Grilled Spam Musubi

Spam landed in Hawaii with the military in WWII and stayed because it kept without refrigeration and took to shoyu and sugar like it was designed for it. The musubi itself — Spam on a pressed block of rice, banded with nori — is credited to Barbara Funamura on Kauai in the early 1980s, a straight riff on Japanese onigiri. Today it's the single most sold item at every 7-Eleven on the islands.

The pan version is fine. The fire version is better, and it's the only real change here: Spam over kiawe chips picks up a thin, sweet smoke and the glaze caramelizes in seconds instead of stewing in its own liquid. Slice thicker than you think — 1/3 inch. Thin slices go leathery on a live grate.

Ingredients

• 1 can (12 oz) Spam — classic or less sodium, cut into 8 slices about 1/3 inch thick
• 3 cups cooked short-grain rice, still warm
• 3 sheets sushi nori, cut in half crosswise
• Glaze: 3 Tbsp shoyu + 2 Tbsp sugar + 1 Tbsp mirin + 1 tsp grated ginger, whisked until the sugar dissolves
• Furikake for the rice
• A musubi press, or the empty Spam can with both ends cut out
• Neutral oil for the grate

Cook Sequence

1. Build a hot direct bed and bring the grate to 450-500°F. Throw a handful of kiawe chips on the coals right before the Spam goes down — you want smoke rolling, not smoldering.
2. Oil the grate hard. Lay the slices down and leave them alone 2 minutes, until the edges curl and the face is mahogany with clear grate marks.
3. Flip, go another 2 minutes, then brush both sides with the glaze and give it 30-45 seconds a side. It will flare — that's sugar doing its job. Pull before it goes black.
4. Set the press on a sheet of nori, shiny side down, running crosswise. Pack in 1/3 cup rice and tamp it firm and flat — loose rice falls apart in the hand.
5. Sprinkle furikake on the rice, lay a slice of Spam on top, then press down once more and lift the mold straight up.
6. Fold the nori up and over, seal the seam with a wet fingertip, and let it sit 2 minutes so the nori softens and grips. Serve warm — refrigeration ruins the rice.

Round Out the Plate

• Hawaiian Mac Salad — makes it a plate lunch
• Cucumber Salad — cuts the salt