Spam, spam, spam, ham and spam
Last night I received a can of Spam as a gift. (I was going to post the story behind this, but it’s just too complicated for the payoff you’d get.) Which leads to a question – has anyone actually eaten this stuff? I never have, and I’m curious to hear other people’s experiences.
I went onto spam.com and there were some truly scary recipes there: Spam and Turkey Muffins, and Spam and Jam Layered Sandwich, to name two. I feel like I should eat this stuff just to say I’ve eaten it. But does anyone know how it can be prepared to make it palatable? I seem to remember people saying the texture was “spongy,” which doesn’t bode well at all.
Let’s just call it the Words Mean Things Spam Recipe Contest.
My mom sometimes puts a little spam in sushi (maki rolls). Yeah, I’m totally serious.
When I was little we used to have it at home every once and a while. My father would just cut it up into slices, and fry it in a pan. While I’m not goint to be running around promoting the stuff anytime soon, I know I certainly didn’t hate it.
It’s really not so far off of hot dogs, texture-wise. It’s a case of “its salty and vaguely meat-like, so I’ll ignore what’s really in it”.
That being said, I frequently had spam (fried as Wayne described until a little bit browned) with baked beans as a child. A cheap easy dinner for a working mom.
Raw is nasty though. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
I think it’s made of pig snouts.
My sister buys it by the case. She fries it then puts it on Wonder bread with yellow mustard… UUGH! Where’s my pate!
My mom fixed it like Wayne’s family did. We had it in sandwiches with ketchup on top.
I think that Spam is something you truly have to experience for yourself. Bon appetit!
Yep, definitely fried. Sliced and fried and used in sandwiches. Cubed and fried and scrambled into eggs. Just make sure it’s fried.
Chop the Spam(tm) fine and mix with diced potatoes, salt, pepper and a little fresh parsley; fry in skillet over medium-high heat for 6-7 minutes, then turn and brown other side. Voila! Spam(tm) hash!
Slice Spam(tm) very thin and fry in ungreased skillet until slightly crispy; crumble and scramble with eggs, green pepper, yellow onion and some chopped tomato at the end.
Gnaw Spam(tm) directly out of tin while defecating under a bridge, repeating, “So juicy sweet!”
Actualy, according to the History Channel, Spam is made of what’s left over when they make those perfectly shaped canned hams. Those come out of the center of whatever part of the pig makes ham, and whatever isn’t the shape of the can is Spammed.
John has the classic recipes. I remember shopping it into cubes and putting it into a cassarole with chopped potatos, onions, carrots, and some herbs and baking it. My dad was fond of it fried in the classic fashion.
Since I’m not a huge pork fan, we don’t eat it anymore, but it’s not really “evil” and it is actually meat (Oh, that whole “gelatinous” thing — well, gelatin is MADE from meat. Natural product. Yes, that’s Jelo in another incarnation — used to be the food of the very rich, because only they had enough meat to get enough gelatin to make it work cooking, molding and eating)
I watch too much History Channel.
I know that Hawiians eat a lot of Spam. Maybe there’s a site for Hawiian Spam recipes. I would google it, but I don’t really want to have that knowledge taking up space in my brain. Good luck!
My mom’s always been kind of a workaholic. As kids, we’d come home from school to find notes in the kitchen: “Mom working late. Spam in microwave.”
Spam is already fully cooked, but it’s disgusting if eaten cold. I think this is where all those misguided Spam-haters get their distaste for it – they just never had it prepared correctly.
Whatever you do, don’t microwave your Spam (unless it’s been previously fried and you’re just reheating it). As the others have said, frying is the way to go. Spam was also a staple on our family camping trips, where my dad did all the cooking, and he always fried it (come to think of it, he fried ‘most everything).
Slice it up and put it in a frying pan. It’s not as greasy as you might expect, but you still shouldn’t need to add grease. Leave the slices there longer than you think you should before turning them over – you want it as crispy as possible without turning black. Mmmm, salty hammy goodness.
I’ve never had Spam, but in my youth we often had a similar product, called Hamdingers. Like Spam, but already cut into slices. And yes, frying was the way to go.
Hamdingers! Ha!
Miss A’s “spam sushi” (musubi) is from Hawaii, in fact. But the name is misleading–musubi is called “sushi” because it’s spam and rice in seaweed, but the spam’s fried first, not raw. It’s still pretty gross–stick with John’s cuddly hash recipe, I say.
We often had the fried spam and beans combo when I was growing up. I think Mom added brown sugar to it somehow so it had a kind of candied taste. I liked being able to help her out by opening the can – it had a cool key (and maybe still does) that you inserted in to a tab and twisted to open. It also made a slightly gross but surprisingly satisfying “squooshing” sound when it plopped out of the can.
I like it as Wayne describes. Once i cut it into cubes and fried it in a tempura batter and served it with a sweet and sour sauce. It wasn’t bad. But friends that i had over for dinner do not trust me to cook for them anymore… :>
Yes, fried Spam was a staple in my house back in the ’60s. I really liked it, too, particularly in the classic white trash “Fried Spam on Wonder bread with heavy mayo.”
Oddly enough, this is bringing back enough good childhood memories I may be tempted to go buy some. I bought Underwood Deviled Ham the other day, too… Am I regressing?
Shut up and eat your spam. It is perfectly good food, and you need some salt. Fry it in Coca Cola and remember the good old days. Thinking about how close we all were in the Internment Camp, and before that during the Depression brings salty, salty tears to my eyes.
Wow!! It’s a Spam-a-lanche!