In postwar Okinawa, when meat was hard to come by, canned pork became a widely used source of protein that kept well and was easy to prepare, and serving it with fried or rolled egg took root in homes. Pork and egg, born of that postwar ingenuity, is now a familiar home taste, and the rice ball made from it is a classic too. This time I set grilled pork on rice and wrapped it in nori.
Ingredients
- Cooked rice
- Canned pork (Spam)
- Nori seaweed
How I made it
- Cut the pork into thick slices and brown both sides in a frying pan
- Shape the rice into balls and set a slice of pork on each
- Wrap with nori
Sources: ryukyushimpo.jp
This moment in the journey
Breakfast in Yanbaru
The northern part of Okinawa's main island has long been known by the nickname Yanbaru. Written with the characters for mountain and field, the name fits: ridges run one after another, forests spread between them, and much of the original landscape remains.
Breakfast would be built around canned pork, a staple in Okinawan kitchens. I cut it into thick slices and browned both sides in a frying pan. Then I shaped rice from the black pot into balls, set a slice of pork on each, and wrapped them in nori: Spam musubi, Okinawa style.
On the veranda, the cats who live at this house were making their morning rounds. I poured hot water over a cup of aasa seaweed soup, set out a bottle of sanpin jasmine tea, and breakfast was ready.
Watch this scene on YouTube0:31
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