Here’s how it starts: “Drive three hours south out of Anchorage, through two mountain passes, down a highway dotted with rural churches and the occasional moose, and you’ll arrive in Kenai, a seaside town world famous for its salmon fishing. But in Alaska, the area is also known for a specialty made at the 50-year-old butcher shop called Echo Lake Meats.

On the package, the dip is labeled “World Famous Jalapeño Cheese Spread,” but in Kenai and the neighboring town of Soldotna, people refer to it as “Echo Lake cheese dip.” To everyone else in the state, it’s just “Kenai dip.”

“You find very few people of any age bracket that haven’t had it or don’t love it,” said Erick Watkins, who owns the shop with his wife, Holli.”

Read on.

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Hear me out. Potatoes are likely one of the earliest foods successfully cultivated here and have always been good quality and valuable because they can be stored. Tlingit potatoes, a fingerling type, were grown by Tlingit and Haida people in Southeast and used as a trade item for at least 200 years. Since we started writing recipes in Alaska, local potatoes have been a point of pride. The very first newspaper recipe I could find — published in the Anchorage Daily Times, Anchorage’s first newspaper — ran on Oct. 28, 1917. It was written by a “Mrs Oscar Plowman,” a teacher from Hope, giving advice on cooking Alaska-grown potatoes — likely one of the few fresh foods available.

“Pare, wash and put on in boiling water,” she wrote. “When done, pour off water, salt and shake kettle. You will find the potatoes will be nice and dry.”

And then there’s ranch. Work camp cooking is another big influencer on Alaska’s food culture. Steve Henson, a plumber from Nebraska, created ranch dressing in the 1950s using pantry ingredients while cooking for crews working out of Anchorage. He and his wife moved to California and bought a property they called “Hidden Valley Ranch,” and thus, the global ranch dressing phenom was soon born. But the original recipe comes from our practical-minded, remote pantry-driven cooking tradition. Could ranch have been invented somewhere else? I don’t think so.

Fries and ranch remain the food of the cool. Living with my tween/teen boys, we are in our fries and ranch period. They have shown me how a simple jar of homemade ranch in the fridge is a real treat. And it entices kids to eat salad and raw vegetables. Fries-wise, we have been working through a very affordable bag of russets from VanderWeele Farm. And, like Mrs Oscar Plowman (her first name was Edith), I have found that the secret to a crispy oven fry is controlling the moisture. I soak them to remove starch and then dry them really well before I toss them with oil and local garlic salt. Then I do a two-temperature roast in the oven. First to cook them through, then to crisp. And I don’t crowd the pan. You can absolutely fancy it up. Spend some money, use real garlic, fresh herbs and buttermilk instead of milk. But the lo-fi, work-camp-inspired version using dried herbs, that one is ours — practical, cheap, easy and delicious.

Crispy Alaska potato oven fries

Serves four

Ingredients:

2.5 pounds (four to five) Alaska-grown #1 russet potatoes, scrubbed, unpeeled

1/4 cup avocado or canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons local-made garlic or other seasoned salt.

Method: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a large 17-by-12 sheet pan or two smaller sheet pans with parchment paper. Cut the potatoes into fries, roughly 1/4 to 1/2 inch in thickness, depending on your preference, or use a fry cutter. Put the fries in a large bowl and cover them with cold water. Allow to soak for about 20 minutes. Remove from the water and dry thoroughly. (I lay them on some layers of paper towel to absorb the moisture. The internet suggests a salad spinner.) Return to a dry bowl and toss with oil and seasoned salt. Lay them in a single layer on the prepared pan(s), taking care that they don’t overlap. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip them with a spatula, shaking the pan to make sure they settle back into a single layer. Turn the oven up to 425 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes more. Serve hot with ranch.

