All American Maki and Musubi to Love
Discover fun tidbits about two of America’s favorite maki, or sushi rolls, and one surprising musubi.
California Roll
When we think of sushi as we know it in America today, we have the creator of this All American roll to thank. The story of the California Roll began in a restaurant in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo called Tokyo Kaikan. According to The Zen of Fish, this All American roll was not at first created for American tastes. Instead, like many culinary wonders, the California Roll was born out of a need to fill a missing gap.
During the late 1960’s, Tokyo Kaiken’s sushi bar had a mostly Japanese clientele. But it was difficult for chefs to maintain a steady supply of toro, or fatty tuna belly. As a substitute, chef Ichiro Mashita experimented blending another more plentiful fatty ingredient with various seafood and created a toro-like experience in the mouth. The result? A sushi roll with crab and rich avocado inside with nori, the seaweed used for making sushi rolls, on the outside.
It was months before the roll became known as the California Roll. And as sushi began gaining popularity, Mashita’s California Roll began to gain popularity, too. But it wasn’t until sushi became popular with American customers that the California Roll appeared in its most popular present form, the inside out roll where the nori is almost undetected, to suit American tastes. This form of roll became quite popular with American customers and has remained the most common form of sushi found in America today.
Philadelphia Roll
The Philadelphia Roll, or Bagel Roll, is most commonly an inside out sushi roll that contains smoked salmon and scallions. And though it varies, it’s not uncommon to find fresh rather than smoked salmon inside and the addition of avocado, asparagus, cucumber or even lemon. It is of course the Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, which gives this delectable roll its name.
But did you know that the famous Philly Brand Cream Cheese wasn’t actually invented in Philadelphia? In 1872, New York dairyman William Lawrence created the unique product. It was widely received and quickly became popular. When it was time to choose a name for the brand, it was dubbed Philadelphia because the city was considered America’s capitol of top quality food products at the time. Since then, cream cheese has captured the hearts of Americans and can be found in nearly every style of American cuisine, especially our sushi.
Musubi, also known as onigiri, is type of stuffed rice ball. Fillings such as chopped fish and vegetables are common and the finished product is often sprinkled with a bit of furikake seasoning or wrapped in nori. Though most commonly made from plain, unseasoned rice, seasoned rice musubi can also be found. This form of rice dish is considered a snack or comfort food. It is not usually found in restaurants but is plentiful in specialty shops, school cafeterias, street vendors, grocery stores and convenience stores throughout the Hawaiian Islands.
Musubi itself isn’t All American. The dish is distinctly Japanese and was brought over to Hawaii by Japanese immigrants. But what makes this dish an All American specialty is the addition of Spam, a canned meat product created by J, Hormel in 1937. Since its creation, over 6 billion cans have been sold with Americans buying about 90 million cans per year. There is an urban myth that the name is a mash up of spiced ham, but the Hormel company insists that while Spam has spices and can very well be considered ham, Spam means, well, Spam. A man named Ken is credited with coining the moniker after winning a contest and collecting a prize of $100.
No one is really sure what Spam is or how it became so popular with musubi. It is thought that the popularity of Spam soared during World War II, as it was the perfect go to convenience food for the US Military in Hawaii and other places. And while Spam musubi lovers can be found in other countries, none equal the enthusiasm that Hawaiians have created for their beloved snack.
Oh, those are cute!!!