Fried Walleye Musubi
This is what happens when a Minnesota fish fry and a Hawaii lunch counter get together. Spam musubi is the snack I grew up around in the islands, and walleye is about as Minnesota as it gets. Swap the Spam for a crispy panko-fried walleye fillet, brush it with a sweet shoyu glaze, and wrap it all up with rice, furikake, and nori.
Why it works
- Walleye is mild and flaky, so it soaks up the shoyu-sugar glaze the way Spam does.
- Panko stays crunchy even after the glaze goes on. Glaze right before you wrap, not earlier.
- Pressing the rice firmly (a musubi mold or a cleaned-out Spam can lined with plastic wrap) keeps everything together.
- Short-grain rice is a must. Long-grain won’t stick.
Fried Walleye Musubi
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked short-grain (sushi) rice, cooked (about 6 cups cooked)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar + 1 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp salt (optional rice seasoning)
- 1 to 1¼ lb skinless walleye fillets, cut into 8 pieces about the size of the musubi mold
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1½ cups panko breadcrumbs
- Neutral oil for frying (about 1 inch in the pan)
- 4 sheets nori, cut in half lengthwise
- Furikake, to taste
- Shoyu-sugar glaze: ¼ cup shoyu (soy sauce), ¼ cup sugar, 2 tbsp mirin (or water)
- Or about ½ cup tonkatsu (katsu) sauce instead of the glaze
Instructions
- Cook the rice. If using, stir the vinegar, sugar, and salt together until dissolved and fold into the warm rice. Keep covered.
- Make the glaze: simmer shoyu, sugar, and mirin in a small pan 3 to 4 minutes, until slightly syrupy. Set aside (it thickens as it cools).
- Pat the walleye dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Set up three dishes: flour, beaten egg, panko. Dredge each piece in flour, dip in egg, then press into panko.
- Heat about 1 inch of oil to 350°F in a heavy skillet. Fry the fish in batches 2 to 3 minutes per side, until deep golden and the fish flakes easily (145°F inside). Drain on a rack.
- Lay a half sheet of nori shiny side down. Set the musubi mold in the middle and press in about ⅓ cup rice firmly. Sprinkle with furikake.
- Brush a piece of walleye with glaze (or katsu sauce), lay it on the rice, add a little more rice on top if you like, and press firmly. Lift off the mold.
- Wrap the nori ends up and over, sealing with a dab of water. Repeat. Eat warm or at room temperature the same day.
Notes
- No mold? Line a clean, empty Spam can with plastic wrap and use it as the form.
- Wrap leftovers in plastic and eat within a day. Don’t leave them out more than 2 hours.