• • •

Alaska pantry ranch dressing

Yields about 1 1/2 cups dressing, or five to six 1/4-cup servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)

3/4 cup full fat sour cream or Greek yogurt

1/4 cup plus up to 1/4 cup whole milk

A tablespoon fresh lemon juice or white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon dried chive

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Cracked pepper

Method: In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Add up to 1/4 cup additional milk if you want a thinner texture. Pour dressing into a jar and let sit at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator for flavors to meld.

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This recipe isn’t special to Alaska, except in the way it relies on lots of pantry ingredients. The dip comes right out of the early- to mid-century moment in cooking when brands were running lots of recipes in the newspaper on the “women’s page.” Versions of this recipe in Alaska’s old community cookbooks call for Best Foods mayonnaise specifically, and some do not include sour cream or cream cheese, so it was easier to make them without any fresh ingredients. Honestly, they are not wrong about Best Foods. It’s great here. Also: Hot mayonnaise-based dip is magic. I stand by that.

But, speaking into the dietary concerns of the now, you could lighten this dip up a bit if you want. Sure, sub in lowfat cream cheese and, if you really want to, nonfat Greek yogurt. You can also use a clove of crushed garlic and some sea salt in place of the garlic salt. This dip fills an 8-by-8 square pan, though we always used an oval stoneware baking dish. A half-can of jalapenos seems to be tolerable for the sensitive people in my family, but you can increase it if you want more heat. You will have to adjust your baking time a little depending on your dish size and depth, so watch it after 20 minutes in the oven. Don’t forget the broil. It’s essential!

Sheila Selkregg’s hot artichoke party dip

Ingredients:

8 ounces non-marinated canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise, Best Foods brand preferred

4 ounces canned, chopped green chiles, drained

2 to 4 ounces canned, drained, chopped jalapenos, depending on desired heat level

1 1/4 cups + 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp garlic salt

Chopped parsley or cilantro for garnish

Method: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir until well combined. Spread into an oven-safe dish. Sprinkle with reserved parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until it is bubbling around the sides. Then, turn the oven to broil and broil for 2 to 3 minutes to brown the top. Serve immediately with tortilla chips or sliced baguette.

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The sushi bake is basically a deconstructed, cooked salmon sushi roll, made in a casserole pan, that you can eat in a big umami-packed pile or, if you want to do it up, scoop into snack-sized nori sheets and eat with your hands like a lettuce wrap. You can even dress it with sushi vegetables like cucumber, avocado and jalapeno for a supercharged salmon sushi experience. If you are doing the make-your-own mini sushi roll version with nori, it works great as an appetizer.

There are lots of recipes for sushi bakes online. Many use crab or surimi. The ones for salmon are written by people who aren’t from here, who are probably eating farmed Atlantic fish or canned pink salmon and they say to cook it so long it gets dry as a bone. This recipe is written for frozen red salmon and I try not to cook it to death. We should also talk about mayonnaise. Mayo is the best friend of springtime frozen fish, but for this recipe it’s important that you use a specific Japanese variety, Kewpie brand, to get the right salt and bite. You can find the stuff at just about every grocery in town and Costco often has it in a 2-pack. There is some controversy in the short form content world about the addition of cream cheese in the mix. I tried it with and without and adding a little cream cheese is just better. Furikake, if you’re not familiar, is a Japanese rice seasoning made from seaweed and sesame seeds. That’s also available at most grocery stores and, if you’re lucky, you might find one of a couple local versions made with Alaska kelp.

Salmon Sushi Bake

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the rice layer:

1 cup medium grain calrose white rice, rinsed until the water runs clear

1 tablespoon furikake

2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Canola oil spray

For the salmon layer:

One piece of red salmon, about 1 to 1 ¼ pounds, pin bones removed

1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons Kewpie mayonnaise + more for topping

1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon furikake or sesame seeds

Sriracha sauce

2 green onions, diced

Possible garnishes:

