Below is a photo of a popular Hawaiian favorite, spam musubi. 

I was aiming to make a vegan version using tofu instead of spam. I had to think of an alternative way to enjoy this dish since I did not have cooked short grain rice which is sticky in texture. Not having this, made the construction of the oval shaped rice base difficult. When I was tasting the crumbling attempted wannabe using leftover long grain rice I was enamored by the delicious taste. I decided then to make a deconstructed version. Wow it was better than fried rice. 

I had snack size nori only not a whole sheet which made making the conventional layered musubi difficult to prepare  I decided to cut them up and use them to top the rice. Wow. The nori provided the salty umami taste plus that pleasant seafood twang to the dish. With the crispy tofu, I did not have to drizzle any sauce over the rice. 

Vegan Spam Musubi - A Cook With Candy

Deconstructed Vegan Musubi Rice

Ingredients 

Leftover rice (I had white rice), heated 

Vinegar mixture

Crispy tofu

Green onions, sliced

  

Rice with Vinegar Mixture

Vinegar mixture

 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar 

1 tbsp sweetener 

1 tsp salt

Add mixture to heated rice. 

Crispy Tofu

Adapted from this Youtube video 

16 oz firm tofu, pressed and drained 

1tbsp garlic powder 

1 tbsp onion powder 

1 tsp smoked paprika 

3 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp water 

cornstarch

Cut the tofu into thirds and then into thirds.  

Place all the ingredients except cornstarch in a ziplock bag  Marinate for 15 minutes  or so. 

Take out the seasoned tofu from the bag and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle the tofu with cornstarch till well covered.

Lay the tofu out in the air fryer pan.   Spray sides of tofu with cooking spray. 

Air fry 375 F for 20 minutes  Flip halfway and spray top  

Assembly

Place rice with vinegar mixture in a bowl. 

Add crispy tofu, cubed. 

Then Green onions, sliced

Top with Nori squares cut to pieces

Enjoy!