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Post-pub nosh neckfiller: Chopstick-collapsing Spam musubi

Hawaiian-Japanese canned pork fusion cuisine? You must be joking

Those of you of delicate culinary sensibilities would do well to look away now as we present for your wobbly dining pleasure the highly improbable Hawaiian-Japanese canned pork fusion cuisine that is Spam musubi.

This Pacific island classic was apparently concocted up by Hawaii's Japanese population after they were introduced to the delights of Spam during WW2. It's since become a local classic.

Reader Sam Wallace, who suggested its inclusion on our post-pub menu, wrote:

The main ingredient is Spam which I feel is perfect given the subject matter of The Register. It also tends to be very polarising, so it should spark some lively discussion.

Spam musubi is pretty light on ingredients, as you'll see. It's loosely based on onigiri (rice balls/cones), and as such isn't sushi. Onigiri feature plain-boiled short-grained sushi rice, perhaps with a touch of salt.

Rice for sushi proper, on the other hand, is flavoured with rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Our correspondent Sam normally favours this option for his Spam musubi, since he uses rice left over from sushi feasts.

That makes sense, so we decided to go with that plan, availing ourselves of the opportunity to knock up some sushi while we were tackling the Spam musubi challenge.

First up, though, we had to get some authentic Japanese ingredients dispatched to this corner of rural Spain. Thanks to the power of the internet and white van delivery man, this Nipponese cornucopia rolled up at the door last week:

Selection of Japanese stuff bought on the internet

The specialist shop was offering free delivery on orders over €60, so we threw a few more goodies into the mix. Those of you who read Japanese will find a couple of things in the above snap which point to a future nosh neckfiller, as recommended by another Reg reader.

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