Tofu Musubi

For those of you out there who don’t enjoy spam, be it for dietary reasons or simply because you have trouble getting behind a can-shaped loaf of pork product, I have a real treat for you. In this recipe I replace the meat in a traditional spam musubi with crisp, fried tofu slices for a delicious vegan take on a classic Hawaiian snack.

I know that tofu has a lot of haters out there (more or fewer than spam do you think?), and I get it. When poorly prepared, tofu is awful. It is often wet, mushy, and flavorless. But, if you think that you don’t like tofu, this recipe might just be what changes your mind. The trick is to drain as much excess water as possible from the tofu and then dredge it in plenty of cornstarch before frying. The cornstarch creates the crunchiest, most delectable tofu, which is delicious by itself, but even better when tossed in a simple soy glaze. Set it on a ball of sushi rice and wrap it in nori and you’ve got something extra special.

Tofu Musubi

A crispy, delicious, vegan take on the classic Hawaiian snack, spam musubi. With a crisp cornstarch crust and a soy and brown sugar glaze, this recipe is so good it might just have you skipping the spam next time around too.

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Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine Hawaiian, Vegan

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb. firm tofu
• cornstarch
• neutral oil
• 3-4 sheets nori

Sushi Rice

• 2 cups short or medium grain rice
• 2 cups water
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Glaze

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• ½ tsp sesame oil
• ⅛ tsp garlic powder

Instructions

 

• First make the rice by adding 2 cups of short-grain sushi rice and 2 cups of water to a pot over medium-high heat. Cover and bring to a boil. When it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.
• After the rice has simmered for 10 minutes, remove it from heat and allow it to steam for another 10 minutes. Do not uncover it during this time, the steaming is very important.
• After 10 minutes have passed, mix together the ½ cup rice vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Add the rice to the bowl and stir it well to combine. Then allow it to cool so that you can easily handle it.
• Remove the tofu and place it on a wire rack over a bowl (or something similar) to allow it to drain. You can also gently squeeze it and pat with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Then slice it into 8 even pieces.
• Bring a heavy skillet to high heat and add around ½” neutral, high-heat oil.
• Dredge the tofu slices in a thick layer of cornstarch and add to the hot oil. Fry them, flipping once, until golden and crisp on both sides. Remove to a plate with a paper towel to soak up excess oil.
• Once the tofu is fried, pour off the oil, and use the same skillet to make your glaze. Add all of the glaze ingredients and heat over medium until the sugar is dissolved. Add the tofu back to the pan and coat nicely. Remove from heat.
• To assemble the musubi, begin by laying down a 2-3” wide strip of nori and placing a slice of tofu in the center, perpendicular to the nori.
• Wet your hands and pick up ¼-½ cup of the cooked sushi rice. Use your fingers to shape the ball of rice into a rectangle of similar size to the tofu.
• Place the rice ball on top of the tofu and wrap the nori around it. Wet your fingers again and seal the nori to itself with a bit of water. Flip the musubi over and voila, there it is.