Spam Onigirazu スパムおにぎらず

A FANCY SPAM MUSUBI. photo by Namiko Chen

Spam Onigirazu is perfect for a quick meal or snack on the go. The winning combination of fried eggs, sweet sushi rice and classic Spam is wrapped up in crunchy nori. You want to sink your teeth into this yummy treat!

If you love a popular Hawaiian favorite, SPAM® Musubi, you will LOVE this SPAM® Onigirazu (スパムおにぎらず). The ingredients are similar to classic musubi; all you need is SPAM® product, rice and nori (seaweed) sheets.

The biggest difference is that you can add more fillings in onigirazu, and today I added lettuce and a fried egg to make it more like a breakfast dish. This combo of deliciousness is portable and hearty enough to fill a hungry stomach any time of the day. You’ll love it for a picnic, road trip snack or plane food too!

What is Spam Musubi?
A popular snack and lunch dish in Hawai‘i, SPAM® Musubi is made of a thinly sliced grilled SPAM® product on top of a rice pillow. The SPAM® product and rice are wrapped together with nori (seaweed sheet), and almost look like Tamago Sushi. It is sweet, salty, filling and extremely addicting. If you like to get creative, check out the cuter version of Piggy SPAM® Musubi, which I made a while ago to surprise my children.

SPAM® Onigirazu is a little bit fancier version of SPAM® Musubi. You can add more ingredients and make it more delicious as onigirazu hold more fillings inside.

If you’re not familiar with onigirazu, it’s basically a rice sandwich; instead of making a triangle/round onigiri (omusubi), we make a rice sandwich with more fillings. I made a video on how to make it (www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdzM_zovmyo), and I have also shared my Chicken Katsu Onigirazu and Bulgogi Onigirazu recipes on my blog (and more recipes coming soon!).

As the SPAM® product is a bit on the salty side, I like to add a fried egg to make it more balanced, while lettuce (especially iceberg lettuce) gives a crunchy and refreshing texture.
SPAM® product is usually cooked with soy sauce for musubi, so I season the SPAM® product the same way in this recipe. Soy sauce, mirin and sake — the most important three ingredients for typical Japanese flavors.

Hawaiian Foods Week with Spam Onigirazu
My children absolutely love onigirazu and it’s one of their most requested lunch items. As it was Hawaiian Foods Week earlier this summer, I got the idea for this recipe while grocery shopping and saw SPAM®. As many of you know, SPAM® products are a part of life in Hawai‘i. It’s served everywhere, from grocery stores, delis to fancy restaurants. Even McDonald’s features several SPAM® items on their breakfast menu.

I planned to celebrate Hawaiian Foods Week with many of the brands you know and love, which include King’s Hawaiian, Dole, SPAM®, Kona Brewing Co. and Mauna Loa.

After making the onigirazu for my children, I made several sandwiches with King’s Hawaiian rolls, SPAM® product, and King’s Hawaiian BBQ sauce for Mr. JOC. He thoroughly enjoyed the combination, and it’s now made the list as one of our quick meal ideas.

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, visit www.justonecookbook.com/ingredient-substitution-for-japanese-cooking/.

Spam Onigirazu
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 30 mins

Spam Onigirazu is perfect for a quick meal or snack on the go. The winning combination of fried eggs, sweet sushi rice and classic Spam is wrapped up in crunchy nori. You want to sink your teeth into this yummy treat!

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: onigirazu, rice sandwich, Spam musubi
Servings: 6 Spam Onigirazu
Author: Nami

Ingredients
6 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
1 SPAM® product (7 oz)
1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
6 sheets nori (seaweed)
3 cups cooked Japanese short-grain rice
kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
1 Tbsp furikake (rice seasoning)
6 leaves lettuce (I used ice burg lettuce for the crunch)

Seasonings:
1 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp soy sauce

To read the recipe, visit the Just One Cookbook post here.