Spam Onigiri

Prep

1. Cook 2 rice cooker cups of rice in a rice cooker or follow my recipe for making Japanese rice. You'll need 600 grams cooked Japanese short-grain rice.
2. Cut 2 full sheets nori in half lengthwise (from side to side with the long edge facing you).
3. Break 4 large eggs into a bowl and remove the chalaza (the white membranes connected to the yolks) using chopsticks. Beat the eggs until the yolks and whites are evenly combined, and the mixture is uniform in color.
4. Trim the rounded ends off the sides of 1 can SPAM and then slice it vertically into 4 even slices.

Cook

1. Heat the 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat until it's shimmering, and then add the slices of spam. Fry on one side until they're golden brown and crisp and then flip and brown the other side (about 2 minutes per side) then transfer to a plate. You may need to do this in 2 batches.
2. Turn down the heat to low and wipe out all of the excess oil from the pan. Add half of the egg mixture. Scramble the eggs for a few seconds with chopsticks, but stop stirring before there's not enough liquid egg to run into the gaps you create.
3. Let the egg cook most of the way through, and then use a spatula to cut the omelette in half. If you are using a tamagoyaki pan, fold each sheet of egg in half to make it about the size of your Spam. If you are using a different pan, fold the egg as many times as needed to make it roughly the shape and size of the Spam. Transfer the egg to the plate with the spam and repeat with the remaining egg.

Assembly

1. Lay down a large sheet of plastic wrap and add a sheet of nori with the shiny surface facing down. Spread about 150 grams of cooked rice evenly over the surface of the nori using a rice paddle or spatula. Sprinkle the rice evenly with a pinch of salt and a pinch of toasted sesame seeds.
2. Add 2 shiso leaves to one side of the rice, with the leaves sticking out a bit from the corners. Top with a slice of Spam and a sheet of egg.
3. Use the plastic wrap to flip the rice and nori on one side up and over the fillings to make a sandwich, and then wrap the plastic around your spam onigiri to set its shape. Repeat the Assembly steps for the remaining onigiri.