Island Eats: Spam Musubi
Travel Blog • Pam Mandel • 02.04.09 | 11:39 AM ET
Photo by Blame WW II. It was the food of soldiers stationed in the islands and somehow, it stuck—cans of the meat-like product making their way past the gates of military bases and into Hawaiian daily life. According to an older article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, islanders go through 7 million cans of Spam annually. Spam seems to show up everywhere Hawaiians are found—Hawaiian center fielder for the Phillies Shane Victorino took heat last year from PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) for admitting that Spam musubi was one of his favorite foods. And stalkerish reporting on every action taken by our new president on his last trip to the islands revealed that he ordered Spam musubi for lunch while on a golf outing.
I’ve been face-to-face with Spam musubi—a block of rice topped with Spam and wrapped in seaweed—at ukulele club events because friends raised in Hawaii will insist on bringing big Tupperware containers of the stuff to picnics and potlucks. I’ve tried it more than once and I’ve yet to convince myself that I like it. I’m not much of a carnivore, plus, Spam reminds me too much of the deviled meat sandwiches of my grade school days. I can still picture the shiny blocks of plastic-wrapped Spam musubi under lights in the food court across from our Honolulu hotel—no sight has ever left me with a stronger craving for salad.
Don’t let me talk you out of it, though. Plenty of people find Spam musubi ono—delicious—and insist that it’s an essential part of the Hawaiian experience. I’ll pass, but you should give it a go at least once. Love it so much that you want to make your own? Here’s Making of the Spam Musubi on YouTube. Bonus? You learn how to pronounce “musubi” correctly!