Hawai'i nei Archives - Kamalani Hurley

Monday August 8 is the Second Annual L&L Hawaiʻi National Spam Musubi Day, and that means a free musubi from L&L Hawaiʻi. Launched by the venerable Hawaiʻi company and licensed by Hormel Foods, this it-should-be-a-holiday is another quirky and fun Hawaiʻi thing.

And because I love both spam and history, letʻs have a little of both in todayʻs blog post.

Spam musubi is sticky white rice topped with a slice of seasoned cooked spam, wrapped up in a piece of crunchy nori seaweed. In my post on 12 Things Native Hawaiian and Hawaiʻi Kids Like, — my addition to children’s author Tara Lazar’s 500+ Things That Kids Like — spam musubi is right there near the top of the list. Thatʻs because itʻs a convenient, inexpensive, packable lunch.

Canned spam first became popular in Hawaiʻi during WW II. Soon home cooks were creating dishes made from the salty canned meat. When I was growing up, we ate spam all the time, including fried with eggs and rice (which is a favorite breakfast order at Hawaiʻi McDonalds restaurants.) The first time my college roommates saw me frying up spam, they freaked out, that is, until they tasted it.

Hawaiʻiʻs Barbara Funamura is credited with inventing spam musubi in the early 1980s for the Joni-Hana restaurant on Kauaiʻi, according to the Garden Island newspaper. Mrs. Funamura had no idea that her humble recipe would, like many great inventions, become so popular.

My kids grew up packing spam musubis to eat after hula and soccer practice, and to this day, itʻs a satisfying treat. Our simple method was simply splashing a bit of shoyu into the pan as the spam cooked, but a search on the internet reveals lots of fancy recipes.

Oh, and did you get the August 8/8–08 shout-out to our area code? Happy Spam Musubi day! Photo credit: L&L Hawaiian BBQ

July 31 is Lā Hoʻi Hoʻi ʻEa in Hawaiʻi! Established by Kauikeauoli (King Kamehameha III), Sovereignty Restoration Day is a national holiday that commemorates the return in 1843 of Hawaiʻi to the rightful Hawaiian government after it was seized by the United Kingdom. He declared, “Ua mau ke ʻea o ka ʻāina i ka pono,” the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness. E mau a mau!

Many Native Hawaiians recognize this day — and not July 4 — as our independence day.

From 1843 to 1893, Lā Hoʻi Hoʻi ʻEa was observed throughout Hawaiʻi nei with games, speeches, and much festivity. But in 1893 when the Hawaiian kingdom was overthrow in a coup dʻetat by American businessmen, our day of independence was banned. As this yearʻs co-organizer, Imaikalani Winchester, writes, “like our mother tongue, our national memory was torn from us.”(“Ea Mai Ka Lahui,” Ka Wai Ola O Oha.)

Then in 1986, in an effort led by activist Dr. Kekuni Blaisdell, Lā Hoʻi Hoʻi ʻEa was brought back, starting with a gathering at Thomas Square in Honolulu. The Honolulu Advertiser announced the event in a small paragraph buried in the newspaper. The event, the article promised, was a two-hour potluck picnic, a flag-raising ceremony, and talk story sessions.

Today we celebrate throughout the pae ʻāina and across the globe, and our kūpuna and the painful truth of our collective history.

Mahalo nui to all of those who continue to share their aloha and their manaʻo with us all.

For a list of this yearʻs events, visit the Lā Hoʻi Hoʻi Facebook page.

Monday is National Spam Musubi Day (Thanks, L&L!)

Lā Hoʻi Hoʻi ʻEa is July 31