Southern CA Munchies

One of the best things about traveling is that you get to experience new tastes, sights and lifestyles. I'm as guilty as the next guy of getting into too much routine. That's why I relished the thought of spending last weekend in Los Angeles visiting friends. Southern California is different from Atlanta in almost every conceivable way!

I had excellent hosts who went out of their way to show me the area. Most of my time was spent in the beach communities of El Segundo, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach. My buddies took me to Wahoo's Fish Tacos in Manhattan beach. I was pretty full after a large breakfast, but I had to have one of their signature fish tacos.

The taco was some kind of grilled fish (very light and flaky), with salsa, a bit of finely shredded cheese, shredded cabbage and cilantro served on doubled corn tortillas with lime on the side. Apparently this is typical of Mexicali food, the west coast version of Mexican that has more fresh vegetables and less fatty beans and cheese. The tacos tasted very light and fresh. All the elements blended together fantastically, with lots of subtle flavors. This is definitely a meal I'll look to replicate at home!

We also went to Back Home in Lahaina, a Hawaiian joint. While there was much to comment on there, my favorite treat was the Spam Musubi. You heard me right, Spam. Normally I'm not a fan of the canned goo that passes for meat, but in this case I'll make an exception.

This is a surprisingly tasty dish! This appetizer further advances my theory that anything tastes good rolled in nori with sushi rice. This also seems like a great "starter" sushi to make, since you don't have to worry about finding sushi-quality fish. All Spam is sushi-quality.

My quick scan of the internet revealed lots of recipes, which is not really necessary since Spam Musubi is just any method of making Sushi with Spam. Most call for frying the spam before rolling. None of the recipes mentioned the brown gelatinous sauce on top, but it seems like there's considerable latitude for experimentation.

I've got a few more tidbits from my trip, so stay tuned for more!

Update 4/17/06 - I made spam musubi at home, and it was fantastic!