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Halal-conscious recipe

Luncheon meat musubi without Spam or mirin

Liberty Mendez's musubi: slices of Halal luncheon meat fried golden, glazed in soy sauce and brown sugar, pressed onto sushi rice and wrapped in nori, made without Spam or mirin.

  • Cuisine American
  • Meal Snack
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 6 musubi
  • Time 20 min
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
A sushi platter
Photograph from our ingredient library: a sushi platter, not the finished dish from this recipe.

Why Halal checks matter here

The published musubi is made with a can of Spam, which is pork, and glazed with soy sauce cooked with mirin, a rice wine.

Musubi is a block of rice topped with a glazed slice of luncheon meat and held together with a strip of nori. The source uses Spam, which is pork, and glazes it with soy sauce, brown sugar and mirin, a rice wine. Here the slices come from a tin of Halal-certified luncheon meat, and the glaze is soy sauce and brown sugar with water and a teaspoon more sugar in place of the mirin. Those swaps are ours.

It follows Liberty Mendez's Spam musubi for BBC Good Food. The empty tin, lined with cling film, works as the mould, so a 340 g tin gives six slices and six musubi.

The rice should be plain cooked sushi rice; if you season it, check the seasoning, because seasoned sushi vinegar can contain sake (see sushi).

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Spam SPAM Classic and its standard varieties are pork with ham, and the turkey version has no Halal certification. Use a tin of luncheon meat with a Halal mark from a named certifier. See Spam.
  • Mirin Mirin is a rice wine with about 14% alcohol, and scholars differ on it even when cooked. Use water and a little more sugar, as here. See Mirin.
  • Soy sauce Brewed soy sauce is soybeans, wheat, salt and fermentation, and many scholars accept its trace alcohol, but some soy sauces have alcohol or mirin added. Read the label for added alcohol or mirin. See Soy sauce.
  • Sushi rice Sushi rice is often seasoned, and seasoned sushi vinegar can contain sake. Use plain cooked sushi rice, or check what any seasoning contains. See Sushi.

Safe substitutes

  • 340 g can of Spam → 340 g tin of Halal-certified luncheon meat (our swap)
  • 2 tbsp mirin → 2 tbsp water and 1 tsp more brown sugar (our swap)

Allergens

soy (soy sauce), gluten (soy sauce)

Ingredients

Glazed luncheon meat

  • 340 g tin of Halal-certified luncheon meat (our swap for Spam)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce with no added alcohol
  • 2 tbsp water (our swap for 2 tbsp mirin)
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar, plus 1 tsp (our swap for the sweetness of the mirin)

Musubi

  • 500 g cooked sushi rice, unseasoned
  • 2 sheets of nori

Method

  1. Slice. Take the luncheon meat out of the tin and cut it lengthways into six slices. Keep the tin to use as a mould, if you like.
  2. Fry. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the slices for 4 minutes on each side, until turning golden.
  3. Glaze. Meanwhile, mix the soy sauce, water and brown sugar. When the slices are cooked, pour the mixture over them and fry for another minute on each side until coated in the glaze. Leave to cool slightly. The source uses 2 tbsp of mirin here; this version uses water and a little more sugar.
  4. Shape. Line the tin with cling film, or use a musubi mould. Spoon in a few tablespoons of the rice, put one glazed slice on top, press down lightly and lift out. Repeat with the rest of the rice and slices.
  5. Wrap. Cut the nori into strips and wrap one around the middle of each musubi before serving.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Spam musubi' by Liberty Mendez (serves 6: a 340 g can of Spam cut lengthways into six slices, the can kept as a mould; fried in 1 tbsp olive oil over a medium-high heat 4 minutes each side until golden; 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin and 2 tbsp brown sugar mixed, poured over and fried a minute more each side until coated, then cooled slightly; the can lined with cling film, or a musubi mould, filled with a few tablespoons of 500 g cooked sushi rice and a slice on top, pressed lightly and turned out; 2 nori sheets cut into strips and wrapped round the middle). We replaced the Spam with a 340 g tin of Halal-certified luncheon meat and the mirin with 2 tbsp water and 1 tsp more brown sugar, and specified a soy sauce with no added alcohol; those swaps are ours. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Spam musubi — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By Liberty Mendez. Serves 6, prep 10 minutes, cook 10 minutes: Spam sliced, fried 4 minutes a side, glazed with soy sauce, mirin and brown sugar, pressed onto sushi rice in the can and wrapped in nori. We used Halal luncheon meat and replaced the mirin.

  2. Spam analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    Why Spam is Haram, and what to look for in a Halal luncheon meat.

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