The Story of Happy Tummy's Spam Musubi

by Mark Isip

SPAM Musubi is a very popular snack in Hawaii.


As a child, I grew up eating Hawaiian BBQ. Here in the Philippines, Jollibee’s fried chicken is the favorite of most children, and for me, it is Hawaiian BBQ. Of the whole entire Hawaiian BBQ menu, there was one item I would order every time I would eat at the restaurant. This memorable snack is SPAM Musubi.
SPAM Musubi consists of a sliced piece of SPAM on top of a bed of rice, pressed to the size of a block and wrapped with nori; basically SPAM Sushi. As I got older, I started cooking and creating my own recipes for Hawaiian BBQ including SPAM Musubi. My recipes are a twist on the original; you get punched in the face with an awesome mix of different flavors.


Before the boom of food carts and street food markets in San Francisco, I intended to be part of the up and coming trend. Now there are many varieties of food carts. I decided to move to the Philippines for culinary school and found there was the same interest in street food here. So why not bring the Philippines a taste of Hawaii? Midnight Mercato is where I decided to start my journey. My goal is to introduce Hawaiian Cuisine to the Philippines starting with SPAM Musubi and would eventually like to introduce other unique and delicious Hawaiian dishes.


Foodies would love SPAM Musubi because it is a quick, delicious snack you can eat on the go that gives you a Happy Tummy. SPAM Musubi isn’t just SPAM and rice. It is a marinated slice of SPAM on top of a bed of seasoned sushi rice wrapped with nori. You also can choose to add an extra flavor of garlic mayo, wasabi mayo, caramel or chocolate sauce. This isn’t your mama’s recipe -- it's innovation at its finest. LEGO! :D


*http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2011/12/happy-tummys-spam-musubi.html