Snack-sized toasted nori sheets

Sliced avocado

Cucumber matchsticks

Sliced jalapeno

Microgreens

Pickled ginger

Wasabi

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a square, 8-by-8 inch casserole pan with cooking spray. Cook the rice, according to package directions, in a rice cooker or on the stove top. While the rice is cooking, prepare the other components. Place the fish on a small parchment-lined sheet pan and drizzle with soy sauce. Bake it for 7 minutes. It will be very rare. Keep the oven on, you’ll use it again. Remove the salmon skin from the fish and flake the meat into a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon soy sauce and softened cream cheese. Stir gently until mixture is combined, but don’t overmix. In another small bowl, combine rice vinegar, sugar and salt. As soon as the rice is done, stir vinegar mixture and furikake in with the rice. Press the seasoned rice into the casserole pan to form the bottom layer. Add the fish on top in an even layer. Lash the top of the casserole with mayonnaise and sriracha on the diagonal and sprinkle it with furikake or sesame seeds. Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the fish reaches desired doneness. Garnish with green onions. If desired, serve with small nori sheets and, if desired, other sushi vegetables, like avocado, jalapeno, microgreens, pickled ginger and wasabi.

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Recently, I came across a vintage copy of Alaska sourdough history, “Alaska Sourdough” by Ruth Allman. It reminded me baking with unfed or “scratch” sourdough as a flavor, rather than a leavening agent, was really common in Alaska. The starter brings a tang and depth to everything from brownies to cinnamon rolls, but maybe the easiest and most brilliant scratch sourdough recipe is crackers.

The sourdough cracker is so addictively delicious — like a lighter Cheez-It without cheese. There’s a reason fancy places like Patagonia Provisions are making these.

You can make them for pennies. They require only flour, unfed starter, salt and fat. Trick them out with any herb sprinkle you want. I use melted salted butter, though you can substitute olive oil or vegan butter and they’ll work fine. You can use everything bagel spice or rosemary salt for a gourmet vibe. You can roll them extra thin for flat bread, breaking it after baking, or cut them with a pizza cutter for proper crackers. They keep in an airtight container for about a week, but in my house they never last that long.

Scratch sourdough crackers

Makes about 50 crackers

Ingredients:

1 cup unfed sourdough starter

1 cup white flour, white whole wheat flour or a combination of white and whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup salted butter, melted

2 tablespoons dried herbs (optional)

To finish: Olive oil. Flaky kosher or sea salt or a flavored salt of your choice.

Method: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients, except the olive oil and flaky salt, in a bowl with a wooden spoon until they form a slightly sticky dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Separate dough into two balls, and shape each into a flat rectangle. Roll out on a floured piece of parchment paper to a little thinner than 1/8 inch. Brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with flaky salt. With a pizza cutter, cut into 1 1/2 inch squares and pierce each square with a fork — this keeps them from bubbling. Remove the ragged edges; you can re-roll them out. Lift parchment with the crackers on it onto a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, turning the sheet halfway through. Repeat with the second ball. Let them cool all the way before eating.

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We’ve been waiting almost a year to share it, for when the state is awash in fresh fish. Important: You cannot make these lox with frozen fish. (You can, though, freeze the fish after you cure it, if you are concerned about parasites.) As a person who spent an entire summer testing smoked salmon recipes, the best part about lox: They are so easy. You mix a cure, slide the salmon in, and let it do its thing. You do have to turn it once. Ask me how I know now to set my cellphone to remind me.

This recipe uses local gin, juniper berries — or in Beau’s case, spent gin botanicals from his neighbors at Amalga Distillery in Juneau — and lemon zest. Since Alaska has a number of distilleries, it’s nice to use local gin. An herbal gin — like Hendrick’s or Juneauper Gin by Amalga, which uses spruce tip, devil’s club, Labrador tea and rhubarb botanicals — imparts the most complex flavor. You can get juniper berries in Anchorage at Summit Spice & Tea Co. For this recipe, you’ll toast them lightly in a pan over medium heat until they get shiny and release their oils, then you’ll want to crush them well with a mortar and pestle or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. You can use kosher or fine sea salt for the brine, but don’t use table salt.

