Fried Rice with Spam (Hawaii)

This is a quick and easy recipe to whip up using things that I usually have on hand. Hawaiians make it with their leftover rice, which is a staple in every Hawaiian household. It also contains Spam! Yes, you heard me correctly, the recipe calls for Spam, which, believe it or not, is very widely consumed in the islands. In fact, the population of Hawaii consumes more Spam than any other state in the union. The true root of the island’s love for Spam products goes back to World War II when the luncheon meat was served to GIs. By the end of the war, Spam products were adopted into the local culture and its cuisine.

Rice:
4 cups water
1 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups long grain white rice

Fried Rice:
½ lb bacon, cut into ½ cubes
12 oz can Spam, cut into ¼" cubes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, diced
3 large whole eggs, beaten
½ tsp. black pepper, coarse ground
1½ cup frozen green peas or edamame
¼ cup soy sauce
4 green onions, white and green parts, diced

To Make the Rice:
Place water into a medium size saucepan. Add sea salt and butter and bring it to a boil. Add rice to the boiling water, cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook covered, without removing the lid for approximately 20 minutes until all of the water is absorbed and the rice is fork tender. This will result in about 4 cups of cooked rice.

To Make the Fried Rice:
In a large frying pan fry the bacon until you have cooked out or crisped up most of the fat. Push it to one side of the pan and drain off all but a couple Tbsp. of the bacon fat. Add the Spam to the pan and sauté it until it just begins to brown. Remove the bacon and spam from the pan and set it aside for later.

Add the garlic to the frying pan in which you cooked the bacon and Spam. Cook the garlic for a couple of minutes over medium heat. Do not let it brown. Add the diced carrots and the frozen peas or edamame. Sauté until the peas/edamame are heated through and the carrots are al dente. Push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add the beaten eggs. Move the eggs around in the pan to scramble them. Sprinkle on coarse ground pepper. Once the eggs are lightly cooked mix them in with the vegetables.

Add the bacon and Spam back into the pan and gently mix to combine. Add the cooked rice to the other ingredients in the pan, pour in the soy sauce and mix to incorporate.

Garnish with the diced green onions and serve.

Makes 6 servings.