What is a Musubi Chef?
Musubi is a traditional Hawaii food that comes from the original musubi and onigiri rice balls brought from the plantation workers. It has found its way as a family staple when taking meals to the beach for its portability to fill the hungry tummies of the family. Its popularity had grown for its quick takeaway grab and go friendliness in how people eat it similar to a sandwich. In Hawaii, the title of a head musubi chef was said as a joke, and referred to as "a expert in using left overs", the home cook would often times be referred to as the one in the kitchen using the rice mold, chopping board, and production of musubis. In some homes there were open walls where aunties and uncles who made musubi for their family could entertain their guests as well as keeping them full of food on a budget no matter how hungry. What exactly is taken into account? the proper financial consideration to make sure everyone has plenty of food for a good value while getting groceries at the store. The old saying goes "if a person makes good looking musubi, they will marry a good looking spouse." A Revival of Musubi Making The culinary art form was revived with the butchery revival in the 2010's that brought experimentation of artisan imitations of canned meats like spam. The idea was to make freshness of the ingredients would be at a premium of preparations for an even more delicious musubi. Where musubi businesses popped up making musubis that were popular in other parts of the world to compete with the local market. This could be most easily identified in the convenience stores that were renovating their musubi selection at that time. Some of these came from Japan and Okinawa as well as immigrants who moved to Hawaii to create their own take of local musubis. The techniques of the Okazuya would be what would separate the enthusiast to a more formalized practitioner. While many residents would overlook musubis as something standard and boring there would be varieties that would come from its revival that would uncover many old family recipes that could easily have become forgotten knowledge if not for the boom. Formalities of Okazuya The process of pressing a button at the rice cooker becomes more complicated as more rice mixtures are studied from the recipes of the past. The sauteeing has renewed meaning when fatty meats are taken off and used for lightly toasting spices with an even better and intricate flavor profile. These techniques are not new as many Hawaii Okazuya's had these as standards in the family households for generations of musubi makers. Nowadays a Okazuya is lucky if someone takes up the old arts as a dedicated musubi master. Making musubis demands some knife skills to debone poltry, debone fish, and mold meats into a rectangular shape in the appropriate way. It also involves creating perfectly formed rice rectangles with a mold or by hand, with the right balance of furikake and spices to complement the main ingredient it is being served with. The old fashioned rice recipes of the plantation days are a closely guarded secret amongst many families, so collecting steamed rices has become troublesome for some practitioners. Some that have risen are Laikiku Rice (stew steamed rice), Fried Rice (sauteed stir fried rice), Furikake Rice, and Mixed Steamed Rice (diced ingredients and soups steaming the rice). A List of Culinary Titles This brought a sort of imagination left up to the formalities of the Okazuya. Many would walk up to the window and start to wonder how all the food was made and what was the family secrets that were passed on from generation on to the next generation and beyond with time old techniques. Making musubi became serious business as some in Hawaii had previously specialized in the art of sushi and used their skills to make musubi. This created training as a: musubi apprentice, musubi practitioner,and musubi master. Which goes back to the 1980s with Barbara Funamura and the art of musubi making with specialty tools and long Hawaiian koa wood box as a shaper. Many who ate at okazuya would aspire to learn a variety of: triangle musubi, musuburrito, musubi, furikake, Hawaiian salts, and shoyu-based sauces. Musubi Makers The standard home cook who has limited skills in musubi knowledge. Many of the steps taken to make musubis are as quick as possible with short cuts taken for speed rather than flavor. The musubi maker rather not be given a title as they make musubis as a way to provide for the family rather than pursue more techniques of musubi making. Musubi Apprentices Musubi Apprentices have to know the home economics, the cleaning of the restroom, the care of a kitchen, and the preparations before a meal is assembled. It is desired to have skills that might be more relatable to a domestic home of cleaning for the family to prove ones dedication to the art and dismissing the idea that musubi making is a joke. It is a beginning to the journey of taking care of the family and being a musubi chef. Musubi Chef Musubi Chef, is a master of the craft of ingredients with rice, and is known for their skills in cooking ingredients, making sauces, and rice forming to the needed shape. While it might look like really large sushi for those with a happy appetite it is defined differently when those who take an interest take a closer look. What sets them apart from sushi chefs is their medium grain sticky rice, grinding process of meats, furikake seasonings, marinades, and singular or layers of ingredients.
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