Mai

Spam musubi is a well-known and well-loved Hawaiian specialty- and for good reason. It is simple, delicious, and portable for road trips, parties, hikes, you name it!

I was making Thịt kho tàu (Vietnamese caramel braised pork) recently and had a lightbulb moment: what if we combined these 2 dishes that are already phenomenal on their own to create a new delicious recipe?

That’s how Thịt kho Musubi was born. Beautiful thick slabs of pork belly are briefly pan-fried, then quick-braised in the tried-and-true Vietnamese mixture containing fish sauce, sugar, and aromatics. They are then placed on blocks of plump and sticky medium grain Calrose rice (which, while not a true Japanese rice, has been grown by Japanese American producers in California for many years and is commonly used in Japanese food in North America) along with a dash of furikake, then wrapped up into a perfect parcel with nori (dried seaweed sheet).

It’s hard to go wrong when you combine two concepts that have survived the test of time. If you have tried thịt kho before, I bet you can already taste this in your mind. The pork belly is incredibly juicy and flavorful: umami from the meat itself and the fish sauce; sweet and sticky from the sugar; fragrant thanks to the pepper, shallot, and garlic. The rice soaks up all of those flavors perfectly and the soft stickiness of creates a lovely mouthfeel. The furikake adds that extra little boost with the toasted sesame seeds and the nori ties everything together into one cohesive package.

Not to toot my own horn, but I truly think this is something special and you simply have to try it!

INGREDIENTS

• Calrose or sushi rice – Gạo Calrose/sushi: Calrose is a plump and sticky medium grain rice which, while not a true Japanese rice, has been grown by Japanese American producers in California for many years and is commonly used in Japanese food in North America. You can, of course, use sushi rice as well.
• Pork belly – Thịt ba chỉ: my favorite cut of pork for thịt kho. I pick pieces with as close to 50-50 fat and meat as possible. If you want leaner pieces or cuts, that will work as well.
• Fish sauce – Nước mắm: arguably the most important seasoning sauce in Vietnamese cuisine. Made from fermented anchovies, it is salty and incredibly umami. Non-vegan Vietnamese recipes without fish sauce are very rare. The best nước mắm comes from Phú Quốc or surrounding islands off the coast- Southwest of mainland Vietnam. Our favorite brand available outside of Vietnam is Red Boat (U.S.).
• Bouillon – Hạt nêm: think broth, but in solid form. Bouillon is an amazingly easy way to bring that umami flavor to your food. We use it instead of salt in many of our dishes. You can usually find chicken, pork, or mushroom bouillon. In Vietnam, Knorr is the most common brand. However, we have only been able to find Knorr in powder form in the US and France, not granules. Instead, we use Totole brand chicken or mushroom bouillon. The quantities on our website are based on the granule-type so if you use powder, adjust to your taste.
• Vietnamese braising caramel sauce – Nước hàng/nước màu: made with mainly sugar & water (the Southern version usually also contain coconut water). It is used in most Vietnamese kho (braised) dishes. You can usually find it pre-made in Asian grocery stores, but I prefer to make my own because it is easy and, in my opinion, tastes better. Get the recipe here.
• Nori (dried seaweed) sheets – Rong biển khô nori
• Shallot – Hành khô/Hành tím
• Garlic – Tỏi
• Soy sauce – Nước tương
• Ground black pepper – Tiêu đen xay
• Vegetable oil – Dầu thực vật

