Hawai‘i’s most torrid love affair has to be with the ubiquitous spam musubi. Spam musubis have long been considered a delicacy here in the islands—at least for the well-trained taste buds. Even President Barak Obama can attest to this fact. Spam first popped up in the islands during WWII, when fresh meats were difficult to come across. Soldiers referred to the mystery meat as “ham that didn’t pass its physical” and “meatloaf without basic training”, but nevertheless it made its way through the local diet. With the influx of Japanese immigrants that came to work in the plantations, locals caught on to their musubis or onigiri (which are basically small balls of rice with a seed or other ingredient inside and then wrapped in dried seaweed), but with a twist. They included spam in their musubis, and unknown to the creators, a culinary icon was born.
I walk through the doors of Fort Ruger market and right away I feel at ease. The exotic and alluring smells take me back to childhood when I first discovered the joys of local cuisine. The people surrounding me range from construction workers to groups of college students, and they all came here—just like me, with one thing in common: they’re hungry. I watch as people order poke, kalua pig, and mixed bentos, but I notice their musubis are flying off the shelf. They have an extensive menu consisting of all different kinds of musubis. There is the pipikaula with fried rice musubi, ahi musubi and an assortment of meat musubis like char siu, mochiko chicken, Portuguese sausage, spam, hot dog, bacon, and meat jun. There’s something to satisfy anyone’s palate – even the most discerning.
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