I travel the world #344: The best SPAM Onigiri in the World !! ?? !!

in foodpantry •  7 years ago 

Food Pantry

If you are looking for the best Japanese Riceballs in Hawaii, than you have to go to the Food Pantry. Inside there is a little Japanese shop which is selling really amazing Riceballs and other stuff like Curry Rice (It is at the 2nd entrance near the Parking).

The best Japanese Rice on the Island

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I spoke with the owner and after telling him about my blog he started explaining that he was the first in Hawaii to cook his rice on a gas cooker. I bought a Curry Rice and a an Oyako Don. I asked him why he was selling SPAM Riceballs, I had tried many of these and I just hated SPAM Riceballs. He told me that his SPAM Ball was a special creation and I got one free of charge to try out.

To make it short, the Curry rice was amazing and the Oyako-Don was very good. Boy the rice was really the best I have ever eaten outside of Japan. But the most remarkable thing was the SPAM Riceball. He put in some Takuan (Radish) and some spices, so the Spam basically tasted elegant. I ate the whole thing, so if you want to try a SPAM Onigri, only buy it there!!!

Ever tried a SPAM Riceball ???

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Great post @knozaki2015
Thanks for sharing such great content with the Steemit community!!! Oh and by the way thanks now I am hungry again ;-)
Enjoy your day

Good to know :) thanks for sharing.

Ha! Plum musubi looked really interesting before I got to the end of post to find the other yummy dishes!
You always make me hungry... :D

Us....he always makes US hungry! lol

Hello, you are great traveler. I have just checked your posts. If you are interested in nature conservation and forest in particular. You could visit us ones here, where we are trying to save Abongphen Highland Forest in Cameroon. Thanks a lot for sharing your experience.

upvoted ! and I powered you up with 2 SP

Thanks a lot. You are great. Have a nice day.

Appetizing and interesting everything looks ...)))

indeed was delcious

I'm with kleryk200....followed!

what? you must be joking! Food Pantry is best spam onigiri? OMG

nope trust me. try it out. I didnt find a better spam onigri

I've lived on Oahu for 57 years and I definitely know better than you.... they don't even use top quality rice at Food Pantry. It is unlikely that they even know what top quality rice is, and they don't have a handle on which nori to use.

btw. it is nott the food pantry but the shop inside is run by a Japanese guy who cooks on gas. rice is relly awesome there.

I know the Sullivan family that owns Food Pantry (been to their home). I remember when Food Pantry was created as I was a participant in the build-out. There are no independent shops in food pantry, they are merely segmented operations and may even have a different name but they are all owned by the parent company which is Foodland. They only use ingredients that are sold in their stores. Nearly all the rice used are of the same specie with the exception of a long-grain and a jasmine rice they carry, but for the most part it is all California Medium Grain with a low polish. That is hardly top notch

You might be right. I dont know about the structure of the food pantry. the Japanese owner gave me his business card. It was a different company than foodland. but it does not matter, I tried around 7 onigris places in waikiki and that guy had the best Onigiri. (that might be subjective) .
It seems that you are much more of a gourmet than I am , so I would really love your opinion on the Onigiris. If you ever try it, let me know if you liked it. (I dont like Spam, but that spam onigri was really delcious)

First of all, in Hawaii we call it 'Spam Musubi' and we call the general classification Negiri instead of Onigiri (Negiri, Gunkan, Maki & Temaki - 4 general classifications) The best (but you can't get spam) right now is Yohei Sushi. Between the head & assitant sushi chef they have a hundred years of experience. I have never had the level of Omakase anywhere else that I have traveled including the sushi spots at the Tsukiji market in Tokyo, or any sushi bar from Namba to Kyoto to Wakayama, to any Ryokan along the coast. You can rule out anything in the continental US. I have also gone to omakase wanna-be's in Hong Kong and Korea so lets just say 'in my humble but traveled opinion' that Yohei is likely the best in the world at the moment. If you want spam on your Negiri then the best is served by a little snack shop at Mililani Golf Course, but if you want to stay central then Marukai Market (which is now owned by the Osaka-based Don Quijote) is your destination. When you open the wrapper (on even the lowly spam musubi) the rice glistens (and almost sparkles at you) and they make no bones about marking down the price of anything that was made more than what they believe is 'peak' consumption time frames. I've tried spam musubi from everybody here including food pantry. Even 7-11 (another Japan company) does a better job.

Thanks for the great recommendations. I will make sure to try all of your favorite places out the next time I am in Hawaii. You can't beat the knowledge of a local foodie! I will post a great restaurant from tokyo soon for you

Excellent. I'm in a unique position where vendors will take me to lunch or dinner wherever I want to go regardless of price at least twice a week (sometimes every day) for the last 30 years so I get to see it all. I should take pictures or video and blog this stuff myself

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Wow! The shop looks really neat and well organized... The food is just yelling out to be eaten :)

Wish I could travel, I would definitely check it out. Who knows, perhaps I'll be in a more favorable position to travel soon :)

Thanks for sharing your discoveries

with the new Hardfork everybody will be a little whale ;)

Just 17hrs and 33minutes left. I'm so looking forward to it :)

yeah. it will make the masses more powerful and take away the power from the whales

We love our spam musubi here in Hawaii. Spam became very popular in Hawaii during WWII because the soldiers ate it due to its long shelf life and because it came in a can, it didn't require refrigeration. It caught on with the local people and since has been a staple in our food. We use it in everything. You spam musubi looked delicious!

that spam musubi is really great. if you go to waikiki try i tout !

Great little post. If it wasn't for one of my college roommates being Hawaiian I probably never would of learned to 'appreciate' spam and rice. lol

do you like spam?

I do! In my 20's being poor all the time, spam and rice became a staple in my diet. I ate so much at that time I'm surprised I still enjoy it.

I actually find the history of why spam is so popular in Hawaii interesting. Hawaiian's love spam so much you can go to 7-11 and pick up a roll or go to a 5 star restaurant and find it on the menu.

Very nice post and pictures. :D

thank yoU !

You're welcome. :D

Great post! I love musubi! Which island is this place located at? There's a really good musubi place in Oahu also.

it is at the food pantry in waikiki. next to the hilton garden inn

Wow what a great information

thank you shkhvir

Nice love it
Yummy

;) if you tried the spam omusubi you would be surprised how good it was

I've never even heard of that. I thought I've tried most foods...apparently I have much to learn!

well spam is usually really horrible. but that chef really made something great out of it ;)

Right?! Spam is usually terrible, this looks amazing. Maybe he can do something with Vienna sausages? haha

I am pretty sure he would make something magic ;)

It looks so good! Anyway I would love to travel, I'll follow you. You're in luck. Have a nice trip :)

thank you so much for following !

SPAM is just cured pork and spices. I am glad you found a chef who was able to turn it into something delicious.

I've tried it on the islands, but I wasn't a fan, so I only tried it a couple of times. There are so many other great foods that I didn't have the patience.

I hate spam. but this guy really turned it in something nice

Interesting post.
I like that you added!

thank you revelim !

upvoted and resteem right the way!! @fatkid

Cool post, lol I just had a spam dinner a few days ago. I get a can here and there because it reminds me of my father. Never knew it was in sushi though. very cool! Upvoted and followed!

;) great you like it.

Looks yummy, I've not seen this kind of food before. Upvoted.

I think spam is famous inn hawaii only

Oohhh makes sense :)

Even simple dishes in Japan are delicious!! Thanks @knozaki2015