A canned Spam is a meat block wonder. It is a cube of meat and it is butchers mix; a iconic ration that is from pork shoulder, ham, salt, potato starch, sugar, and sodium nitrate that makes a salty and crispy, yet tender and meaty, and filling enough to start the morning with eggs and rice with accompanying splash of shoyu.
In Hawaii, spam is known the island over as one of the most favorite foods to eat for breakfast and to take on hikes or the beach. It became popular after the war and made a big impact on all the islands, but none more than the Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii. The meat became popular because those who were in the war ate it as well as those who may have had to go to internment camps which had it on the menu. The meat itself is oddly shaped and has a strange texture that is soft and fatty with a very salty flavor that can be seen as off putting. In Hawaii there is a particular way that it is prepared, which is what does the magic to the meat. When cooked in oil or its own fat the spam can have a nice crispy texture and burn off some of the excess fat and have a savoriness that overtakes the salt. Often times it is cooked in a marinade and marinated for a short amount of time. Spam is Big in Hawaii In Hawaii Spam is the number one preferred breakfast meat, followed by portuguese sausage, and lastly sausage patties. The immigration of plantation workers of Japanese in Hawaii are credited with making the Spam Musubi, which has become a Hawaii food icon of Travel gastronomy must eats. Spam looks different in the lens of Hawaii residence, as it looks tasty for lunch as a fried saimin, or a snack thats all ready for a long day at the beach or during a hike, or maybe even some snacks for the plane ride over the ocean to any travel destination. Today, Spam in the form of Spam Musubi is a marker of the State of Hawaii in the U.S. and in Japan. Hormel looks to try new variations of spam, such as; Black Pepper Spam, Jalapeno Spam, Teriyaki Spam, and Garlic Spam. While Hawaii locals make their own takes on Spam through meat experimentation to make gourmet Spam for Hawaii for a deli counter full of Hawaii cuisine Spams. Regardless of its many forms, spam is loved by many. Its a keeper for sure! Spam and The Hawaii Connection How did Spam get on Hawaii Plates? Spam Traveled of course! Traveling by can for its long shelf life, affordable price tag, and diverse recipe listings made Spam easy to take on the go. Spam made its way over to Hawaii during the time of World War II with the GIs. Many soldiers during the war had a dislike for the salty piece of meat, but a hand full enjoyed it, especially if they knew the previous meat rations of the war prior in World War I. Spam has made travels with soldiers to many places and in a few notable areas it stayed there for good... like: Guam, the United Kingdoms, Hong Kong, and Korea with great success in Spams popularity. As more and more people in Hawaii ate Spam it got stuck as sort of “Meat Steak”. Immigrants from the plantation used the cheap meat to make many recipes to stretch starchy meals, some of these include Fried Rice with Spam, Fried Saimin with Spam, and Spam with White Rice. The popularity of Spam made its way to the Hawaii masses and eventually become essential to the Hawaii home pantry. Interviewed Shopper at Foodland, Pearl City “Meat that can be kept unrefrigerated for a long period of time is pretty important if you think about it. Meat might spoil after a couple days, but canned meat could last months if not years.” Hormels Canned Meat 1920s James Hormel took an interest in delis which had square blocks in his state of Minnesota and were made from the Butcher. This meat was the inspiration to have a product as it was made from the six pound molds and marked the first gourmet spam that was from delis back then. Spam has existed even before it had been commercialized and has been apart of Minnesota food culture. Spam as a canned product is said to originate from Austin Minnesota from a team at Hormel facility that was both a slaughterhouse and meatpacking location. Spam is credited to Julius Zillgitt for creating the mysterious meat mixture. It was created with the considerations of people who didnt find the deli cases appealing, but found canned formed meat more acceptable would begin eating this molded meat. There would have to be a product as well as a process to get this into as many homes as possible, so the company went to work. It would later be used for rations during World War II and would get the nick name Spiced Ham. Spam and its Names Spam has many different names... under the larger category it goes under Luncheon Meats, but if you eat straight and basic Luncheon Meat... Spam tastes nothing like a Luncheon Meat. The name is said to be a shortened version of Spiced Ham, some call it Army Meat Rations, and some call is Mystery Meat. Even though Spam itself is trademarked by Hormel Corporation it is widely known as its own category under Luncheon Meat under the same name and given due historical recognition of Hormel. In the mainland, people will go to Spam to save money and cringe while doing it. When asked to most people who weren't raised on Spam they identify it as a low end mixed Luncheon Meat that is nothing less than gross. Those who eat it appear to be of low class or poor. However, those who brave the can and check it out for themselves will notice a delightful sort of saltiness, a taste of ham, and a texture that is slightly crispy when pan fried with a soft and meaty center. Hawaii Butchers Spam A anonymous chef stated “Hormel Corporation have a marinated take on spam” he says. “And knowing their customers variation preferences is very good, like the traditional Spam is a mythical luncheon meet. It was never directed to necessarily show encouragement in making meat mixtures that are outside the can. Some might even ask why the change, but the change is necessary for Hawaii to go forward with its Spam identity and its recipe Localization. Its a win win for both the spam lovers in the islands and Hormel corporation to spread their brand.” Butchers slice the meat through the pork shoulder into steaks and then slice down to make long strips to place into the grinder and repeat the process for the ham. The butcher then grinds the pork shoulder and ham and mixes it in a bowl thoroughly and then adds in the slurry and mixes again until it seems paste like. It is then placed into a pan mold and steamed and afterwards refrigerated overnight to get the fat gelatin to come out of the meat. Canned spam uses sodium nitrate which is different from Home-made or Gourmet spam that simply uses salt. When butchers make spam it can have different seasonings or in hawaii different steaming liquid in the steam process or even marinades after the spam comes out of the fridge. Fresh Spam does not have Sodium Nitrate which is typical in all cans of spam to keep that extra pink color and helps with shelf life.
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