You do have to prep the fish by thoroughly removing bones. Do this gently, so as not to rip the flesh too much. A really good tool helps. I’m a proponent of the hemostat clamp, which is used for medical purposes and fly-tying. They’re about $4 on Amazon. Expose the line of bones on the fillet by running your finger gently along the flesh toward the tail. Pull bones following the angle they are pointing and try not to press on the meat while you’re doing it. A salmon usually has 20-30 pin bones per side. I try to find and pull at least 25.

Beau says the lox can be vacuum-sealed and stored a couple weeks in the fridge or a couple months in the freezer. Make sure you have a very sharp knife for slicing them, the thinner the better. I have the best luck using a very sharp, flexible medium paring knife.

Beau Schooler’s Gin Lox

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound fresh salmon fillet, pin bones removed, skin on

1/3 cup kosher or fine sea salt

1/3 cup sugar

Zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon juniper berries, lightly toasted in a pan, thoroughly crushed

1 ounce gin, preferably Amalga Distillery gin or gin from another local distillery you support.

Method:

In a small mixing bowl combine the salt, sugar, lemon zest, and crushed juniper berries. Mix well, then add the gin and mix some more until the mixture has the consistency of damp sand. Set aside.

Get a glass baking dish or other tall edged, flat-bottomed container that is slightly larger than your salmon fillet. You want the fish to lay flat and you don’t want the cure to pool up. Sprinkle a little bit of the cure on the bottom of the container. Take the salmon fillet and place it skin side down in the container. Pour the remaining cure over the salmon and then gently massage it into the flesh. Cover the container and set it in the fridge overnight, at least eight hours.

The next morning, the cure should have mostly melted and turned into a brine. Take any unmelted cure and rub it back into the fillet, then flip the fillet over, with the skin side now up. Cover and return to the fridge.

After 18 hours, start checking your lox for doneness. The skin should be shiny, tight, and slightly wrinkled. The flesh should feel firm, with a deeper red color than when you started. If it hasn’t firmed up, splash some more of the melted cure brine on it and return it to the fridge, check again in another couple hours.

When the lox feels finished, remove it from the cure and quickly rinse it under cold water, removing any remaining cure. Place the lox on a plate covered in a paper towel. Place another paper towel on top and gently dry it as much as possible. Place the lox, uncovered, in the fridge to air dry for a couple hours.

Slice very thin with a sharp knife, starting at the wide side of the fillet and cutting on the bias toward the tail. Enjoy.

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This is a great recipe for using the last of the beets in your root cellar, if you still have some. I like to boil the eggs until they are just cooked in the middle, giving the yolks a jammy texture. If you’d like a harder egg, you can boil for a few minutes more. With the beets, I simmer long enough to cook them but leave them little toothsome, which makes for a good pickled texture. You can use them on an appetizer tray, slice them on buttered crackers or make a sandwich with some greens, steamed cold asparagus and mayonnaise on nice bread.

Quick Alaska beet-pickled eggs

Ingredients:

8 chicken eggs or 6 assorted chicken and/or duck eggs plus a dozen quail eggs

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

1 1/4 pounds beets, peeled and sliced about 1/4 inch thick

3/4 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

6 cloves

1 teaspoon allspice

2 teaspoons salt

Instructions: Place the beets, water, sugar, vinegar, spices and salt in a pan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Turn heat down to a simmer and cook beets in the liquid for 8 to 10 minutes, until they give easily when pierced with a fork. Remove the beet mixture from the heat and allow to cool. Meanwhile, place eggs in a pan of cold water and set over the heat. When the pan begins to boil, turn the heat to medium and set the timer for 7 minutes. When the timer rings, place pan in the sink and run cold water into it for a few minutes to cool the eggs. Once you can handle them, peel them carefully. When the beet mixture is cool, use a slotted spoon to scoop the beets into a large glass jar or bowl (do not use metal or plastic), layering them in with the boiled eggs. After that, pour the beet liquid over the beets and eggs to cover. (If for some reason you need a little more liquid, add equal parts water and vinegar.) Cover and chill for at least four hours before serving.

