SPAM, not just junk email

First off, I want to thank everyone who has come up to me and complimented me on the blog. I have so much fun writing it, maybe too much fun which hinders my studying. I don't mind having "blog stalkers" and I'm just glad that you're enjoying it as much as I am enjoying putting it together.

Someone asked me today if it was expensive to cook everything that I make. Keep in mind, I am a typical "starving medical student" (hence the blog name), so I'm basically up to my eyeballs in debt and I also do not have a normal income. So of course I cannot afford to pay extravagant amounts for my food, but I like to make food that looks like it cost a lot. I get my big bag of CSA veggies once a week and that averages about $20/week. I try to plan all of my meals for the week on Monday and then hit the grocery store once a week when I have time. I spend about $40/week on groceries. So that's on average $60/week for two people for all of our meals. I think it's a lot cheaper than if we were to eat out everyday, even if we ate $5 meals for lunch and dinner...which is nearly impossible. And I get to decide exactly what goes into my food and how it tastes. Of course I still like to go out to eat during the week, but the point is, staying home and cooking your own food can save you money, be healthier, and be so much more fun and delicious!

So I thought the theme for tonight would be Cheap Eats. I saw a patient the other day who was from Hawaii and of course we had to have a conversation about food. My mom was born on Oahu and so I grew up eating Hawaiian food from my mom, grandmother, and uncles. A staple of Hawaiian food is SPAM. SPAM has a bad rap with most people, but let me just say, ham is the first ingredient in this food. It is not made of chicken livers, beef brains, or pig intestines--it is just meat in a can, and it is delicious. Don't knock it until you try it.

SPAM musubi is also known as "SPAM sushi." It's a classic snack in Hawaii and is so easy to make and super cheap. All you need is sushi nori (seaweed), soy sauce (I always use low sodium), white rice, chili pepper (I use Japanese togarashi), and a can of SPAM (I like SPAM Lite, 33% less calories, 50% less fat and 25% Less Sodium than regular SPAM). Total cost (I tried to account for the fact that I didn't use all of the ingredients for each item that I bought): nori $1 + soy sauce $1 +rice $0.50 + togarashi $1 + SPAM $2 = $5.50 for 16 pieces. So cheap!
A word on togarashi. It is also known as shichimi togarashi or nanami togarashi. It is a popular Japanese spice blend usually for soups or noodles. It contains red chile pepper, roasted orange peel, yellow and black sesame seeds, Japanese pepper, seaweed, and ginger. It gives a great flavor to the musubi and also adds a little kick. If you don't have togarashi, you can easily leave it out of the recipe or add any sort of chili pepper you have handy.

The only hinderance to this recipe is that it works best if you have a musubi maker (that clear plastic item in the photo). It's basically a box that fits SPAM perfectly with another piece of plastic to squish down the rice. I'm sure these are non-existent in Tucson--I had to buy mine in LA at my favorite Japanese store Marukai (you can also get it online). But this simple tool helps worlds to make perfectly shaped musubi. If you don't have one, don't worry, you can always wrap the spam and rice differently like this. You just shape the rice by hand, put the spam on top, and wrap a strip of nori across. But if you do have access to a musubi maker, use it! They will turn out beautiful and delicious!

SPAM Musubi

• 3 c. calrose rice
• 1 can of SPAM Lite
• 4 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• Togarashi chili pepper
• Sushi Nori

Wash and cook the rice. While it is cooking, slice SPAM long-ways into 8 pieces. Heat a small frying pan and add 2 Tbsp of soy sauce. Place 4 pieces of SPAM in the pan and sprinkle on the togarashi to taste. Cook the SPAM until brown on both sides, about 3 minutes. Repeat with the other 4 pieces of SPAM and another 2 Tbsp of soy sauce. When the rice is finished cooking, use the musubi maker and layer rice, spam, rice and wrap with nori. To store, wrap each musubi in saran wrap and place in fridge. To reheat, loosen saran wrap and microwave for a minute and a half.