Maui 2008: Great Golf Snack

I need to give a shout-out to Maui Prince Hotel's little coffee shop that's near the entrance. Lady at the counter is very sweet and kind -- she even directed me to a gas station on the way to the airport when I was disappointed that they ran out of spam omusubi. Coffee is good and only costed $1... so unheard of. Of all places I tried "spam omusubi", this coffee shop made it the BEST. Lightly pan-fried chunk of spam over even bigger chunk of rice ball -- gotta love that.

It was on this trip that my Japanese hubby told me omusubi's (御結び) actually another way of saying onigiri (御握り). What is it? It's a snack of rice formed into triangular or oval shapes, often wrapped in nori (dried seaweed). Traditionally, it is filled with umeboshi (picked plum), salted salmon, katsuobushi (husband's favorite -- fish flakes w/ soy sauce). My favorite is mentaiko (spicy marinated roe). According to wiki, the common misconception is that these rice balls are a form of sushi. omusubi is made with plain, lightly salted rice. Sushi's made of rice with vinegar. They are different.

Here's a photo of the Spam Omusubi we bought at the gas station... good, but I liked the pan-fried ones from Maui Prince much better:


Can't wait to try making some with brown rice for our golf outings, esp using our favorite ingredients!