"What is gluten free SPAM musubi?" asks a young man who came to our church's luau. Most people who are not familiar with gluten intolerance have no idea that SPAM musubi could have gluten in it. It's not the SPAM, rice, or nori that has the gluten; it's the teriyaki or soy sauce that's used to season the SPAM that could contain gluten. Soy sauce has gluten?! Yes, it's the wheat that's in the ingredients of most soy sauces. Just check the label of a Kikkoman soy sauce bottle and most other brands of soy sauce. Luckily, gluten free soy sauce does exist!
For years, we have been using San-J gluten free tamari sauce. Another good substitute is Bragg Liquid Aminos, plus a few other brands (read the labels). If you also need to be soy-free, believe it or not, there is a soy-free soy sauce substitute called Coconut Aminos! I've tried it and it tastes great.
Granted that SPAM is not the healthiest of food and in fact, it's loaded with sodium, saturated fat, and mystery pig parts. But it's a staple in Hawaii and always very popular with our church gatherings. Here's the recipe to make gluten free SPAM musubi.
1 can SPAM (whichever version you like)
cooked sushi rice (cool down first)
nori seaweed sheets
furikake seasoning (optional, but tastes better with it)
1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce
1/4 cup agave syrup or sugar
SPAM musubi mold maker
Slice the SPAM lengthwise into 8 equal pieces. In a separate bowl, stir soy sauce and sugar together until fully mixed. You can cook the marinade to dissolve the sugar even more or just use gluten free teriyaki sauce (San-J makes one). Marinate the SPAM pieces for 5 minutes. Fry the SPAM on both sides until slightly brown. Alternatively, you can fry the SPAM first, remove it from the pan into a bowl, then pour the soy sauce mixture to marinate. There is no right or wrong way to marinate the SPAM.
Place a sheet of nori on a chopping board or plate and then place the SPAM musubi maker on the center of the nori sheet. Fill the musubi maker 1/4 of the way with rice. Press down the rice with the musubi mold lid. Sprinkle some furikake on top of the rice. Place two slices of SPAM side-by-side on top of the rice (assuming you are using a double SPAM musubi maker). Fill the rest of the musubi maker with rice. Place the mold lid on top of the rice and push the lid down while you are lifting the side of the musubi maker. Remove the lid. Fold up the sides of the nori sheet around the rice mold, using a little bit of water to seal the edges. Slice the SPAM musubi into desired sizes.
Note: If you do not have a SPAM musubi mold, you can use a clean SPAM can with both ends removed to shape your musubi. You will need to cut your nori sheet in half or thirds.
