MUSUBI

Billy Ralph decided it was a good thing that he and Etta Mae had already left for the Big Island before Yuppie 25 started creating all them Yumbies. From what Pono had told him, Oahu was one big mess of dead bodies, only some of 'em was still walking. And he was grateful that the Hawaiian natives had turned out to be so much like the folks from home-what with their barbeques, beer and parties. When they'd seen he weren't no Yumbie, well they invited him and Etta to pitch in on ridding the big island of them brain-eating pests.

It had been kinda fun throwing Yumbies into the volcanoes and dropping them off cliffs for the sharks to eat, but them zombified suckers multiplied like ticks in a wet summer and they'd taken to munching on anything with a brain from cattle to pigs to horses—hell even the feral Hawaiian cats were on the Yumbies' menu. And that meant that food supplies were getting a mite scarce.

Pono and his wife Aliani had been kind enough to share their home and food, but much as Billy Ralph liked fruit and rice, he was sorely beginning to miss the meat portions of the meal. And while he'd gamely tried the sushi Aliani had served to him and the Missus, if you couldn't peel them green wrappers off and fry up a mess of that sushi, it just tasted like, well, bait. Recently he'd sorta lost interest in dinner.

But tonight, tonight he caught a whiff of the main course before Pono brought the platter onto the porch. It was like fried heaven and he began salivating like a coon dog under a Thanksgiving table. "What on God's green earth you got there, Bubba?" he asked as Pono set down a platter of what resembled regular sushi, but smelled like home.

"Musubi. Traditional Hawaiian dish. Most mainlanders won't touch it, but we thought you might like a change." There sitting on top of squares of rice, and wrapped in a belt of green seaweed was a fried slice of greasy pork goodness, manna from heaven. Spam sushi.

MUSUBI

2 cups uncooked sticky rice (Japanese sushi rice)

2 cups water

¾ tsp of salt

6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tbls. white sugar

1 can of Spam (sliced into 10 slices)

5 sheets sushi nori (dry seaweed)

Soak rice for 2-4 hours then drain and rinse. In medium sauce pan, bring 2 cups of water (with ¾ tsp of salt to boil, add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover with tight lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in rice vinegar and set aside.

In separate bowl, stir together soy sauce and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Slice Spam into 10 slices and marinate in sauce for 5 minutes.

In large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Cook slices for approximately 2 minutes per side, or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet.

Cut nori sheets in half and lay on flat work surface. Wet your hands and form spam-shaped block of rice while it is still warm (approximately 1 inch thick. Top with a slice of fried Spam and wrap with seaweed sheet (sealing edges with a small amount of water). Can be served hot or cold.

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