It’s hip to serve Spam, according to TheGothamist.com, a website about life in the Big Apple and other cities.
A recent story by Mitchell Kuga, a graduate of Moanalua High School and Syracuse University, told of diners at a $135 per person event in New York City being served dishes we in Hawaii take for granted, such as Spam fried rice and plastic-wrapped Spam musubi.
New York Sushi Ko chef and co-owner John Daley used to live on Maui, it turns out.
The Spam musubi Daley prepared was served alongside hand-rolled sushi made with fish from Japan’s Tsukiji Market, on the sort of bamboo tray normally used to present zaru soba to a guest.
"He was putting Spam next to these high-end cuts of tuna belly, treating it like an equal thing," Kuga said.
Daley doesn’t serve Spam every night, just once in awhile, Kuga said.
Kuga’s story came about because he was noticing Spam more often. "It happened very organically," he said. "Being from Hawaii, it’s something you do notice, more than other people might … I love it."
Suzume in Brooklyn also serves Spam musubi, and Kuga quotes Mike Briones, the chef-owner, as explaining that Spam is akin to soul food for many Asians.
A signboard outside the restaurant explains that Suzume is a whiskey bar, ramen joint, taco spot and sushi restaurant that offers sake and Spam, beer specials and good times.
As it happens, Briones lived in Honolulu for a few years.
It’s not just hipsters enjoying the trendy life who are getting a taste of Hawaii’s staple canned meat, though.
Kuga also visited places that would be more familiar to the local plate-lunch set, including Onomea, a Hawaiian restaurant in Brooklyn that serves Spam musubi for $6, loco moco for $14, and other familiar dishes, because the owner was born and raised in Hawaii.
King Noodle actually was where the story first germinated, because of its Spam served over warm rice with egg and green onion, Kuga said.
He also wrote about the popularity of beer-battered Spam fries ($8) served at Maharlika, a Filipino restaurant in the East Village. If you’re there for breakfast though, you may have to settle for Spam "fresh from the can" at $4, according to the online menu.
After he wrote the article, he found a musubi shop in Chelsea, a high-end art and retail district. "They do funky takes on musubi," he said, citing one called "The Hawaiian," which is "like Spam musubi," although the rice is infused with tomato and it’s spicy, he said.
Seeing Spam brings him warm feelings of home and makes him homesick, but additionally, "it makes me think that it’s too expensive" when he sees it on menus.
He knows how to make his own Spam musubi, thank you very much.
"After the article, Spam contacted me," Kuga said. "They sent me each flavor of Spam, so I had, like 12 cans."
He made them into Spam musubi for a picnic with his friends. "They loved it," he said.
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On the Net:
» www.newyorksushiko.com
» www.suzumebk.com
» onomeanyc.com
» kingnoodlebk.com
» www.maharlikany.com
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
