Portland Musubi and Onigiri and more!

I usually wait a while before trumpeting how awesome a new place is – there’s just time needed to get service up to speed and work through bumps and get consistency. But sometimes, there’s a place so good that I need all of you to start visiting ASAP to support their awesomeness. Musubi is one of those places. Perhaps my keychain charm and my dish towel also reveal a slight bias.

Brand spanking new, they are currently only open on weekdays 8 AM – 3 PM. Update they are now open Saturday and Sunday 10 AM – 5 PM now too! Yeah, basically like food truck hours though they have a brick and mortar space at 2134 SE Division St but it’s more geared to take-out and delivery than dining there (seating wise there are only a handful of stools). They also are offering delivery if you text your order for group orders within a certain delivery area and they can even function as essentially a pop up to a workplace of 5-10 people, make sure you check their map.

I selfishly want all of us to show them enough love (and money) that they can expand their days and hours- especially at least to the weekends which they are tentatively saying could be in November. In Japan, we pretty much stopped to get onigiri every day that we threw in our bag as a snack, especially for hikes or as snacks for long train rides – and I stocked up on musubi when we were in Hawaii for fuel in our bags as well – musubi was my gateway to Spam.

Example Onigiri in Japan

As you can see, taking it to go the triangle ones are carefully packaged in plastic with a red strip guiding you how to open it- and it keeps it separate so the seaweed stays crispy and dry away from the more moist rice portion until the moment of consumption and you bring it together.

Don’t worry if you tear it incorrectly in your excitement – as long as you keep the seaweed in one piece, you can just put it in and wrap it to eat. Or, just eat the rice ball without the seaweed coat if you’d like (which is what I did for the 2 photos below)

Musubi offers 7 onigiri, also known as o-musubi (the triangle shape rice balls in which usually have the highlighted ingredient packed inside the rice ball then enveloped in seaweed paper) and 2 musubi (the rectangle shape rice shape that has the protein tied on top like you tie a canoe on car roof but with a seaweed belt, a snack that you will usually see in Hawaii). 3 of the onigiri and 1 of the musubi are vegan.

Oh no the onigiri is naked!

There may be additional kinds of ingredients that come and go based on specials of the day – follow them on social media on Facebook at grindmusubi or Instagram @grindmusubi or Twitter @grindmusubi to keep up to date on limited edition specials. The rice used in all are Koshihikari Japanese rice and they utilize Yamasa Tamari Shoyu which is locally made in Salem Oregon and contains only organic soybeans and no wheat so everything is gluten free.

Triangle

   

• Just Rice: Vegan Bitterman Salts’ Japanese cherry plum salt.
• Sour Plum: Vegan Japanese ume plum pickled and aged with shiso leaves and salt, this umeboshi was a consistent presence when we were in Japan last year because it is so traditional. It is sour with a bit of sweet and salty so some people like how the rice grounds it, while others that shock of sour that reminds me a bit of a sour beer and it can add up to be a little too much
• Seasoned Kelp: Vegan This is Konbu, or sea kelp with tamari soy sauce (no wheat) and hint of yuzu (a citrus fruit) so it’s like a combo of when you have a sushi roll and give it a good dip on soy sauce. This was F’s favorite as a vegetarian or vegan option.
  
• Shoyu and Bonito: Bonito is fish so this not vegetarian (it’s dried here and shaved very thin like the thinnest of tissue paper), and expect this to be a stronger variation of a bit of fishy salty taste and rice
• Spicy Tuna Mayo: A mix of albacore tuna with Kewpie Japanese mayo and shichimi seven spice mix. This was my favorite kind to get when I was in Japan because I like the slight kick of spiciness
  
• Salted Salmon: Fresh wild caught NW salmon cured overnight with Maldon flake salt rub and grilled, a great option if you really prefer your fish cooked with your rice ball
  
• Chicken Curry: This is the most not Japanese I thought of the flavors so I thought it was intriguing, since the locally raised, cage and hormone free chicken thighs are marinated in a housemade Thai curry
  

Rectangle

If you are wondering the size, I plated these on my espresso saucers.

• Teriyaki Tofu: Vegan Local Ota tofu marinated in their housemade teriyaki sauce and grilled
  
• Artisanal Spam: Wow, they make their own version of SPAM so instead of the can they use their own pork shoulder, uncured ham, salt and garlic and housemade teriyaki glaze for a more healthful choice then actual SPAM. Impressed. This is the most “expensive” of the offerings they have on the menu at $3.75.
  

Sides

• Onolicious Miso Soup: Housemade dashi base whisked with premium Awase miso paste, Ota tofu, roasted sweet potato – my favorite of the sides but you pretty much have to enjoy it fresh and warm right away. The use of that roasted sweet potato really gives it extra depth from the thin standard miso soup you may normally be used to – I still drink it while eating bites of onigiri but it’s so chunky with tofu and sweet potato you’ll have to chew it too!
  
• Wakame Dulse Salad: Vegan A more traditional Japanese side with Japanese and Maine broadlead seaweeds in a tangy sweet dressing that is nice and light, not overpowering and which is a great accompaniment to counter the salty in many of the rice balls.
  
• Takayo’s Mac Salad: A nod to Musubi’s Hawaiian roots here with Mama Takayo’s inspiration for this mix of elbow mac, Best Foods mayo, paprika, hardboiled eggs. The creaminess here gives you a nice break and adds richness to a rice ball meal.
  
• Daikon Yuzu Salad: Vegan more traditional Japanese side using shredded daikon radish, and the version I had also included jalapeno for a little burn as the daikon itself has more texture than flavor.
  

Not only area they offering these affordable (everything on the menu is listed at less than $4) delicious nods to Japan and Hawaii, they are also going above and beyond by contributing to solve the Oregon hunger problem. With every musubi that you buy they are putting a dime into the collection jar and at the end of the year they will make a gift to a local hunger charity Portland Fruit Tree Project so that ending your hunger helps end hunger throughout Oregon.

Stop in to grab a bunch as your breakfast or lunch, or to throw in your bag as a snack. I bought a bunch of these to go to a beer share – so stop by and stock up like I did on your way to one of the many beer bars that let you bring your own food.

Size wise, one of these counts as a snack, for a meal you will want 2-3 of these and a side. While checking out as an option also sign up for their loyalty program by providing your phone number – every time you spend more than $3 you get a star, and once you get 12 stars you get a free musubi.

Have you had onigiri or musubi before? What would be your choice combo?