The Hawaiian ingredients taste best from what's in season, be it the Hawaiian Moon aligned Wet or the Dry season. But local families also mark their own four seasons if it suits them, with: Puna (sunny season, spring), Kau (dry season, summer), Makani (windy season, fall, autumn), Ho'oilo (wet season, winter). The water surrounding Hawaii can bring warrior of deep red fish in the fall season is aku (skipjack tuna) [Aku Cakes], while spam (cured terrine) is celebratory in spring [Pan-fried Spam], halalu (juvenile big eye scad) is abundant in summer [Deep-Fried], and leftover roasts are flavorful when thin cut in the winter. Luncheon meat (hormel brand) can be found in the supermarket throughout the year, people eat what's available to them and enjoy the idea of seasonal variety. The concept of embracing seasonal variety in musubi adds an element of excitement and anticipation to the dish, as the ingredients and flavors change month by month of the year.
The Water is Always Moving
As you visit the other Hawaiian islands you start to discover small differences and subtle things that aren’t exactly like where you live. Things that you thought you knew really well like the Hawaiian Pidgin English is different from just a town over on the same island and when its on another island it's like an accent from another country. Regionality plays an important role in shaping the flavors and preparations of musubi as it does everything else, but even more so in Hawaii because there is nothing else nearby in the middle of the pacific. Each family got their own way and then each community in an area got another way, and it just goes on, because everyone got their way and unique way of doing things. It feels all the same, but really it's quite different. Everyone is in their family bubble sometimes and that is why they don’t try to keep up, they just do their own thing, stay in their own hale (house), and drive their own car. The Water is Always moving is a metaphor for the adaptability and continuous evolution of Hawaiian cuisine.
Be Part of the Musubi Ohana
Altogether it goes to show that the diverse culinary heritage from the classic Spam musubi to lesser-known regional variations, historical anecdotes, and insights from local musubi masters are all smaller pieces that are apart of the whole story without even one piece it is not complete and the story of the Hawaii Musubi can not be told. Those who dare to think, appreciate, understand, and experiment are those who create a bond with the musubi that the everyday eater can only dream to understand, but once they give it a try they are part of it too. Use the tongue to taste the flavors instilled in the dish, use your ears to listen to the crunch of the nori, and use your hands to feel the texture of the grains on your fingertips. The more people that engage with the making of musubi the better, but why? It is because becoming active in making their own food with participation connects people who are doing it, just by doing it, and the people they are making the food with like their family or friends. By doing the act of making a musubi there is a connection, even if people don’t realize it is happening before their very eyes and that is the essence that people feel with Hawaii families.
Musubi Resourcefulness
Discovering Once You Take a Glance
You might encounter musubi stuffed with succulent slow-smoked meat, a nod to the island's rich ranching history, a musubi with a fish that looks back at the fishing industry, or a mish mash of ingredients due to survival from that area's specific plantation in the plantation era. Its about time and it's about region and the season, because the waters are always moving as they say, nothing is still. These regional adaptations showcase the local spirit of Hawaii's local chefs and home cooks, showing resilience to survive and push forward with that grind-set… Diversifying their own dishes and by doing so diversifying the culinary landscape that makes Hawaiian cuisine so captivating to those who are just starting to understand the large world inside the tiny bit of land that it sits on. Rather than an artistic expression formed for luxury or for the sake of it, the food of Hawaii carries its weight with its story, the story of the food that has its bones in history and has evolved into something rugged into something beautiful. Hawaii always has a story and that adds depth to every bite.
Appreciating Food
The canned spam showed the survival of the food as it was salt-cured and shaped like the can. The many times ground fat would marble the red meat of the pork ham and taste even better if it was from the lands of the islands, but don’t forget that home made would sometimes incorporate braised pork belly for a fatty sort of taste. The nori is like the feeling of nature with the aromatic nori that gives off a delicious scent as it warms up from the heat source that makes it ever more crispy from either stove top, fire, or charcoal. Appreciating the meat for what it is comes from understanding where it comes from, having it be from a Aku Tuna whole fish that has its separate cuts, an entire Pig cut into its particular sections, or even the different parts of the whole ox. Knowing the different parts can help create musubi that is not as familiar, yet familiar, and enthusiasts will find themselves interested in cuts they might have not paid as close attention to before. Cultivating a greater sense of connection with the ingredients are the things that inspire curiosity and exploration into lesser-known variations of the dish as well.
