Reading today’s title you’d think I’m about to rant about the amount of spam that hits my junk mail folder. Sure, I do get a lot of junk mail, but that’s not what this is about.
Before Spam was globally recognized as unwanted annoying e-mails about hair loss, Viagra, Cialis, Replica Watches, Weight Loss, and male enhancement, it was something totally different. Spam was (and still is) a strange form of mystery meat packaged up in a nifty little can. Apparently the folks out in Hawaii love this mystery meat.
It’s not really “mystery meat.” The side of the can states the following ingredients, “Pork with Ham, Salt, Water, Modified Potato Starch, Sugar, Sodium Nitrate.” Actually, pretty basic ingredients compared to so many other food products. No chemical symbols, lists of strange names, or food color number 7. Hmmmmmmm……
So, I’ve recently come into some Spam. The photo in this post is my personal can of spam. I also have a foil package of Spam Lite. Lucky me.
How did I land my Spam windfall? I certainly didn’t run out to a store to buy some. I’ve never tried it, but I just might give it a whirl.
Remember my meeting the other day? Yup, the one in Phoenix. Well, the speaker really wanted folks to participate in his presentation. So he brought along a box of goodies. If you spoke up, interacted, and gave decent answers you’d get something cool……yes, I said something cool.
As the presentation went forward I noted a trend. The guy was tossing out food items. None of them were in my allowable diet. Candy bars, sour cream chips (oh god I miss those), Mt. Dew, etc……bummer for me.
I kept my mouth shut through most of the presentation. But then I made a mistake. I piped up (just can’t help myself). John (the speaker) liked what I had to say, and got ready to toss me some chocolate candy bars. Oh, a Nestle Crunch, are you kidding me? I’d kill for one. As he got ready to throw I pointed to the guy next to me and suggested he toss it to him, I can’t eat chocolate without getting really sick.
John stopped, smiled, and dug into his box of “goodies”. Out came some Spam. Amazingly enough, I knew it was something that I could eat without my gut going nuclear.
I’ll leave all my thoughts about “prizes” being given out to encourage participation to the side today. Tossing out treats to get employees to talk seems a little odd to me, but alright, I’ll leave it at that. The bottom line here is I’m in possession of some Spam now. I wish I’d gotten the whole Pineapple he gave away as well, I think it might go well with the spam.
Any suggestions? Cooking techniques? Warnings? Am I right about coveting the pineapple as well????
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Just keep in mind that no matter how you cook it, spam will be salty. Personally, I really enjoy it!
Personally I like to slice it up and just cook it in a fry pan, serve with some eggs and fresh fruit. Makes a great breakfast.
For lunch, it makes good sandwiches just sliced, placed on bread, with a good amount of mayo.
Dinner - sky is the limit here. If you want to make something different try this:
- Fry the spam until light brown.
- Heat up some soy sauce (1/3 cup), sugar (1/3 cup), and rice vinegar (1 tsp) until the sugar desolves
- Add spam back into the soy mixture and cook for 1 minute.
- Place a sheet of nori down, cover half of the nori sheet with 1/2 inch of steamed rice, put spam on top of rice, cover spam with another 1/2 inch of steamed rice. Wrap the nori over. Now you have Spam Maki!
Good grief…I am almost speechless with the two of you. Tom? Rich? How could you? Spam can not be good for you…whether or not it makes your tummy go nuclear…it says Potted Meat on it…ewwww…
And Tom? Spam Maki? Really? There’s got to be some sort of law against the use of nori to contain spam…I’m sure there’s some famous Japanese chef that’s rolling in his grave…
(it is a lovely picture of the
Spam however)
Sorry…I hit the wrong button
Rich, you are now obligated to make Sadira eat spam. On principle alone.
As far as health benefits I look at it like this: Hawaiians have been eating spam since WWII, right? They are still alive and healthy. Coincidence? I think not.
Tombo,
Ah, the spam war begins.
Maybe the next time we go for a hike you could bring along some seared then chilled spam dishes.
Only if you both promise to eat it.
Have you seen the SIZE of some of the native Hawaiians since WWII Tom?
Just sayin’…
And, if we have to eat Spam as a hiking snack…I’m out.
I was raised on Spam as a child. My mother put it in spaghetti sauce, vegetable dishes, and sandwiches. I enjoyed it as a comfort food. I hade not eaten it since college due to the high fat and salt content. Now that I we have our AS I thought that I would give Spam another try to bring back the memories. Well culinary tastes change with time as noted on the PBS program Manor House. Meals of the past were exceptional high in grease with a small focus on vegetables. The actors, the wife a doctor in real life and her family, refused to eat the authentic recipes of the turn of the century since they are unhealthy compared to today’s diet.
I eagerly fried some 1/4″ thick slices till they were nice and crispy to render out some of the fat serving it with eggs. When Bill and I tasted it, gag, ick, too greasy!!! Since I refuse to waste food, I ground up the remaining unused Spam in the food processor and used it as an accent flavoring for a meat sauce and stir-fry vegetable dish which was better. Yes, it is popular in Hawaii but with it comes obesity and all of the health problems associated with it. Cost-wise, you get very little protein for what you pay.
Larry
Wow, I opened a real can of……
hmmmm……
well, guess we could go with “opened a can of spam” with this one!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist1
Great shot of the can of Spam… Can’t wait for the macro shot of the contents!
Hey…we used to have Spam all the time as kids…we loved it…I can remember it being a meal on camping trips, too. Haven’t had it for a bazilion years, but every time I hear someone talk about it I want to try it again, just to see! It would probably be like Larry & Bill’s experience, though…not nearly as good as I remember it being… One day when I’m all alone and no one is watching, I may just have to try it again. At least it’s not all full of chemicals.
Love the picture!