Me and Spam

Not many people will admit it these days but everyone loves SPAM-I'm sure vegetarians have a secret longing for it too.

What else is so portable, long lasting and well-tasty?

Peanut butter. Yet good old PB lacks that protein punch.

One can of Spam has enough protein for 6 adults as a matter of fact.

Spam has kept our troops going for decades and lets face it-tastes better than SOS.

Perfect for camping, super quick busy day suppers and of course-nuclear holocaust.

Too salty you say-I have low blood pressure says I. ;P

And versatile? So very! I admit I have just a few recipes though.

My current favorite is Spam Musubi.

And it is so good!

Let's get started shall we?

Spam Musubi

Sushi rice

2 cups medium grain rice(risotto rice can be used)- Place the rice in a pot and cover with water, swirl with your hands and drain off the milky water-do this several times til the water is mostly clear and no longer milky.

2 1/4 cups water

I use a rice cooker and cook the rice according to it's directions. However if you do not have a rice cooker don't despair-perfect rice is obtainable on your stove top in a large pot with a tight fitting lid. Place the rice and the water in the pot and bring to a boil. Cover with the tight lid and let boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium for 4-5 minutes and then to low for 10 minutes, NEVER removing the lid. Remove pot from heat and let sit with the lid on and covered with a dishcloth for 10 minutes. Wallah-your rice should be perfect(it worked well for me before I got the rice cooker)

In a small pan combine over low heat:

1/3 cup rice vinegar

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Here's the trickiest part.

Put the cooked rice(still hot) into a large bowl and sprinkle/slowly pour the vinegar mixture over the rice. Lightly fold the rice with either forks or rice paddles to thouroghly coat the rice, being careful not to smash the grains. If you have a helper have them fan the rice as you are folding-this evaporates excess moisture and makes the rice shine.

The Spam

Open your can of Spam carefully-unless you want to spring for a musubi mold-you can transform it into a handy reusable mold. At one time the cans had keys and later each end was rolled. These days that is not the case but with a little luck and if you hold your tongue just right you can cut off the end with a hand held can opener.

Slice the Spam into 8 slices

Pan fry until as crispy as you like and then add to the pan:

2-3 tablespoons Hoisin sauce mixed with 1/4 cup water and continue cooking til each Spam slice sports a nice glaze.

Now you'll need to get your Nori ready(We are fortunate enough to have a couple of oriental stores here and the local Ingles and Bi-Lo carry a small selection of Japanese ingredients-everything needed for this recipe-if you can't find any locally I recommend Ichiban Kan-their prices are good and shipping is reasonable.

Cut the nori into strips that are nearly the same width as your mold of choice.

Place a nori strip under your mold and layer in a couple of tablespoons of sushi rice then a slice of Spam(with wasabi spread on it if you dare-I dare of course) and then a couple more tablespoons of rice. Place the former lid on top of your layers and press down-compacting your layers and sliding the mold up and off. Carefully peel away the press(former lid) and wrap the nori around your musubi, wetting the end to make the nori stick to itself.

Repeat until you have as many musubi as you had Spam slices and dig in.

Leftover rice should be used right away as it gets hard relatively quickly. We like to use it to make pineapple sushi, cucumber and carrot rolls, etc...all of which-including the musubi-will keep for several days in the fridge if tightly wrapped in clear plastic wrap-just pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds or so to soften up the rice.

Enjoy