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Friday, September 4, 2009

Food Storage Friday: SPAM!

Mountain Man is here guest posting about his favorite camping ingredient.








Spam comes from the Spamalope, a fatty boneless animal prized for its tasty flesh. As a food storage item it has quite a few advantages:
1) Spam is rumored to have a shelf life bordering on forever.
2) Spam has a ton of calories. In a time of plenty too many calories is a bad thing. In a time of famine, the more calories you can get from a small container, the better.
3) Spam, if prepared properly, is delicious.

I made the following sweet and sour spam recipe for some Boy Scouts, and a few of them claimed it was better than anything their moms had ever made. I enjoyed the hyperbole.


1) cut the spam into 1/2 inch squares and add to frying pan. Another great thing about spam? Not much oil required to cook with.
2) Add onion, garlic, and ginger powder. If you have fresh ingredients (fresh garlic/ginger/onion) add these to the pan to saute until soft.
3) Remove spam from heat when all sides are crispy brown.
4) Add apple cider or red wine vinegar, cubed pineapple, ketchup, and brown sugar.
5) Bring to boil, reduce heat, and let simmer 5 minutes.
6) Add spam.
7) Add 2 tbsp cornstarch to 1 cup water, mix, and then add to sweet and sour mixture. Sauce should thicken as it returns to a boil.
8) Serve over rice.

Ingredients:
SPAM: 1 can
garlic powder: 2 tsp
onion powder: 2 tsp
ginger powder: 1 tsp
apple cider, white, or red wine vinegar: 1/2 to 1 cup
chunk pineapple: 1 can, save 1/2 cup juice
ketchup: 1/2 to 1 cup
brown sugar: 1/2 to 1 cup
corn starch: 2 tbsp
water: 1/2 cup

**Please note that the ingredients given are not exact. Different people have different tastes when it comes to sweet and sour. I usually start on the low end of each ingredient, and then add more of each ingredient to balance taste.








9 comments:

cshellz said...

Several years ago while grocery shopping I took a trip down memory lane and bought some spam and some tang. The taste was not quite what I remembered :D, but I ate it in a sandwich like mom used to make. I'll have to try spam again in a recipe.

Anonymous said...

I detest the nasty stuff. I think Spam and white rice caused the epidemic obesity in Hawaii. I lived over there for some time and was served spam as sushi (musubi), fried rice, and horror of horrors as a lunch meat. I would rather die. (But I do store it for the coming famine. Hopefully I can pass it on to my great grandchildren.)

Bellen said...

Spam comes in individual serving pouches - wonderful for single guys & gals on their own. Size wise the pounches slip into tiny spaces - perfect for short term prepping.

Spam, sauteed to crisp edges with a can of drained crushed or tidbit pineapple and some cloves or cinnamon is really good. Serve on rice, potatoes, waffles or rolled in a thin pancake - good for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Anonymous said...

In Australia thought its not eaten often, I did a post on it some time ago, heres the linkss for some great recipes I did try:
http://doing-it-naturally.blogspot.com/2009/01/recessions-unemployment-just-for-fun.html

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure I've ever had spam, but this recipe (and especially the picture) make it look very high class. I might have to try it. That is, of course, if I can use a coupon while it's on sale!

Sharron said...

LOL My hubby is net to me and actually laughed out loud (unusual) at this post. I MAY try this idea. I literally could not swallow this stuff down when I was a kid, but may my pallet has "matured".

My son served mission in Hawaii and put on about 40 pounds . . what can I say . . he loves the stuff!

Nanci from MA said...

Loved this post!

I use SPAM in my fried rice recipe and occasionally in my macaroni and cheese. Cut into tiny little (1/4") cubes it's just right.

Debbie said...

I don't know that I understand so many people's HUGE aversion to spam. Maybe they've just haven't tried it in a good form? I loved it when I was growing up in Mac & Cheese. I think the trick is to cook it. I can't really imagine eating it raw on a slice of bread as 'sandwich meat' being a very appetizing option. But I love the flavor when it's cooked. I'll have to start adding it to my food storage. :)

Janet said...

Hey everyone....thanks for the spam ideas!! We have it in storage, and use it occasionally like bacon: cut thin and cook in pan until crusty on the outside, both sides.