Sausage Musubis
Sausage Musubis are a specialty of Kauai comfort food. It is originally known as a "UFO" or unidentified flying object for looking like a sort of round slice of sausage that is bowl shaped when it is cooked. It has furikake rice on top that almost looks like it is nesting. A piece of salty meat is great for these bite sized bites. The Goteborg variety is sold all around Kau'ai as a staple and often times brought over as pot luck snacks, such as baseball games. Several main varieties exist, such as: UFO pupus which is the classic top sprinkling of furikake on rice and meat at the bottom, the Sausage Musubi which is most known for having Gotenburg Sausage on top a compressed round musubi mixed with plenty furikake, and Furikake Musubi Triangle which has the gotenburg in the middle of a triangle shaped large musubi mixed with Furikake. Goteburg Sausage (aka. Swedish Sausage), the most famous Sausage Musubi would be the Goteborg Sausage Musubi which is delicious as a quick snack. It is said to have come from being one of the favorite list of sausages that were brought by German and eastern European immigrants that arrived in Kauai in 1897. As salty meats gained popularity with the local people there would be many dishes that would feature such meats and sausages as a main part of a dish. As time went on through shipping from air and see other sausages or meats would be used for sausage musubis. These would be: Salami, Genoa, Linguica, Sommerwurst, and Luncheon Meat. One family explained that there was a lady who came back after the war looking for sausages that were unavailable on the island. However after larger markets started to come by it was a treat to purchase foreign goods that were previously unavailable. As the story goes the sausages were known from those who returned after the war who had enlisted and brought back knowledge of foods they had eaten from either cans or the areas foods eaten on the warfront. There is no where to trace who exactly started the trends of particular sausages used for sausage musubis. So, much of these are from stories could differ from person to person as some have another story of their family making Gotenburg sausages with the arrival of super markets. But one thing is consistent that it had arrived from those who came from to work the fields from the original German immigrants. In 1897, German ship H.F. Glade had traveled from Bremen Germany with its people on board headed for Sugar Plantation assignments. These immigrants were of German, Polish, Russian, Ruthenian, Slovakian, and Ukrainian and many of them headed for the Lihue Plantation Company. Other areas which they were spread was Koloa Sugar Company, Kekaka Sugar Company, Meier & Kruse Plantation at Mana, which to no surprise each have their own ways of eating their sausages. Koloa Furikake Gotenburg It was difficult to get information about the different family recipes that were from Kauai, so I had to ask a friend to help me find out some information at the Koloa Plantation Festival. At the festival he was able to see families that had small bags filled with Gotenburg musubi as they walked around and folded out their chairs to enjoy the event. He noticed that the furikake on the musubi was different, and he found out many Japanese families had made their own secret furikake mix and that it was strictly kept secret from those outside the family. Kekaha Sausage Musubi In the old days many moons ago there was the families of Koloa. A particular family that would use whatever rice they had would use anything salty to make it taste even more like its accompanying sausage. The Gotenburg Sausage musubi wouldn't have its signature furikake, but a salty tsukemono that was diced and mixed thoroughly. It is equally as salty and the reason was to make sure the small musubi could pack plenty of flavor with small bites. It was referred to as "Salty Gotenburg Musubi" with saltiness on the inside. Hanapepe Sausage Musubi During the later plantation days there would be not much to do, so staying near the swinging bridge would be a joy for one old grandma who had fond memories of crossing over the river. Staying near the bridge after a day of fishing would be a nice way to kill time, however if talking story lasted too long she would fall asleep and when she woke up her musubi she brought with her one time vanished. She said the musubi went holo holo, which means a musubi that goes on a stroll or walking as she laughed. It was filled with salted fish, furikake, plenty green onions, sesame seed oil and/or peanut oil. The usual at that time was 'aweo weo or snapper if their was a lucky catch. It was called a "Holo Holo Musubi" to the lady. Waimea Sausage Musubi A sight that is seen from time to time there is a crab or shellfish of some sort that is roaming around the area. But at one point shell fish would be plentiful around the area especially near the Waimea pier. Throwing net traps in muddy murky water. which crabs could not escape. A family originally from Waimea had a recipe that would be from their grandfather who would have caught Kohonu (samoan crabs) in the area. He would mix the crab meat up after they were cooked. There would be a plastic container that would hold a mixer with garlic, ginger, butter or olive oil, shoyu, and green onions that would be added to the mix of rice and crab. This catch of the sea delight was referred to as "Crab Gotenburg Musubi". Mana Salami Sausage Musubi As time went on and trade started to grow there were a variety of german sausages that would be used, many of which are hard to trace from the history, however salami was used if there was no Gotenburg available. It is said that the relatives of this particular dish would use what they could of beef and pork to make salami with alchohol mixed with garlic with black pepper and the raw sugar. It was a poor mans Gotenburg musubi so to speak. Those who who had survived the times of the plantation would have to make due with what they had available from trade or sharing.
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