8/08 is National Musubi Day

-

The area code in Hawaii is 808, so it was only fitting for August 8th to become National Musubi Day. 

Let's give credit where credit is due. Inspired by  Hawai‘i's passionate SPAM® Musubi enthusiasts, in 2021, the L&L franchises (a local restaurant chain) recognized the need to honor this flavorful hand-held snack with its own special day. In an effort to do our part in sharing Hawaiian culture we celebrate 8/08 each year as well.

The origin of Musubi is in question, but I consider Barbara Funamura of Kauai as the person who created this yummy treat. One thing that is 100% certain is that Musubis were created in Hawaii. It's not Japanese, although it is similar to a Maki sushi roll, and based on Barbara's last name I'd guess Barbara is of Japanese descent, or her husband may be. In Korea similar food is referred to as Kimbop.

Spam Musubi are commonly found at the cash registers in convenience stores, or snack food shops all over the islands. One of our favorites is Musubi Cafe Iyasume who has many varieties and several locations. Believe it or not 7-Eleven in Hawaii sells some 3000 Musubi each day. Musubi are picked up with a cup of coffee before a commute to work, stuffed in lunch boxes, backpacks, beach bags and fishing tackles. 

Locals grow up eating Musubi, and while there are many ingredients you can put in a Musubi, the SPAM Musubi is by far the island's favorite.  At Buzz's we offer SPAM, SPAM with sweet egg, Filipino Longganisa and Tofu for vegetarians. As the items picks up in St. Louis we plan to add more varieties. 

When Buzz's first began offering Musubi from our food truck no one knew what they were. Customers would turn up their noses at the thought of SPAM. We would take ten Musubi to a lunch spot. They wouldn't sell, so we cut them up, and gave them away as samples. Slowly people caught on. Now our food truck takes around 30 of them. We usually run out in the first hour of service.

Our cafe makes Musubi all day, and night long. It warms my heart when I see young people in St. Louis enjoying Musubi. There is one young man who comes in every Thursday with his parents. He runs to the counter to get his Musubi. That's the impact we wanted to have on people, to introduce Hawai'ian food to St. Louis. Especially the youth who will grow up thinking Musubi is just a part of life in St.. Louis. Once people try a Musubi they will fall in love. 

One thing is for sure, Musubi will make you smile. Whether you enjoy them for breakfast, an afternoon snack, as an appetizer, or a late night snack, Musubi are a wonderful comfort food. Many customers grab an extra one, or two, for their breakfast the next day.

 

One customer purchases twelve right before his power workout. Another uses them as a power snack while he runs marathons. Supporter hand them to him at various places along his route to fuel him for hours.

Enjoy them all year long, but be sure to celebrate this yummy treat on 8/08. 



Location: 3457 Magnolia Ave, St. Louis, MO 63118, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Becoming a Hawaiian Style Cafe

-
Image
In January 2022 Buzz's Hawaiian Grill took possession of 3457 Magnolia Ave. for the future Buzz's brick-n-mortar. For several years prior the space was a well loved hot dog joint that had decided to move to a new location. Buzz's had been looking for a space that shared our chill vibe and this space checked all the boxes. The challenge was, how to convert the space from ketchup red to an island style cafe with a plantation era look. A place people from Hawai'i could relate to.  The other challenge was to upgrade the kitchen from dysfunctional and partially operational, to a fully operational kitchen capable of handling the complex menu we envisioned offering. It was going to require time and money, but we had a vision we felt was achievable.     The Front End One of the main goals was to remove the barn style false ceiling in order to open the space up visually allowing more light in. After all, Hawaiian restaurants are often op
Read more

The Hawaiian Plate Lunch

-
Image
During the plantation era of Hawai'i's history, workers brought to the fields their leftovers from home for lunch. The vast majority of these workers were initially from China then Japan, Okinawa, Philippines, Korean. Their "brown bag lunch" was in the form of a Bento Box . If you think Bento Boxes are a thing of the past you only need to search Amazon to find modern versions still in use today. A typical Bento Box contains rice, pickled or cooked vegetables and a protein such as fish or meat. Traditional Bentos had two or three layers of containers stacked high separating the various food types. This made it easy to pass around as the workers shared their food with one another. As the world modernized and less people brought lunch to work, the plate lunch was created by food wagons and establishments supplying lunch plates to field workers similar in fashion to the Bento box. In Hawaii the common understanding of a plate lunch is two scoops of
Read more