The Musubi Book

Musubi are beloved for their simplicity, portability and satisfying blend of tender rice and savory fillings. Now, Hawai‘i’s premiere musubi maker, Manabu Asaoka, introduces the culinary history and cultural importance behind the dish, along with surprising statistics, essential tools and techniques, and easy-to-follow recipes to make tasty musubi at home. Charmingly and colorfully illustrated in the Japanese yuru-kyara style by Manabu’s niece, artist Maria Asaoka, The Musubi Book is an essential resource for any food fanatic. When Manabu and his wife, Fumiyo, first opened Mana Bu’s, their boutique musubi shop on South King Street in Honolulu, they were surprised by their customers’ questions: “Do you have chopsticks?” “Don’t you have wasabi packets?” Musubi, they realized, were often confused with the better-known Japanese rice-and-seafood creation sushi. (For the uninitiated, the basic differences between the two come down to size and how they are eaten. Musubi are hand-held, multipl