Spam musubi variations

Every one of these starts from the same base: warm short-grain rice, a strip of nori, and the mold. If you have not made the classic yet, start there so you know the feel of it: how to make spam musubi. Then come back and pick a direction.

1. Teriyaki chicken musubi

Swap the Spam for a boneless chicken thigh. Cook it in the same shoyu-and-sugar glaze until it is sticky and browned, slice it to fit the mold, and press it in just like the Spam. This is the one to make when you want something a little heartier.

Use thigh, not breast. Breast dries out and goes stringy in the press, and thigh stays juicy. Pound it to an even thickness so it sits flat in the mold, because a lumpy piece makes the rice split when you press down.

Cook it most of the way in a dry-ish pan first, then add the glaze at the end and let it reduce and cling. If you add the sugar too early it burns before the chicken is done. Let the chicken cool a few minutes before it goes in, since hot meat steams the rice and you end up with a soggy musubi.

2. Tamago musubi

Tamago is a sweet rolled egg omelet. A folded slab of it in place of the Spam makes a soft, mild musubi that kids love. It is a nice one for a meatless morning.

Proper tamagoyaki is cooked in thin layers in a rectangular pan, each one rolled onto the last. If you do not have the pan, a regular skillet and a bit of patience gets you close, or you can make a flat omelet, fold it into a rectangle, and cut it to size.

Season the egg with a little sugar, mirin, and a splash of shoyu. It should taste noticeably sweet on its own, because the rice and nori mute it. Cut the slab slightly thicker than you would cut Spam, since egg compresses more under the press.

3. Fried egg and Spam musubi

Keep the Spam and add a folded fried egg on top of it before you press. This is the breakfast version, and it is the reason people say musubi is a full meal in one hand. Cook the egg firm so it holds up in the press.

Runny yolk is the enemy here. It looks wonderful for about four seconds and then it is everywhere. Cook the egg through, over hard, or scramble it flat in the pan and fold it into a square.

A neat trick is to fry the egg inside a square mold or a cut ring so it comes out the right shape already. Otherwise fry it normally and trim the edges square with a knife, which also gives you a cook's snack.

4. Bacon musubi

Line up two or three strips of crisp bacon where the Spam would go. The salt and smoke play well with the sweet glaze and the rice. Weave the strips so every bite gets some.

Cook the bacon until it is crisp but still bendable, not shatteringly brittle. Brittle bacon cracks apart under the press and slides out of the musubi when someone picks it up.

Drain it well on paper towels. Bacon fat and rice do not mix in a good way, and any grease left on the strips makes the nori go slick and refuse to stick. A brush of the shoyu glaze over the bacon before pressing ties it back to the classic.

5. Spicy Spam musubi

Make the classic, then add a thin layer of sriracha mayo between the rice and the Spam. A little goes a long way. For more heat, a few slices of fresh jalapeno pressed in with the Spam does the trick.

Mix the sriracha into Japanese mayo rather than using sriracha straight. Straight hot sauce is watery and it soaks into the rice, which makes a wet musubi and a hot pink stripe. Mayo carries the heat and stays put. Two parts mayo to one part sriracha is a reasonable starting point.

Other heat that works: a smear of gochujang, chili crisp with the oil drained off, or a spicy furikake. Keep whatever you use on the drier side, which is the rule for anything you put inside a musubi.

6. Furikake and shoyu upgrades

The easiest change is the seasoning. A heavier hand with furikake, a brush of extra glaze on the finished musubi, or a swap to a spicier furikake all move the flavor without changing the method. Here is a quick guide to picking a furikake.

This is the one I would try first, because it costs nothing and changes a lot. Season the rice on both sides of the Spam instead of just underneath. Or glaze the Spam twice, letting the first coat set before the second goes on, which gets you a darker, stickier slice.

A thin brush of the glaze over the outside of the finished musubi, right before the nori goes on, makes it glossy and gives the first bite more punch. Do it just before serving, not hours ahead, or the nori softens.

7. Teriyaki tofu musubi

For a plant-based version, press firm tofu, pat it very dry, and glaze it the same way as the Spam until the outside is browned and sticky. It holds together better than you would expect and takes on the sauce beautifully.

Use extra firm, and press it properly. Wrap the block in a clean towel, set a pan on top with a couple of cans in it, and leave it half an hour. Tofu that has not been pressed will not brown, it just sits in the pan and steams.

Slice it about the thickness of a Spam slice, dust it lightly with cornstarch before it hits the pan, and give it real time on each side without moving it around. The starch is what gets you an edge that holds the glaze. Check your furikake if you need this fully vegetarian, since most blends contain bonito.

Rules that carry across all of them

Whatever you put in the middle, a few things stay true, and they are the difference between a musubi that holds and one that falls apart on the way to the beach.

Keep the filling dry. This is the big one and it is behind half the problems people run into. Sauces, runny yolks, watery vegetables, and undrained anything will soak into the rice and the musubi will slump. Drain, pat dry, and let hot things cool a little before they go in.

Warm rice, not hot and not cold. Warm rice is sticky and takes the shape. Piping hot rice steams the nori limp and is miserable to handle. Cold rice will not bind and the musubi crumbles when you cut it.

Wet the mold. Dip the press in water between each one. Rice sticks to dry plastic and you will spend more time cleaning the mold than making musubi. A small bowl of water next to your station is the whole trick.

Press firmly and evenly. Firmer than feels polite. A loosely packed musubi looks fine and then falls apart in the hand. Press straight down, not at an angle.

Cut the nori to fit. A strip about a third of a sheet wide is right for a standard mold. Too wide and it bunches, too narrow and it will not hold. Set the musubi on the strip, wrap, and let it sit seam side down for a minute so the moisture from the rice seals it shut.

Making them ahead and packing them

Musubi is a make-ahead food by nature. That is what it was for, something you could wrap and carry to work or the beach.

Same day is best. Wrap each one individually in plastic wrap as soon as it is made and keep it at room temperature. They are good for about six to eight hours that way, which covers a whole day out.

Do not refrigerate them if you can avoid it. Cold rice goes hard and chalky, and no amount of hoping fixes it. If you must refrigerate, wrap tightly and let them come back to room temperature before eating, or give one about twenty seconds in the microwave with the plastic loosened.

If you want the nori to stay crisp, keep it separate and wrap each musubi right before eating. That is how the convenience store ones in Japan manage it, with a clever wrapper that keeps the nori off the rice until you pull the tab.

For a cooler or a lunch box, the sturdy fillings travel best. Spam, teriyaki chicken, and tofu all hold up. Fried egg and anything with mayo are better eaten the same day.

Questions I get

Do I need a mold for these?

It makes all of them easier and neater. You can use the cleaned-out Spam can with the top and bottom removed, which is how plenty of people did it before molds were sold everywhere. Here is the guide to picking one.

What rice works?

Short or medium grain white rice, the kind sold as sushi rice or calrose. Long grain will not stick together and the musubi will not hold its shape.

Can I make these without nori?

Yes, though the nori is doing structural work as well as flavor. Without it you have a rice block that needs careful handling.

Which one should I make first?

The furikake and shoyu upgrades, since they change the flavor without changing anything about the method. Then teriyaki chicken.

Start with the classic

Every variation here is a small twist on one method. Learn it once and the rest are easy: how to make spam musubi.