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The mother of the dozen deli knock-off versions of this dip is made at Echo Lake Meats in Kenai. It tends to be both firmer and hotter than the usual deli suspects. I have long wanted to make a pilgrimage to Echo Lake in search of the recipe and once even scheduled an interview about the origins of the dip, but it was canceled at the last minute. And so the original recipe remains secret, at least to me.

You will find, though, in Kenai-based Maya Wilson’s “The Alaska From Scratch Cookbook,” a version that hits all the right notes. It’s a bit on the smokier side and not so hot you can’t eat just a few more chip-loads than you planned. (When I made it, I decreased the smoke just a touch and used just a little less jalapeño juice because I prefer my dip firmer. I also like it without the liquid smoke). It’s a great snack for the big game. Just make sure to chill it for at least a half hour to achieve the perfect texture.

Kenai cheese dip

(Adapted from “The Alaska From Scratch Cookbook” by Maya Wilson)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup canned jalapeños, chopped

1 to 2 tablespoons jalapeño juice from the jar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Method: In a mixing bowl, stir together mayo, peppers, jalapeño pepper juice from the can, garlic powder, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, liquid smoke (if you want), and salt. Fold in the cheese. Chill until ready to serve.

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Cousin Em, who has a small farm in Homer, brought me a couple heads of cabbage this week and I set about experimenting with pancake making. The recipe I came up with is really simple but can be tricked out in any number of ways. It stands up to condiments and garnishes well.

I might add some bacon crumbles to the batter, for example, and garnish with scissored nori. Or make a dipping sauce with tamari, sesame oil and red pepper flakes. Or dress it up like sushi with pickled ginger and wasabi mayo.

After I settled on my recipe, I sliced mine like a quesadilla and served it as an appetizer with a couple dipping options. The kids loved it. Dude: The kids ate cabbage.

It calls for white flour and rice flour, but it is almost easier to sub in a gluten-free flour mix that uses rice flour.

Okonomiyaki or Japanese-style savory cabbage pancakes
Makes 4 large pancakes

1 egg, beaten
1 cup water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ginger paste (grate raw ginger with a micro -planer or chop finely, smash with the side of the knife, chop again until a paste forms)
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
(1 cup of gluten-free flour mix that uses rice flour can be subbed in for the white flour/rice flour combination)
2 cups super finely sliced green cabbage (use a mandoline slicer for best results)
3 finely chopped green onions, white and green parts
Neutral cooking spray
Garnish: chopped green onion, sriracha mayonnaise, sesame seeds
Soy sauce or tamari for dipping

Whisk egg, water, salt and ginger paste. Add flours and whisk until smooth. Add cabbage and onion to make a very loose batter. Spray a cast-iron skillet and put over medium heat. When the pan is hot, spoon a quarter of the mixture into the center of the pan, forming a pancake about 5 inches in diameter. It will be messy around the edges, but you can push the stray cabbage threads into the circle of batter with a spoon. Allow to cook on the first side until the bubbles in the batter pop and don’t fill in, about two minutes. Flip with a metal spatula and cook for an additional 2 minutes on the other side, until it’s golden. Serve right away with sriracha mayonnaise and sprinkle with green onion and sesame seeds, and soy sauce on the side.

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According to Kenji Kusano, one of Anchorage’s most seasoned sushi chefs, and his wife, Sandy, who was raised in Hawaii, the hardest part of making musubi is getting the rice right. They insist on rinsing it well and soaking it before cooking it in a rice cooker. Stove-top cooking is hard, but Kenji gave instructions (below) for that as well. According to Sandy, the traditional method of making musubi is to use unflavored rice and fry the Spam. She buys her musubi forms in Hawaii and says Walmart has the best, cheapest rice and nori.

