Do you enjoy making bento for yourself or your family? Look what I made today! Super adorable Piggy Spam Musubi!
Spam was a main course for the troops during World War II, and the local Japanese in Hawaii created omusubi or onigiri (rice ball in Japanese) with spam on top. And that’s how spam musubi was invented.
These days spam musubi have different variations (some with furikake/rice seasonings, etc) and they can be easily found at restaurants and even convenience stores in Hawaii.
My children and I went through the entire cookbook together in one sitting. We discussed which one was our favorite and both of my children especially loved Ming’s Piggy Spam Musubi bento and wanted to make it.
It might seem intimidating to try when you look at the fancy bento. However, with really thorough step-by-step tutorials like Ming’s cookbook, you would quickly realize how easy and simple it is to make.
Some of you might be unfamiliar with working with rice and making the rice into a specific shape. No worries, Ming suggested to use the tin that Spam was in it. You can easily make a nice and firm bed of rice with the tin.
What Is Spam Musubi?
Spam Musubi is a popular snack or lunch from Hawaii and it is composed of just three ingredients; a slice of grilled spam, rice, and nori (seaweed).Spam was a main course for the troops during World War II, and the local Japanese in Hawaii created omusubi or onigiri (rice ball in Japanese) with spam on top. And that’s how spam musubi was invented.
These days spam musubi have different variations (some with furikake/rice seasonings, etc) and they can be easily found at restaurants and even convenience stores in Hawaii.
Not Just Spam Musubi, It’s Piggy Spam Musubi!
Last month I received a copy of this amazing Yummy Kawaii Bento cookbook written by my friend Li Ming Lee from Bento Monsters.My children and I went through the entire cookbook together in one sitting. We discussed which one was our favorite and both of my children especially loved Ming’s Piggy Spam Musubi bento and wanted to make it.
It might seem intimidating to try when you look at the fancy bento. However, with really thorough step-by-step tutorials like Ming’s cookbook, you would quickly realize how easy and simple it is to make.
Some of you might be unfamiliar with working with rice and making the rice into a specific shape. No worries, Ming suggested to use the tin that Spam was in it. You can easily make a nice and firm bed of rice with the tin.
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Namiko Chen
Serves: 3 spam musubi
Ingredients
- 3 slices of Spam
- ½ Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cup cooked rice
- 1 slice of ham
- 1 sheet of nori (seaweed)
- 1 uncooked spaghetti
Things you will also need:
- Spam tin (washed and dried)
- Plastic wrap
- Scissors
- Nori punch (optional)
- Tweezers (optional)
Instructions
- Cut 3 slices of Spam. Add a little oil to the frying pan and cook the spam until lightly browned on both sides.
- Line the Spam tin with the plastic wrap. Scoop rice into the tin and gently press the rice together.
- Pull out the plastic wrap and remove it. Place a slice of spam on the rice.
- Cut out a strip of nori and wrap it around the spam-and-rice sandwich.
- Use a nori punch or a pair of scissors, cut out pig’s eyes and nostrils from the nori sheet.
- Cut out an oval shape from the slice of ham for the pig’s snout. Then cut out six smaller ovals for the pig’s ears and feet. Cut out an inverted “V” at the edges of four of the ovals to form the cloven hoovers.
- Place the ham and nori on the Spam.
- Use a spaghetti to secure the ham onto the Spam and pack spam musubi into the bento box.
Notes
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
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