No Forget What's in the Fridge
Appreciation is part of the whole thing even when it comes to vegetables like Nancy Toyama (Musubi Chef) who possessed a wonderful sense of food aesthetics, sense of taste, and combination memory that was kept throughout her life, but also motivated others to continue and serve food until everyone was full. A little bit of this and a little bit of the musubis she would make would show appreciation for what she had used on a daily basis. No forget the pickled ginger in the fridge or the jar of pickled onion or the glass full of pickled cabbage all the way in the back of the fridge, she would reach in and make use of each ingredient by remembering it, rediscovering it, and appreciating it. It is a constant reminder that it is an ability and skill to remember, rediscover, and appreciate ingredients that may have been forgotten or overlooked for a mindset to make the most of what they have on hand.
Spam in a Can the Miracle Meat
Taking it Back Wartime, Many have eaten Spam Musubi in the 1960s before its proper documentation, then in the 1970’s when people were really getting into it, and twenty years later as a Hawaii dish with a name in the 1980s. This is because people were moving into canned spam, the miracle mystery meat of the war. It was a time when many Hawaii ingredients were shipped away for the war efforts and so Hawaii would have to depend on making creative food dishes with rationed food as a matter of survival. It was a deadly reminder that things like gardens, cured ground foods, and canned goods were essential. C-Ration meat was a food product of the U.S. military meal system that was in cans called Meal Combat Individual (MCI) with some who came back from the war claiming PTSS (Post Traumatic Spam Syndrome). At this time Spam, Portuguese Sausage, and Pipikaula were already being placed on rice as they were taken out to the fields as a snack. The pressures of fresh foods being in such high demand made it so that canned things were much more available. Oftentimes people hoarded from fear of shipments not making it to Hawaii. This is why it was so popular, because it was in a can.
Globalization of Spam, there is still much to know to see how Spam came to the Hawaii plate. Things have come so far and understanding the stories that travel back in time is necessary. The origin of the spam musubi goes back to the war times of world war II where it was brought over as war rations and nicknamed “spare animal parts”. It was a part of Austin Minnesota Cuisine, an American Luncheon Meat, “Spam” by Hormel Foods “The Heartbeat of Spam remains in Hawaii”. As a War Ration it got globalized and through those who came from the military it would be an American breakfast meat as Spam would be widely recognized as a meat, even if troops didn’t necessarily know what it was or where it came from. It was often served at Japanese and Okinawan American Family Restaurants from those who left the Hawaii plantations, but even in the fields people could still find spam and rice. The way that people liked their Spam in Hawaii was frying up the spam and placing it on rice and putting a flame crisped seaweed on top, something that was not really done in the North Central United states at that time.
Canned Foods Rise
This would have people getting lots of previously cooked and salted for preserved choices like: vienna sausage (libby’s), spam (hormel), luncheon meat (deli), corned beef (libby’s), and many of those became today's comfort foods. All sorts of canned items were used with rice and nori: canned ham (hormel), canned sardines, canned tuna, canned salmon, canned oysters, canned abalone. There was something about that commercialized familiarity as something familiar to a person with its rectangle meat shaped with rounded edges. The meat that comes from a can shape is evident and the look of it makes it appear as some large rice brick, but when taking a closer look at where it is served the styles differ, even with the use of spam that isn’t the same as the flavors made by the company Hormel: Classic Spam, Cheese Chunks, and Hickory Smoke. Much later variations like: Turkey, Hot & Spicy, Portuguese Sausage, Bacon, Garlic, Tocino, Teriyaki, Chorizo, Black Pepper, and Jalapeno would arrive. This is why some people think of canned food and they think of a musubi, because of its historic role during the time of canned goods.
