This recipe is a vegan spin of the Hawaiian favorite spam musubi! Enjoy your favorite foods at home and get vacation vibes of Hawaii.
You can usually find musubi at your local Hawaiian BBQ or when in Hawaii. It’s such a popular snack and lunch food you’ll even find them at 711 in Hawaii. This food is similar to the Japanese onigiri rice ball and was actually created by Japanese Americans during World War II.
We'll show you how to make vegan Spam Musubi 3 ways:
1) Original
2) With Egg
3) With Avocado
BONUS - 4th way with Egg & Avocado
For this recipe we used high protein extra firm tofu but you can used smoked tofu, pressed tofu, or even tofu cutlets. If you’re using extra firm tofu I recommend pressing the tofu first by wrapping it in a clean kitchen towel. Place a cutting board and books, cans or a heavy pot on top for added weight. Don’t crush the tofu just enough to press the water out. You’ll want to keep it pressed for about 30 minutes.
You’ll need a rectangle musubi making mold. I got mine from Daiso Japan but you can get them on Amazon as well. You can find all different kinds of them on Amazon from plastic to stainless steel.
This recipe takes about 60 minutes to make about 10 musubi. This recipe goes great with Hawaiian Macaroni Salad! They make the perfect pair.
INGREDIENTS:
Sushi Rice
- 1 1/2 cups Japanese Short Grain Rice
- 1 3/4 cups Water
- 1 Tbs Rice Vinegar
- 1 Tbs Mirin
- 1 tsp Water (warm)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Spam Marinade
- 1/4 cup Tamari
- 1/4 cup Water (warm)
- 1 Tbs Salt
- 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Rice Vinegar
Other
- 1 block Extra Firm Tofu (16 oz, sliced)
- 3 Nori Sheets (cut into strips)
- 1/2 Avocado (sliced)
- 1/2 cup Just Egg
- 1/2 tsp No Egg Seasoning
- Furikake
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Slice tofu 1/4 inch thick our block of tofu made 10 slices
- Depending on your musubi mold you might need to cut the tofu so it fits in the mold
- In a wide bowl add the marinade ingredients, whisk until all ingredients are dissolved
- Add tofu to the marinade and set aside
- Rinse rice under cold water about 3 times or until water runs clear
- Cook the rice in a rice cooker or on stove top
- If cooking on stove top add water and rice to pot, cover and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes (don't take the lid off while it's cooking)
- While rice is cooking slice avocado: cut in half, remove the seed and skin, slice thinly
- Cut nori into strips based on how wide you prefer based on the musubi mold
- I like to leave some of the ends exposed but not too much, use kitchen scissors to cut
- In frying pan add oil on medium heat, add Just Egg and sprinkle No Egg Seasoning
- Use spatula to mix and smooth to cover the entire pan
- Once the Just Egg is mostly cooked use a spatula to fold the egg into musubi width (watch our video at the top of the page for a tutorial)
- Put egg on cutting board and use mold to cut into musubi size pieces
- Once rice is done cooking loosen the rice and add to large mixing bowl
- In a small bowl add rice vinegar, water, mirin and salt. Whisk ingredients until dissolved
- Add rice vinegar mixture to the rice and mix well, set aside to cool
- Now cook the marinated tofu, either pan fry or you can use an air fryer
- Use egg pan on medium heat and add plenty of oil pour in some of the marinade
- Cook the tofu until it's browned on both sides, this will take about 8 min each side
- If using an air fryer cook at 390F for about 12 min
- Get one strip of the nori put the musubi mold on top and add rice
- Pack down the rice using the musubi mold, rice layer should be about 3/4 inch thick
- Remove mold and sprinkle furikake on top of the rice, add a piece of tofu on top
- Wrap with a piece of nori, use water or rice to seal the end
- Repeat and add either egg or avocado or both on top of the tofu
- Eat as a snack, for lunch or with your favorite Hawaiian dish like macaroni salad
