A thick slice of teriyaki-glazed SPAM on seasoned rice, wrapped in a band of nori. Hawaii's most iconic snack — sold at every convenience store from Honolulu to Hilo, and the best argument that canned meat has ever made for itself.
SPAM arrived in Hawaii during World War II, when the U.S. military stationed hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the islands and fresh meat was rationed or unavailable. Hawaii's diverse communities — Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Hawaiian — all found ways to incorporate the canned pork into their respective food traditions. But it was the Japanese-Hawaiian community's instinct to treat SPAM like they treated other savory proteins — slice it thin, glaze it in soy and mirin, serve it on rice — that created musubi. Musubi (from the Japanese onigiri tradition) are handheld rice cakes, and applying the concept to SPAM was a natural cultural translation. By the 1980s, SPAM musubi was ubiquitous at Hawaiian school lunches, 7-Eleven counters, and convenience stores. Hawaii consumes more SPAM per capita than any other U.S. state — 7 million cans a year for a population of 1.4 million. Visitors often approach SPAM musubi with skepticism and leave with an inexplicable craving. The combination works: salty, caramelized meat, vinegared rice, and the ocean-mineral hit of nori. It is one piece of food that contains the full history of Hawaii in the 20th century.
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