Growing up, my afterschool snack would be anything from Spagetti-o’s, to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, to Spam and rice.
Sometimes my mom made Spam for breakfast: eggs, rice and Spam, and sometimes she made it for dinner: small cubes in Udon noodle soup or in fried rice. The aroma from my mom’s cooking was wonderful. It filled the house with a warmth that only comes from your mom buzzing happily along in the kitchen.
I actually liked Spam a lot as a kid. I still do, but I’m more of a closet Spam fan now since it’s so not popular as an adult in ultra health-conscious California. In fact, I place my cans of Spam behind my boxes of wheat fiber cereal and quinoa in my cupboard, which pretty much encapsulates me: healthy-looking Californian on the outside, gooshy “mystery meat” on the inside.
But I’ve just heard of a place where people who love Spam aren’t bullied or taunted – the Waikiki Spam Jam Festival!
“…several of Honolulu’s finest restaurants will be serving up Spam®Products in many different ways, so you can experience the enormous variety of its applications.”
Applications of Spam? Ok, so this marketing statement wasn’t written well, but they make it up to you by giving you their secret recipe for Mini Maple Spam Doughnuts!
Bonus: Mom’s Spam Fried Rice Recipe (aka South Pacific-style):
- 2 cups leftover rice
- 1-1/2 cups Spam, cut into match stick size pieces
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- Sesame Oil
Heat a small amount of sesame oil into a skillet and brown spam pieces on all sides. Mix in the rice. Mix the egg with the soy sauce and stir into the hot rice and spam. Stir gently until the egg is cooked. Sprinkle green onions on top and serve.
For an alternate version, see “Absolutely the Best Spam Fried Rice Recipe” at Food.com.