Spiced Ham

I've lived on the mainland for nearly three years now and no matter how hard I try I can't get people to fully appreciate that great canned delight we call SPAM. Maybe it's my bland way of cooking it for them (musubi, fried rice, spaghetti)? Anyone know of any delightful SPAM recipies that I can share with the tastebuds of the Northeastern area?

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It very might well be different for your friends, but I know that as far as my wife is concerned - she won't touch SPAM - I suspect the aversion is more social than physical.

I mean, yeah, SPAM sure doesn't look or feel like a lot of fun, but that goes for a lot of foods. But Mainlanders definitely seem to be raised to sense a stigma when it comes to SPAM. For many of them, it's a food you eat only when there's nothing else. A poor person's food.

I think it's delicious. Sliced fine and topping a hot saimin, or sliced thick, marinated in sesame and shoyu, lightly seared and topping a brick of sticky rice - all held together with a thick swath of seaweed. Mmm. Man I'm hungry now.

Blair Powell has archived some of Hormel's own suggested recipes:
http://www.pitt.edu/~blair1/spam.html

I actually think I've eaten "Spambalaya." Yummy!

I'm a mainland haole and we ate Spam as kids. I love it. My father was raised on Spam. They used to eat Spam and onion sandwiches on the cattle drives. My mother used to make Spam and potato casserole, like scalloped potatoes, only add Spam. Easy and good.

When I've fixed myself a Spam sandwich (the haole way - i.e. no frying it - straight out of the can, white bread, mayo, and tons of red onion), I've gotten some pretty weird looks. So, I always figured locals were kind of Spam snobs. ;^)

LOL @ Maggie's "Spam snobs"--my guess is the weird looks are about the red onion--either that, or the mayo was not the Best Foods brand :-) I prefer Miracle Whip, myself, but there was dead silence in the room when I actually said that at one of my husbands' family gatherings. It was spooky!

Anyway, back to the topic--spam slivers in fried saimin; raw Spam mashed up and mixed with raw egg and breadcrumbs (or panko) and fried like little fritters; cubed Spam baked in a macaroni/cream of mushroom baked casserole topped with cheese; diced fried Spam and eggs mixed with steaming hot rice and a bit of shoyu--these are just a few of my favorites. Mmmmm, mmmm, good!

Bake it @ 350 degrees for about 1/2 an hour, coated with a maple syrup glaze, or with a mustard glaze. Either way, stud with cloves (you can make purty diamond patterns with them). Serve with baked yams (even canned ones) and green beans. Works for us haole types (my folks liked it long before they got here, but then they grew up during the Depression).

Mmmm, Spam...I just had some today in my bento, as a matter of fact. There's something just so magical about the pairing of fried Spam and rice. :) That's my favorite way to eat it. I don't know, eating it straight out of the can seems so plain...sorry Maggie. :)

Here's a tip: DON'T tell them that there's Spam in your dishes :)

While attending school in Oregon, I made some teri spam musubi's for my room mates. The key was to NOT let them know what they were eating until they commented on it.

Til today, they STILL ask for it when I visit or they come to the islands. :)

Next to the musubis, the only other way I will eat a slab of spam is the way Linkmeister bakes it. I ate a lot of luncheon meat baked that way, but I can see how spam would rival.

Remember when all those spam haiku's circulated?

Some of my favorite ways to cook Spam:

1) Chopped up and tossed in local-style or Chinese-style fried rice (ie. peas, onions, carrots, scrambled eggs, shoyu...)

2) Pan fried on a nonstick pan (no oil - Spam has enough fat to fry itself) dusted with pepper and other seasonings of choice (ie. dried herbs, Mrs. Dash, Spike)

3) Same as above, but placed on a microwave-safe dish and nuked on HIGH for 30 secs. each side

4) Sliced, and cooked in teriyaki or BBQ sauce

5) A variation on Spambled Eggs and/or Spam Omelet: Chop it up into bits, saute with onion and green pepper (just like they do at Kahea `Ai in UH) and then scrambled along with the eggs. Cheese optional!

