Get excited about your school or work lunchbox with this kawaii Piggy Spam Musubi Bento recipe. Wildly popular in Hawaii, these adorable nori wraps with Japanese rice and luncheon meat are so easy to prepare. You can get your kids to help out, too!

Piggy spam musubi in the two tier bento box.

Do you enjoy making bento for yourself or your family? Look what I made today! Super adorable Piggy Spam Musubi!

Watch How To Make Piggy Spam Musubi Bento スパムむすび弁当の作り方

Fun and simple piggy spam musubi bento will be a great hit at school or work, make this cute bento at home in a few easy steps.

What Is Spam Musubi?

Spam Musubi is a popular snack or lunch from Hawaii and it is composed of just three ingredients; a slice of grilled spam, rice, and nori (seaweed).

Spam was a main course for the troops during World War II, and the local Japanese in Hawaii created omusubi or onigiri (rice ball in Japanese) with spam on top. And that’s how spam musubi was invented.

These days spam musubi have different variations (some with furikake/rice seasonings, etc) and they can be easily found at restaurants and even convenience stores in Hawaii.

Not Just Spam Musubi, It’s Piggy Spam Musubi!

Last month I received a copy of this amazing Yummy Kawaii Bento cookbook written by my friend Li Ming Lee from Bento Monsters.

Yummy Kawaii Bento book by Li ming Lee

My children and I went through the entire cookbook together in one sitting. We discussed which one was our favorite and both of my children especially loved Ming’s Piggy Spam Musubi bento and wanted to make it.

It might seem intimidating to try when you look at the fancy bento. However, with really thorough step-by-step tutorials like Ming’s cookbook, you would quickly realize how easy and simple it is to make.

Some of you might be unfamiliar with working with rice and making the rice into a specific shape. No worries, Ming suggested using the tin that spam was in it. You can easily make a nice and firm bed of rice with the tin.

You might wonder how the piggy’s ears and nose stay where they belong when the kids open their lunch box. We use uncooked spaghetti to secure them onto the spam. The rice contains enough moisture so by lunchtime, the spaghetti is soft and edible!

Piggy spam musubi in the two tier bento box.

Ming’s 250-page Yummy Kawaii Bento cookbook has 70 cute bento recipes and 160 step-by-step tutorials with so many ideas! I’m totally blown away by all the pictures, tutorials, and details of this cookbook. Ming has a magic that makes the bento making so effortless.

If you already have an instagram account, I’m sure many of you already follow her Instagram account @bentomosters because how could we miss her super adorable creations? I mean, look at this cute food art!

Bentomonsters Instagram

As you can tell, there are lots of pictures, and if you’re a visual learner, this cookbook is really awesome. If you’re new to bento making, step-by-step pictures along with the detail explanation will help you tremendously. The final pictures are all so adorable and they inspire me to try making them on my own. Toward the end of the book, Ming shares some quick and easy recipes that can go into your bento box and I thought that’s very helpful.

Piggy spam musubi in the two tier bento box.

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Piggy spam musubi in the two tier bento box.

Piggy Spam Musubi Bento

4.34 from 6 votes
Get excited about your school or work lunchbox with this kawaii Piggy Spam Musubi Bento recipe. Wildly popular in Hawaii, these adorable nori wraps with Japanese rice and luncheon meat are so easy to prepare. You can get your kids to help out, too!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 23 minutes
Servings: 3 spam musubi

Ingredients
  

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

Instructions
 

  • Gather all the ingredients. For the steamed rice, please note that ¾ cup (1 rice cooker cup, 180 ml) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yields 2¼ cups (330 g) of cooked rice. See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cookerpot over the stoveInstant Pot, or donabe.
    Spam Musubi Ingredients
  • Cut 3 slices SPAM® (7 oz). Add ½ Tbsp neutral oil to a frying pan and cook the spam until lightly browned on both sides.
    Spam Musubi 1
  • Line the spam tin with plastic wrap. Divide 1½ cups cooked Japanese short-grain rice into 3 portions. Scoop one portion of cooked rice into the tin and gently press down on the rice until it sticks together.
    Spam Musubi 2
  • Pull out the plastic wrap and remove it from the tin. Place a slice of spam on the rice.
    Spam Musubi 3
  • From 1 sheet nori (dried laver seaweed) sheet, cut out a strip of nori and wrap it around the spam-and-rice sandwich.
    Spam Musubi 4
  • Use a punch or a pair of scissors to cut out the pig’s eyes and nostrils from the nori sheet.
    Spam Musubi 5
  • Cut out an oval shape from 1 slice ham for the pig’s snout. Then, cut out six smaller ovals for the pig’s ears and feet. Cut out an inverted “V” at the edges of four of the ovals to form the cloven hooves.
    Spam Musubi 6
  • Place the ham and nori shapes on the spam.
    Spam Musubi 8
  • Use small pieces of 1 noodle spaghetti (dried) to secure the ham onto the spam. Continue making the rest of the musubi. Then, pack the spam musubi into the bento box. Enjoy!
    Spam Musubi 8

Nutrition

Calories: 260 kcal · Carbohydrates: 28 g · Protein: 8 g · Fat: 12 g · Saturated Fat: 4 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 5 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 27 mg · Sodium: 535 mg · Potassium: 177 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 1 g · Vitamin A: 43 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 2 mg · Iron: 2 mg
Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: bento, onigiri, rice ball
©JustOneCookbook.com Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any website or social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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4.34 from 6 votes (6 ratings without comment)
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Hi Nami… Those are so cute and very creative!!! ????????…….Thank you for new idea.

Nami is there anything in the rice to hold it together so it keeps its shape?

Hi Nami, I love your piggy bento, they are so creative and adorable. To me making bento is not easy especially when you have to use all edible ingredients to make all kinds of variation. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful recipes.

I AM GOING TO MAKE THIS TO SURPRISE MY SON. SPAM MUSUBI HAS BEEN ONE OF HIS FAVORITES SINCE CHILDHOOD (he is 37). THESE LITTLE PIGGIES WILL MAKE HIM SMILE.

Hi Nami,
Thanks for answering my question about pickled ginger. Tried again and ginger is pink this time. Love the piggy spam musubi bento. A hit with my 11 year old daughter! Looking forward to more exciting recipies.

I have enjoyed Spam Musubi for years, I Teriyaki the Spam and sometimes add Seasoned Rice Vinegar to the rice for a little variation. Enjoy the website as always.

Paul

So cute! Wish my kids were little!

Following BentoMonsters on Instagram, everything looks so amazing!

Spam and bento… What’s not to love?? :O)

Hi! This bento cookbook looks amazing- love that it has lots of pictures. Thanks for the info!

OMG! So cute ! Too cute! Too pretty to eat bentos!

Wow, your children have such a short lunch break!! It must be difficult to pack their lunches so that the meal is easy to eat within that time, but still all-around nutritious. (I remember being a horribly slow eater when I was little.) Thanks for introducing us to this bento design. The trick with the spam tin to shape the rice is great!

Nami u r so creative. Tks for sharing.