Date Budget: PhP 350Actual Spend: PhP 316
Quality: 4/5
Service: N/A
Accessibility: 5/5
Fun Factor: 5/5
Overall Experience: 5/5
Highlights
- Allergen-less sushi
- Japanese-Hawaiian fusion
- Cheap and fun alternative to commercial Spam musubi
- Covers all major food groups (Go-Grow-Glow)
- Fun bonding experience
- An explosion of flavors in one bite!
The Experience
After having a great time at Dinelli, Kirsten and I headed off to Metro Supermarket at Market-Market to shop for ingredients for a unique creation: Spam sushi!
We got the idea from the Spam musubi at Mercato's Ultimate Taste Test. The musubi was great but at PhP 70 per piece, it seemed too pricey for us. We decided to add our own twist with a few other ingredients:
Budget Dates isn't usually a cooking blog, but here are the steps anyway:
| Steps | Shots |
1. Cook the sushi rice in a rice cooker. If you want to cut down further on cost, you may add regular rice.
|  |
| 2. Cut the veggies (cucumber and baby carrots) and cheese to bite size strips. | |
| 3. Cut the Spam to your usual serving size. A can makes about 9 slices. Note: DO NOT throw away the Spam can yet. |   |
| 4. Use the Spam can as a rice mold. Fill about 1/5 of the can with rice. Compact the rice using a teaspoon or a similar tool | |
| 5. Take out the rice from the can by shaking it out and using a bread knife to aid. Place a slice of Spam on top and slice to 4 pieces. | |
| 6. Insert the cheese and veggies between the rice and the Spam slice. Wrap with sliced nori. Use filtered water to make the nori stick. Note: This part is a bit tricky. The roll needs to be wrapped tightly by applying the right amount of water, force, and skill. | 
Photo credits: Ernest Santos
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| 7. Mix a sachet of Kraft Miracle Whip thoroughly with about half a teaspoon of wasabi paste (you may add more or put less to taste). This makes your wasabi mayo. | |
| 8. Place the wasabi mayo inside a sandwich bag. Pierce a corner of the bag and apply sauce to the sushi with love. |
The flavor was explosive! The nori blended well with the wasabi mayo to create a powerful bang. The Spam and cheese went great with the sushi rice. The veggies added some crunch while neutralizing the other taste forces.
A can of Spam makes about 35 pieces. Enough to feed a family or two. There was even enough for Kirsten to take home. Also great for pot luck barkada parties. Great value for a little over PhP 300.
Not bad for our first cooking date. We are definitely up for more!
Spend Breakdown
| Spam (1 can, original flavor) | 96 |
| Nori (1 large pack) | 88 |
| Japanese Rice (1/4 kilo) | 17 |
| Eden Cheese (sachet) | 9 |
| Baby carrots (3-4 pieces) | 14 |
| Cucumber (1-2 pieces) | 15 |
| Kraft Miracle Whip (1 sachet) | 17 |
| Wasabi paste (1 tube) | 60 |
| Actual Spend | 316 |
How to get there
- Go to your favorite grocery store to buy the ingredients listed above.
- Head off to your kitchen and have fun!
Landmarks: Stuff near your kitchen.
Address:
At your own home kitchen.
Operating Hours: anytime, anyday!
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