DIRECTIONS

1. Rinse and cook your rice according to the package instructions.
2. Cut pork belly into even pieces for the number of musubis you are making. They should measure about 10 cm long and 1.5-2 cm thick.
3. Mince shallot and garlic.
4. Mix together all the ingredients in the sauce section. (See notes if you don’t have nước hàng)
5. Heat a pan on medium and add vegetable oil.
   Tip: It is best to use a pan that is just large enough to fit your pork belly pieces in a single layer without much extra space.
6. Add pork belly pieces in a single layer and fry for 1 minute on each side.
7. Pour in the sauce and reduce heat to medium low.
8. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, flipping the pieces a few times throughout.
9. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes, continue to flip the pork belly.
10. Keep an eye on the sauce as the water evaporates. If it starts to get too thick, reduce heat to the lowest level and add a few teaspoons of water to prevent burning.
11. Turn off the heat and cover pan to keep the meat warm while you assemble the musubis.
12. To shape the rice, use a musubi mold if you have one. If not, line a rectangular food container with parchment paper, then add in the rice, pressing down tightly with a rice paddle or spatula to create an even layer about 3-4 cm thick.
13. Fold the sides of the parchment paper over the rice and place another food container on top and press down to really pack the rice tightly.
14. Remove the parchment paper package of rice from the container and cut into pieces measuring approximately 8 cm by 5 cm.
15. Cut nori sheets into strips about 5 cm wide.
16. Place a block of rice at the bottom of a piece of nori (perpendicularly), so that it is centered down the middle.
17. Sprinkle some furikake on the rice.
18. Place a piece of pork belly on top.
19. Roll the bottom of the nori, rice, and pork belly up towards the top of the nori.
20. Repeat for the rest of the pork.

RECIPE VIDEO

Thịt kho musubi • Vietnamese braised pork belly musubi

Course: Main, SnacksCuisine: Vietnamese, Hawaiian, FusionDifficulty: Medium

Makes

4

musubis

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Beautiful thick slabs of pork belly pan-fried, then braised in the tried-and-true Vietnamese mixture containing fish sauce, sugar, and aromatics. They are then placed on blocks of plump and sticky medium grain Calrose rice along with a dash of furikake, then wrapped up into a perfect parcel with a sheet of nori.

Ingredients

• 1 cup 1 Calrose or sushi rice

• 200 g 200 pork belly

• 1 tbsp 1 vegetable oil

• Nori (dried seaweed) sheets

• Sauce

• 15 g 15 shallot

• 5 g 5 garlic

• 2 tsp 2 fish sauce

• 1 tsp 1 soy sauce

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 bouillon

• 1/4 tsp 1/4 ground black pepper

• 1 tbsp 1 nước hàng (See Notes)

• 60 ml 60 warm water

Directions

• Rinse and cook your rice according to the package instructions.
• Cut pork belly into even pieces for the number of musubis you are making. They should measure about 10 cm long and 1.5-2 cm thick.
• Mince shallot and garlic.
• Mix together all the ingredients in the sauce section. (See notes if you don’t have nước hàng)
• Heat a pan on medium and add vegetable oil.
  Tip: It is best to use a pan that is just large enough to fit your pork belly pieces in a single layer without much extra space.
• Add pork belly pieces in a single layer and fry for 1 minute on each side.
• Pour in the sauce and reduce heat to medium low.
• Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, flipping the pieces a few times throughout.
• Reduce heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes, continue to flip the pork belly.
• Keep an eye on the sauce as the water evaporates. If it starts to get too thick, reduce heat to the lowest level and add a few teaspoons of water to prevent burning.
• Turn off the heat and cover pan to keep the meat warm while you assemble the musubis.
• To shape the rice, use a musubi mold if you have one. If not, line a rectangular food container with parchment paper, then add in the rice, pressing down tightly with a rice paddle or spatula to create an even layer about 3-4 cm thick.
• Fold the sides of the parchment paper over the rice and place another food container on top and press down to really pack the rice tightly.
• Remove the parchment paper package of rice from the container and cut into pieces measuring approximately 8 cm by 5 cm.
• Cut nori sheets into strips about 5 cm wide.
• Place a block of rice at the bottom of a piece of nori (perpendicularly), so that it is centered down the middle.
• Sprinkle some furikake on the rice.
• Place a piece of pork belly on top.
• Roll the bottom of the nori, rice, and pork belly up towards the top of the nori.
• Repeat for the rest of the pork.

Recipe Video

Notes

• You can follow our nước hàng recipe or buy it premade. If you don’t want to use nước hàng, add a tsp of white sugar to the heated vegetable oil in step 5. Let the sugar melt and turn golden before adding the pork belly in step 6.

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