Bacon-Covered Lamb Musubi

I love being in an airport. To me, the airport is like a big space of live entertainment. Nothing beats the real-time drama of a son hugging his mom goodbye. Nothing beats the real-time thrill of passengers running to catch their flights, or the excitement of a little girl with her own backpack marching towards her plane along the tarmac, or the joy of seeing an elderly couple holding hands while waiting to board.

During a recent trip, my flight was delayed due to bad weather in the northeast. With less than 20 minutes to spare, I had to run from Concourse A to Concourse C to catch my connecting flight. Now if you've been to the Detroit Metro Airport, you know that bridging that gap is a tight close right? But the stewardess repeatedly announced that our connecting flight was informed of the delay and so the passengers who were supposed to be on that flight were likely to make it to the gate. Taking her lead, I grabbed my carry-on bag, and amidst all the passengers who were all cheering for us to run and make our flight in the background, dashed to the next concourse like I've never run in my life before! In between breaths, my head was spinning, my back aching, but my feet took me away! Driven by my fellow passengers' cheers of "yes, we can make this flight," I really believed that we were going to arrive on time and that the plane would wait.

But alas, the three other passengers and I never made it to our connecting flight. Supposedly, the plane took off even before the gates from my plane opened. Thankfully, I was given a hotel accommodation and meal vouchers for the night. Instead of getting angry at the airline, I focused on the positives. In my experience, airlines don't offer perks like free food and housing for your inconveniences anymore. So for me, I had no complaints.

For this long Labor Day weekend, I imagine that there are a lot of people traveling. As you encounter roadblocks or delays (or maybe you won't; let's stay hopeful here, after all!), treat your travels as an exciting experience. Have a warm bath, enjoy the fresh white linens in your room, and drink a margarita! Happy long weekend, everybody!

For this long weekend, I'm going to share with you my Bacon-Covered Lamb Musubi, my take on the famous Spam Musubi that is popular in Hawaii.  This is a part of my lamb series that I made for Meat Livestock Australia. But unlike the salt-saturated spam, the star of this dish is quite the quality meat. Enjoy!

Bacon Covered Lamb Musubi

8 strips Turkey Bacon
1 lb ground Lamb
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Nori Wrapper

Mix all the ingredients gently in a bowl.  Form rectangular shaped patties.
Wrap patties with 2 strips of bacon

Prepare two pans. Put the first pan on high heat, and the other on medium.  Grill patties on the high heat pan for 2 minutes on each side.  Transfer it on the second pan for another 2 minutes.  The first pan sears off the patty but prolonging it there will burn the surface of your patty therefore the second pan is needed to further cook the meat.  Repeat the process on all patties. Set aside.

Press rice together and mold it into a rectangular shape.  Set aside.

Cut the nori wrapper according to desired size. I divided mine into 3 and used a corrugated knife to cut it. Place the nori wrapper on a flat surface. Add the patty and  molded rice. Wrap the nori wrapper around it. Enjoy!

Another tip: Keep your hands wet while wrapping the musubi.  This will make it easier to handle the rice and the nori wrapper from sticking to your hands.