By Bailey Roh
I know there’s a lot of weird stigmas around spam, being a “trashy mystery meat,” but I love spam and I will die on that hill. Growing up, my parents prepared a lot of different meals for my siblings and I using spam, for example: spam soup, spam musubi, spam, eggs and rice, etc. But my all-time favorite has got to be spam fried rice. Something about the smell of fried spam, onions and sesame oil wafting through the air and, oddly enough, the sound of the smoke alarm inevitably going off as my mom forgets to crack a window while she’s cooking, is incredibly nostalgic to me. Not to mention the flavor is just, mwah, perfect – obviously.
Ingredients (quantity will vary depending on how much you want to make)
- Rice (cooked in a rice cooker)
- Spam (approx. one can for every two cups of rice)
- Potatoes (approx. half a potato for every one cup of rice)
- Sweet onions (approx. half-¾ for every 3-4 cups of rice)
- Carrots (approx. one large carrot for every 3-4 cups of rice)
- Eggs (approx. one egg for every one cup of rice)
- Baekseol brand rice seasoning
- Sesame oil
- Soy sauce
Preparation and cooking
- Cook your desired amount of rice in a rice cooker (following the cooker’s instructions), adding slightly more water so as to make it sticky
- While the rice is cooking, finely mince carrots and onions and set them aside
- Peel and cut potatoes into approximately ⅓ inch cubes and set them aside
- Cut the spam into approximately ½ inch cubes and set them aside
- Once the rice has finished cooking, take it out of the cooker and put it into a separate bowl to cool down slightly before mixing in a generous amount of sesame oil and baekseol brand rice seasoning – making sure to mix well so all the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the rice – and then set it aside
- After mixing the rice, heat up a medium sized wok (or large pan) on the stove at medium-low heat and add the potatoes and carrots, cooking them slowly until the potatoes are slightly golden-brown, making sure to mix continually
- Then, once the potatoes and carrots are cooked add in the spam – still making sure to mix consistently – only letting it cook for a few minutes before adding in the rice mixture and onions
- After the rice is added make sure to, once again, distribute everything evenly, and drizzle a small amount of soy sauce over the mixture
9. Before it’s fully cooked, create a small divet in the center of the rice and crack egg(s) into it, letting it sit briefly before quickly mixing it into the rice
10. Cook on medium heat until the rice is golden-brown and the spam is a nice, slightly crispy red, then serve into bowls and enjoy!
(DISCLAIMER: Not my photo!! I literally could not find any, even despite how often I make this back home T^T)
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