Musubis in a time of Food Scarcity
Food Scarcity
During the post-war period in Hawaii, there was a significant transition in the state's economy, as it shifted from an agriculture-based to a service-based economy. The plantation system, which had dominated the economy for decades, began to decline as Hawaii entered a economy based on the global economy much earlier than other places around the world. This increased competition from other countries in the post-war period, so it saw an increase in tourism, which became a major driver of economic growth in Hawaii. This shift led to a decline in agriculture, as land that was once used for farming was converted for tourism-related developments, such as hotels and resorts. As imported goods were on the rise with higher shelf life goods were on the rise, locally-produced foods took a nosedive. At those times it wasn’t quite known what the health risks to many of the goods were and there were many unhealthy consumed goods raising peoples health risks with concerns like high-sodium, high-fat, and overall not good things that were not yet widely known about to the general public in their long term effects.
Issues Hawaii Faces
Many of these issues exist today, such as: Tourism Real Estate Issues connected to the Housing Crisis, Unfriendly Hawaii Entrepreneurship in its Local-owned Business Environment, Lack of Resident to Visitor Balance, Global Advantages of a Unamended Jones Act (change or modify while keeping the existence of). The prioritization of real estate development for tourism led to a decrease in land for agricultural production. This reduces the potential for local food production and increases reliance on imported foods, making it more difficult to achieve food security. Unfavorable business conditions for local entrepreneurs can hinder the growth of Hawaii's local food production and distribution systems, leading to increased reliance on imported foods and less support for small-scale farmers and producers. This perpetuates the cycle of food scarcity. The high volume of visitors puts pressure on Hawaii's already strained resources, including food supplies. As the demand for food increases, the reliance on imported goods also rises, further exacerbating food scarcity issues. Not only that, it increases shipping costs for Hawaii, making imported products cheaper than locally produced ones. This disadvantages local farmers and producers and makes it more difficult to build a robust local food system that can adequately address food scarcity issues.
Musubi After War
The musubi of today is very different from the war-time and even before then and stands as a survival food of rationing and stands as a particular variation. The rice in the cooker would have been eaten till the very last grain and could be a meal in itself as a mix of ingredients, mix of the flavoring liquid, or as an accompanying dish to a soup. There were musubis with: Koge rice (burned), Chewy rice (25% mochi/ 75% sticky rice), and Fried rice (fried sticky rice). These sorts of rice would be made as people had to survive on either rice or bread in a time of hardship after the war, especially those who worked for the cannery or plantations. The resilience of locals would grow as people were already getting priced out of paradise and had to move elsewhere, particularly the mainland United States. While it can be a bit harder to find anyone in the commercial space daring to make the specialty musubis with specialty rice it can still be found in homes. Those in the plantation era would sometimes ask
“Do you like it Koge? Chewy? Fried? Or All Mixed up?”
Mom and Dads Family Musubi,
The typical homemade spam musubi follows a moderate amount of rice with a half an inch-thick while being cooked on a saute pan until crispy dark red or even better on a flat top as it cooks in its own juices after the pan has been oiled. Families would make musubis as something simply prepared and there wasn’t a gourmet layered musubi that had more than three things, but maybe one main ingredient and then a supporting ingredient without too much difficulty in figuring out the flavor. There wasn’t talks about sauce, but more about the way people would prepare the topping and the rice itself as a way to make the perfect musubi. It had people debate over topics that seem typical in the musubi world, like the: (A.) rice to spam ratio [or topping], (A1.) single topping or deluxe layered topping, (A2.) the topping thickness, (B.) rice to water ratio, (B1.) rice variety and flavoring, (C.) choice of temperature the rice is served at, and (D.) choice of crispness or sogginess.
Let Me Tell You About Musubi Back Den
Okazu Musubi, Musubis were served in Okazuya’s and called rectangular “Okazu Musubi” where a musubi was cut into three parts with the nori going all the way through instead of a simple strip. It was served as a “Pupu” instead of a meal on the go, but when canned foods were eaten with these Musubis the saltiness was a winning combination for Locals who ate them. In addressing food scarcity and providing flavorful, convenient meals for locals there were many canned foods, pickled foods, and dried foods that were made into dishes from the delicatessens in Hawaii. Parents would make musubis for their kids and for hiking adventures or for a day at the beach as something little to eat. As the years have gone by chefs are taking creative freedoms starting with the variations of spam, luncheon meat, tubular meats, thin-sliced roasts, other variations of proteins, and all other possible toppings on it. The okazuya was a mix of all sorts of foods and many thank them for making the most of available ingredients by transforming them into actual onolicious dishes. They were places that used things like musubi to satisfy the community appetite for dishes that were still local and diverse.
