This is a recipe for a classic Hawaiian fried rice dish with SPAM and pineapple that I used to eat a lot when I was a kid in Honolulu. SPAM is a super popular canned meat that comes up in countless Hawaiian dishes, and is just one of those super nostalgic elements for me. Hope you give it a shot!
serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
4 cloves garlic
1 tb ginger (about 1 inch)
2 green onions
1 chinese sausage (lap cheong) (optional)
1 can SPAM
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 eggs
1 lime
1 cup leftover rice (or rice that has been dried at room temperature for 2-4 hours)
vegetable oil
kosher salt
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp gochujang
PREP
THINLY SLICE garlic, set aside
FINELY MINCE ginger, set aside
LARGE DICE chinese sausage, set aside
LARGE DICE SPAM, set aside
LARGE DICE frozen pineapple, and return to the freezer until ready to use
SLICE green onions, separating whites and greens, set aside
WHISK eggs, set aside
CUT lime into wedges, set aside
COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 1 tbsp vegetable oil
FRY garlic slices until crisp, about 30-45 seconds, then remove and set aside
ADD 4 tbsp vegetable oil, then saute ginger and whites of the green onions until fragrant (about 1 minute)
ADD SPAM and sausage and saute until browned, or about 2-3 minutes
MOVE the contents of the wok to one side (or remove if there is not enough space) and add eggs to the cleared wok space. Fry until scrambled, then remove all contents and set aside
HEAT wok as hot as possible again, then add 2 tbsp vegetable oil
ADD half of the leftover rice to your wok, plus half of your SPAM/egg mixture, and half of your sauce mixture. Toss until combined.
ADD half of the frozen pineapple and peas, toss until combined, and remove
REPEAT with the remaining half
FINISH with crisped garlic, greens of green onions, and lime