6) Bundled up in foil with apples, potatoes, and onions and baked (Reynolds Kitchen-style) or grilled for less than 30 mins - I got this from an old issue of Sassy magazine

7) Spam and crushed pineapple in a pan with some shoyu and a little sugar... kinda like a ham glaze

BTW: Low Sodium Spam is good, but whatever you do, do NOT touch the Turkey Spam - that stuff is LETHAL!

And, oh yeah, I just remembered: Cubed Spam sauteed with chopped onions and 1/2 tsp. of chopped fresh dill (half less of that amount when using dried) in a touch of butter before being folded (or scrambled) into a three-egg omelette. The crispness of the dill does nicely to counteract the saltiness of the Spam. A good brunch dish if there ever was one, and great with toast or rice. Again, cheese optional.

Maggie, for crying out loud! You gotta expand on this: "Spam and onion sandwiches on the cattle drives." Cattle drives? Where? White bread or sourdough? Spam and beans around the chuckwagon? Geevum, girl! LOL...

I forgot omelets and stir-frys. Oops.

"Maggie, for crying out loud! You gotta expand on this: "Spam and onion sandwiches on the cattle drives." Cattle drives? Where? White bread or sourdough? Spam and beans around the chuckwagon? Geevum, girl! LOL... - Linkmeister"

My dad and his brother had 5 uncles. All of them were cattlemen in California. They'd drive the cattle down from the foothills, on horseback, to the ranches, or take them back up to the hills where the feed was good, depending on the season. My great-uncles didn't have no steekin' chuck wagon. Lunch was a can of spam on white mushy bread.

It wasn't until much later that the recipe was refined and the onions were added. Spam sandwiches are a family tradition. :^)

And, Ali, if it's not Best Foods, it's not a sandwich.

As Ryan noted, I suspect it's a mental thing with me. My mother says I loved it as a child, so it's weird that I have such an aversion to it. Once, when I was pregnant and in the throes of morning sickness, all I had to do was see footage of the Spam convention on TV and I was running. I don't drink milk, either, so I must have some deep-seeded food hang-ups. Spam and miracle whip. Now there's a gag-worthy combo.

That's okay, Jen (and you, too, Maggie!) more Miracle Whip and Spam for meee!! LOL!!!

Have you ever had the (un)pleasant surprise of biting into a piece of Spam and finding out that it waa not REAL Spam, it was TREET. :P *blech*

I tend to eat 7-11's spam musubi on the weekends.

Making my own dishes with Spam, either the Less Sodium Spam or the Turkey Spam. Diced in salads or sliced with fried rice dishes.

It's been a long while since I tried Spam Lite in the light blue can but I tended to not to use it since it tended to just fall apart when it was sliced. Anyone used that version of Spam latey to see if that is still true or not?

Here's something I learned from my mom: Cut one can of Spam into cubes and cook for a bit in a skillet. Then add one small can of tomato sauce and one can of green beans, drained. Heat over the stove, adding pepper to taste. Serve over hot rice. Sounds kinda wierd, but it's pretty good when all you've got in your cupboard is Spam, tomato sauce and green beans! ;)

Yesterday I came up with the brilliant brainstorm of adding Spam to my Vegetarian Jambalaya and calling it "Spambalaya" I am so clever - so I thought. I am an island girl at heart and missing my sweetheart who is keeping the island of Oahu warm waiting for me. If any of you are island bound and looking for a bikini or a special something go to Bikini's n Things on Monsarrat - tell Margo that Catherine sent you. Much Aloha!

well, some guy posted something about fried spam w/ tomato sauce and green beans over rice, but i think it's a lot better w/ just canned diced tomatoes. Just fry it all up and add a little hot tobasco pepper sauce and you're good to go!

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