauce with spam and does not require soaking. Another option would be to use Yoshida sauce. After you add the spam, we add furikaki, which is a rice seasoning. No rice vinegar needed for rice.
No it means no vinegar, susgar or salt.
Buy better sushi nori. Bags are colored to identify the difference. Green, blue, silver, gold. Gold being the best quality. Make sure it’s from Japan as well.
My next door neighbor brings these to me when she make them for her husband. She just had a new baby so I don’t want to bother her for the recipe so I’m glad I found yours on pinterest.
I’m going to feature this on a list of “exotic” recipes in March on my blog iamzoewatson.com. I know this is early to tell you, but I’m doing research now for the post. The aim of my writing will be to help my readers expand their dinner menus to include more exciting “exotic” dishes. I’ll let you know when the blog post publishes!
Thanks again for posting this!
if you can find an Hawaiian BBQ place near you, they usually carry Musubi. I am so glad to have a recipe for this now. There was a place near where I worked in the South Seattle area that made KICKIN Musubi.
Thank you for your comment. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
I visited Hawaii a couple times before i moved here three years ago. Musubi is a staple grab and go breakfast… Like, from the gas station. I just started making my own after i bought my mold at walmart. This recipe really nails the marinade which is crucial. I sub Bragg’s Aminos though and use the Roast Turkey Spam which is not in every store- but I think it holds up a little better and may take the marinade a little better too. thanks!!! Aloha!
Oh YES. Those sweet memories of Musubi. My friend lives in Hawaii and turned me onto this wonderful stuff. Your very right. Don’t Knock it till you’ve tried it. I LOVE IT. I bought my mold at Walmart in Hawaii and brought it home with me. My Family thought I had lost my mind, till they tried it. This is what the children take for lunch. Yes, cheap meal and filling. Thanks for Sharing…..