A very useful tip from Hula Hands, a Hawaiian restaurant that has been selling musubi in Anchorage for 18 years, was to pay close attention to temperature, keeping the rice and Spam as warm as possible and immediately wrapping it in Saran to keep the moisture in and soften the seaweed.

Kenji made me a very delicious musubi version of a ham and cheese sandwich, with lettuce and a tempura-battered pocket full of American cheese. That led me to experiment with sandwich fixings. My favorite was a musubi version of a breakfast sandwich that references a drive-thru Egg McMuffin in all its melty American-cheese glory. It’s not health food, but it’s pretty damn delicious.

Basic Spam musubi

(Makes roughly 10 pieces)

3 cups (dry) Calrose rice, rinsed well, and soaked at least an hour before cooking in a rice cooker, using package directions. (Stove-top isn’t preferred, but see instructions below for cooking in a pot.)

One package hand-roll-sized nori seaweed sheets. These are available at some Asian groceries and on Amazon. Regular will also work, but have to be cut to size with sharp scissors.

One can reduced-sodium Spam.

Optional: Teriyaki sauce, Furikake rice seasoning (available at Asian markets).

Materials: One musubi form (available at Asian groceries and on Amazon for about $7). You can also used a rinsed Spam can, cut with a can opener on the bottom edge, but watch those sharp edges.

Cook rice and keep warm in rice cooker. (If you desire, add Furikake seasoning to the rice to taste and mix well. This is how they do it at Chevron.) Thinly slice Spam into roughly 10 pieces and cook in a frying pan (no oil necessary) over medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Wet the musubi form and set it on a damp plate. Fill the form a little less than halfway with rice. Layer a slice of fried Spam, and, if desired, a splash of teriyaki sauce. Fill the form the rest of the way with rice. Press gently with the plunger to compact. While pressing plunger with one hand, slide the form up with the other to free the musubi. Carefully peel the plunger from the top layer of rice (a sharp knife can help if it sticks, remember to keep it wet.) Roll tightly in a slice of nori and wrap that tightly in Saran right away. It’s best warm. When ready to serve, slice in half with a serrated knife. Keeps, well wrapped, for a day or so at room temp.

McMuffin Musubi 

You’ll need all the ingredients above, as well as:

Five sheets of America cheese singles

Three eggs

Optional: Gochujang, Frank’s hot sauce, Tabasco or Sriracha

Beat three eggs well. Coat a small frying pan with a generous layer of olive oil and heat over medium-low heat. Pour the eggs in to form a thin layer. Cook for about 5 minutes, until just set. Turn off heat and allow to cool and firm up in pan, on the stove for 3 to 5 more minutes. Remove from pan in one piece with a spatula and set on a cutting board. Using the plunger of the musubi form as a guide, use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut into rectangles. Cut American cheese singles in half.

Follow instructions for making musubi above, but add a layer of American cheese, egg and a squirt of hot sauce. Warm Spam and rice will melt the cheese. Serve immediately.

Kenji Kusano’s stove-top musubi rice 

Rinse 3 cups Japanese short grain rice: Put it in a bowl, cover with water, stir in a circular motion, replace the water 4 or 5 times, until it’s clear. Once it’s rinsed, leave it to soak in a bowl for 45 minutes. Drain it. Place it in a pot with 3 cups of water over medium heat. Once it boils, turn it down to low. Set the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, the water should be mostly absorbed. Turn the heat to high for up to 30 seconds, until you can hear the rice crackle on the bottom of the pan. Cut off the heat, leave it be on the stove, covered (this is essential), for 15 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE LID.

Musubi step-by-step:

Step 1: Dampen plate, musubi mold and plunger. Fill the mold a little less than halfway with warm rice.

Step 2: Place a piece of warm fried Spam in the mold.

Step 3: Fill the musubi mold to the top with rice.

Step 4: Press the plunger firmly to compress the musubi.

Step 5: Roll the musubi in nori seaweed. (If you can’t find hand-roll size seaweed, cut it to the width of the mold with sharp scissors.) Immediately wrap in Saran to soften the seaweed.

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