Musubi

[Raboi]

We heard you have to pick it up early at the places that make it (looking at Mana Bu's in honolulu). Can you take it with you to eat later and if so, does it have to stay cold? Do you eat it at room temperature? In other words, I want to take some on a hike and eat it in 3-4 hours. How do I make sure its ok?

[KaimukiMan]

So a dumb haole question... whats the difference between Musubi and Onigiri?

[akq]

Same. Just different words for the same thing. May be regional.

[Clinton]

Not a dumb question Kman...traditional musubi as I could recall was always a triangled-shaped riceball, wrapped in nori or pressed dried seaweed over salted rice. It could be plain or stuffed with a small red umeboshi or preserved salted plum. It could also be stuffed with a piece of yellow takuan or sweet Japanese pickled radish. Those were the two most common musubis or "onigiri" as I recall. Onigiri could have been triangled-shaped or rolled like a maki sushi. One thing that differentiates musubis from sushi is that sushi contains vinegar and musubi is salted.

[KaimukiMan]

done some checking as well, apparently its one of those where most japanese in hawaii came from a time and place where it was called musubi (omusubi) while it is now more commonly referred to as onigiri in the Japanese speaking world. Sushi is a clearly different, but related dish. thanks folks.

[Clinton]

You're probably correct in that assumption Kman. I found that the Japanese in Hawaii have their own "slangs" or colloquialisms which is slightly different from the mainland and Japan cultures IMO. For example, "chirashi" was unfamiliar to me when it was served here in SoCal. In Hawaii, it was commonly refered to as "sushi rice" with veggies and kamaboko in it. Normally it is stuffed in cone sushi or inari back home. I guess it's like dialects, different regions have their own peculiarities and identities?

[indelibledotink]

it's very easy to make if you have an acrylic mold to press it together. seaweed (nori) is available in every supermarket, as is spam and rice. i like to add a little oyster sauce to the pan when i heat the sliced spam.

[KaimukiMan]

and you can always make spamless musubi... LOL, ume or not

[Clinton]

Musubi when I was small kid was rice and nori wrapped around a salted ume plum or takuan shaped in a shaped triangle. Side dishes would include a can of vienna sausage or fried hot dogs or if more adventurous, panko deep fried aku or kamaboko. Good memories of days at the beach at Waikiki and Ala Moana.

[KaimukiMan]

thats what it was when i moved here in the 70s

[indelibledotink]

that's a traditional japanese musubi - a rice ball or rice triangle.

[KaimukiMan]

Raboi,

keep it wrapped. it should be fine.

[macaraca]

In all the years people have been taking spam musubi to the beach/hike/school/whatevers I've never heard of any health problems from them being unrefrigerated/unheated etc. You would think with their incredible popularity, that by now we would have had some report of the actual risk.

Perhaps a tangent, but a lot of people fear unrefrigerated mayonnaise, and things made with it, like potato or mac salad. Growing up here, with daily temps constantly 70-80+ degrees I can vouch for the fact that my mother never once refrigerated her big jar of Best Foods mayo, and we all survived. It is my understanding that the lemon juice in mayo inhibits bacteria. What mysterious protective powers spam has remains unknown.

[ricoboxing]

spam has so much salt in it, that you could probably leave it out for 2 years and still eat it without getting sick

[killersmile]

You could always phone/fax in your order and pick it up later if you are getting it from Mana Bu's. Musubi should never be cold. The rice will harden if it gets chilled. Eat it at room temperature. Just pack it in your bag with you, 3-4 hours shouldn't be a problem since there are no raw ingredients in the musubi. Make sure not to smash it!