This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.
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
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. On the mainland, it is available in most grocery stores where you buy canned meats.
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! I made it for some of my family members last week and they all were pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Think of it as a Hawaiian hot dog, really, it’s good! 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 mini 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:
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.
- 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.
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!