Convenience Store Musubi, before there were the large convenience stores the 7-11s and what not there were good old local Neighborhood Markets with the most Authentic tastes. The Convenience stores from way back when that had all sorts of musubi concoctions too that have disappeared with the families that ran them. During this time the strip nori preparation was prevalent because of many of the convenience stores and as they have vanished people would just make them any kine. The influence of neighborhood markets and convenience stores on Hawaii's musubi culture cannot be overstated as it helped shape the varieties of regional musubi with inspiration from: hot pockets, hamburgers, chinese roasts, and plate lunches. As larger convenience store chains dominated the landscape there would be less varieties that were available and it would make younger people feel that those were the only varieties that were made. Although people have their own musubi varieties, the simplicity and versatility of strip nori musubi reminds people of the days of family-run convenience stores with getting their meal on the go. It was when people had their own favorite places to go or market they grew up with.
Musubi Confusion
Confusion of the Hawaii Musubi
The Musubi was at one point mistaken for a “Japanese Onigiri” with its original rice ball triangular-shape that was the same as its Japanese counterpart, but just way bigger, nowadays called a triangular “Jumbo Musubi”. So this caused stores to call Onigiri that were recipes from their home prefectures in Japan and set up a Musubi shop making it hard to tell what was a Japan Regional Onigiri and what was a Hawaii take on it. The reason is a lot of people weren’t looking into regional food history or knowledgeable about all the items in the musubi shop as they just wanted to eat something dang delicious. While there is a connection, there are similarities, they each hold their own unique food identities and connections that make them quite different.
Time Locked Onigiri
This confusion went two ways as people from Hawaii had really old knowledge of the Onigiri that had arrived in Hawaii a long time ago. The history of a dish is continuous and as Onigiri had its own story in Japan and in each prefecture and each town it also did in Hawaii in its areas and timeline. Japanese visitors would look at musubi and just think it was a much bigger version back in the day and Hawaiian-Japanese would tell Japanese visitors about Hawaii Musubi that they were told from their ancestors about old time onigiri, which left them scratching their heads, because that was really old onigiri to them and not the story people say today about Japan onigiri. The definition was that the onigiri meant to tie a knot of a relationship like marriage and in Japan they were called “Onigiri” from the word “nigiru” that means to shape or press into form. Explanations were Onigiri, Omusubi, Nigirimeshi, and musubi, but many Native Japanese saw the shape and ingredients of the Hawaii musubi and knew the onigiri wasn’t the same onigiri anymore after it has been made in Hawaii for so long.
Okinawan Onigiri Sando
Even Okinawa has its own rice-ball sandwich known as “Onigiri Sando” that uses spam and eggs and other similar things to a Hawaii musubi, but it's not the same as it is shaped to be a sandwich with an open-side and many layers upon layers of ingredients with much less rice. To make things more complicated all forms of Japanese cuisine rice balls were starting to be labeled musubi, because of the confusing naming not distinctively separating Hawaii musubi from Japanese musubi. Hawaii is no stranger to confusing its food dishes…This confusion can be traced back to Kauai where spam musubis actually had triangle variations in Lihue where people had to trace back the triangle shape back to Japan before the standard rectangle shape that is the Hawaii-standard musubi shape.
So Where is it Really From?
So there is the Musubi and then there is the local island resident that been here for generations Musubi…The particularly popular variation that everyone recognizes is the Spam Musubi from Hawaii or the “Hawaii Spam Musubi” where there are dishes similar, but still not the same. Is it Japanese? Is it American? Is it Okinawan? The rice ball is Japanese, the Spam is American, and it has a resemblance to Potama as many had their similar Wartime foods, because Spam caught on with all sorts of countries and went worldwide back then.
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