Kine Musubi is being billed as New York’s first Hawaiʻi-style musubi store. It's the brainchild of Chi Ian Chan, who grew up in Honolulu’s Chinatown.
“I've eaten so much musubi. And my mom would make my brother and I musubis for field trips as early as elementary school. But I couldn't tell you the first time, because I've had so many of them, and like all other kids that grew up in Hawaiʻi, this is a daily part of life," he said.
After moving to New York, Chan longed for nostalgic flavors. He started making and selling musubi on Facebook during the pandemic.
The business has grown since then, including a pop-up at a sushi restaurant, and Chan is launching a brick-and-mortar store devoted to the musubi later this summer.
Kine Musubi’s classic recipe pays homage to the simple musubi in Hawaiʻi: Spam, rice with furikake, a homemade teriyaki sauce, and a nori wrap.
“I tell our customers, if you eat hot dogs, you'll love Spam,” Chan said. “We've had a good amount of regulars now that either have never tried Spam or never heard of musubi, and they love it so much that they just come back all the time, and they become our loyal regulars.”
Chan envisions the Kine Musubi shop as simple yet classic, with standing-only counter space.
"New Yorkers love to try new things, so it's really just getting them to take that first bite," he told HPR.
Speaking to other small business owners or aspiring entrepreneurs, Chan says to go for broke.
“You never know what's going to happen until you try. If you fail, you get up and you try again. That's what living life is all about, not just business, but just everyday aspects of life. You fall down, you get up, and you try again.”
He said he's thankful to all of his friends and family members who have supported his idea of starting a musubi shop, and he hopes to represent Hawaiʻi in its true form.
This interview aired on The Conversation on May 29, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
