Years back we tested on our very first spam musubi and ever since it has been our favourite to-go snack/ quick bite for the lunch. However, we couldn’t enjoy it as much as we could as spam is one of the unhealthy options and not to mention it is kind of overpriced. Therefore, with A vegan twist on the classic spam musubi, this tofu musubi will win over our hearts!
For those who don’t know what is spam musubi, it is basically big sushi with spam on it with seaweed wrapping over it. You could prepare it ahead without the seaweed and refrigerate it for the next day. Although, we are sure that you won’t keep any after once you did it. All you need is to microwave it for 30 seconds and wrap the seaweed over like an onigiri.
Why did we choose Tofu as a replacement?
Angela has been eating healthier for the past year, where she slowly replace vegan from her protein. With her influence, I got highly affected too. One day I want to make something easy for lunch and the Spam Musubi came across me. We decided to make something healthier instead and thought that Tofu could be the best replacement, like what many other vegan dishes did. The tofu doesn’t taste exactly like Spam, but it provides that salty, smoky, sweet meat-like flavour and texture of Spam.
What Tofu did we choose?
As we are all busy with our new careers and tasks, convenience has become our best friend. However, we always keep in mind that a healthy diet should always be our primary priority. This time we use Spicy Tofu by NutriSoy, which it already well marinated and good to use anytime.
However, if you couldn’t find one you could also marinate them yourselves. Start by getting tofu that is on the harder side. All you need to do is to marinate it with the below ingredients for at least 30 minutes you could get the same spicy tofu that we got from the store.
Spicy Tofu Marinate
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic minced
- 2 scallions finely sliced
How to Cook the Tofu?
You can pan cook, bake, or grill tofu after marinating it. For a block of tofu cut into 4 strips:
- In a pan, cook for 3 minutes per side until lightly brown.
- In the oven, bake for 15 minutes per side at 400F until lightly brown.
- On the grill, cook for 5 minutes per side making sure to get some beautiful grill marks on the tofu.
Time to Wrap it Up
- Prepare your Rice: Like making sushi, you need to have your rice well prepared ahead, we decide to have normal rice this time instead of adding rice vinegar for sushi rice. Do not leave the rice out for too long as we wanted it to be slightly warm in order for you to shape it. We decided to add some seaweed flavouring to the rice for more flavours, but this is optional.
- Shape your Rice: The key point when it comes to shaping rice is to dip your palm in cold water, however, we only want them to be slightly damp and not too wet to prevent the rice from sticking over your hand. The amount of rice depends on how big your tofu is, for us we have around 3 tbsp of rice for a “dough”.
- Laying Them: As we are still not skilful enough, we did the wrapping on a plate instead. Stay layering with seaweed, tofu and then rice. Then roll them up tightly, if your rice is still warm, the seaweed will be sticking well.
xoxo, Joe
Tofu Musubi
Ingredients
1 lb. extra spicy firm tofu
2 cups of cooked rice
2 tbsp of seaweed seasoning
2 sheets nori seaweed cut into 1.5″ strips (8 strips needed)
Methods
- Lightly oil a non-stick pan and heat over medium heat. Cook the tofu on both sides until it begins to brown, ~3 minutes per side.
- Split your rice into 8 equal parts. With wet hands, press each part into the side wall of your tofu container as shown in the photo. Pack it in firmly so it comes out as one piece. Repeat 7 more times.
- Top each rice rectangle with one piece of the cooked tofu. Wrap each with one of the nori strips.
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