Spam

[Monte Carlo]

Hello. This thread is about spam. Not the email trying to sell you fake viagra, but the tasty tinned meat product.

 

Read the article and share your thoughts. Personally, I like to thinly slice it and fry it with garlic and chilli. Yum.

[Krookie]

ew

[ShadySands]

I wouldn't buy it at a BK but your recipe sounds pretty good.

[Malcador]

....wait. People actually eat that ?

[Tale]

Too much fat for me. I need to lose weight, otherwise I'd love to give it a try.

[Enoch]

To be fair, nearly anything thinly sliced and fried with garlic and chili is going to be pretty damn tasty.

 

 

IMO, Spam is most effectively used as a bargain replacement for pricier fatty cured meats (bacon, pancetta, etc.) when building a flavor base for soups, saucy baked dishes, and the like.

[Monte Carlo]

To be fair, nearly anything thinly sliced and fried with garlic and chili is going to be pretty damn tasty.

 

You can also marinade it in tabasco and serve it in a bun with a fried egg, which is an awesome hangover cure.

 

 

IMO, Spam is most effectively used as a bargain replacement for pricier fatty cured meats (bacon, pancetta, etc.) when building a flavor base for soups, saucy baked dishes, and the like.

 

Good point.

[Blarghagh]

Hold the phone, marketed at women?

[Monte Carlo]

Hold the phone, marketed at women?

 

That's the sheer craziness of spam at work.

[Enoch]

Hold the phone, marketed at women?

 

That's the sheer craziness of spam at work.

Also, the sheer craziness of Japan.

[Guard Dog]

True story. I was driving through Montgomery Alabama about 15-16 years ago and I heard about a grand prize for being the 5th caller to a radio show. The prize was your weight in spam. And to think, cell phones were uncommon back then! My loss I guess.

 

[Enoch]

By the way, in case any of you didn't know, the global capital of Spam-based cuisine is Hawai'i. It's never really been economical to do and large-scale ranching there (more lucrative export crops like cane sugar and pineapple take up much of the farmland), so until long-haul refridgerated sea transport became commonplace, normal beef and pork were really expensive. But Spam really caught on there as, essentially, the everyday protein to eat that didn't come out of the sea. It was used with and adapted into a whole lot of culinary traditions on the Islands, and people who grew up there often have a strong affection for the stuff. Plus, it goes well with pineapple.

[Monte Carlo]

By the way, in case any of you didn't know, the global capital of Spam-based cuisine is Hawai'i. It's never really been economical to do and large-scale ranching there (more lucrative export crops like cane sugar and pineapple take up much of the farmland), so until long-haul refridgerated sea transport became commonplace, normal beef and pork were really expensive. But Spam really caught on there as, essentially, the everyday protein to eat that didn't come out of the sea. It was used with and adapted into a whole lot of culinary traditions on the Islands, and people who grew up there often have a strong affection for the stuff. Plus, it goes well with pineapple.

 

This is exactly the type of spam-based lore that I hoped this thread would inspire so I take my hat off to you, sir.

[Gorth]

Hello. This thread is about spam. Not the email trying to sell you fake viagra, but the tasty tinned meat product.

Eek! He said 'tinned'

 

Use 'Canned' instead. A much more woody word

 

Apart from that, spam, cheese, salsa, olives and lots of herbs between some sandwich bread in the toaster... Yum

[Tigranes]

This is fairly well known, but Koreans, and to a lesser extent, Japanese (and I assume a few other places) have this irrational and weird love-in for Spam. In the Korean case American troops brought it over at the end of WWII and gave it out, well, pretty much like they did chocolates to kids - and then it somehow took the place as an expensive luxury snack/meal option - a view that persisted as late as the 90's, though perhaps not so much anymore.

 

I remember having my share of thinly sliced spam when I was a little kid, it used to be a special treat to have spam & rice (because you know, anything that fatty and salty can't not taste nice to a kid). Then one day I opened a can to cook it myself and realised just how disgusting it is.

[Walsingham]

Oil, fresh chilli, cubed spam. Fry. Add chopped onion, fresh mint, fresh coriander leaf, frozen peas. Fry. Stir in cooked white rice. Fry until bits of rice go crispy. Fresh black pepper.

 

That there is awesome, my good man.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Walsingham

[LadyCrimson]

I liked the "smokey" flavor of Spam. Thinly sliced and pan fried it make a good BLT, so to speak. Never tried the regular version, have a feeling I wouldn't like that one. And yeah, the Hawaiian thing...that fast-food type place I like that has BBQ meats and stuff, they have all kinds of Spam dishes & soups too. I haven't tried any. :D

[Guard Dog]

I like it cooked until just a little burned then served on a big buttermilk biscuit. Mmmmm