There is no secret that Spam has been an important food pick when it came down to, well you know, pandemic. As far as I know, regardless of how many times people say “it’s gross”, they still have it in their pantry for may day. I’ve cooked a lot of ways with Spam and decided the best Spam recipe is Spam and Pineapple Fried Rice.
Why? You may wonder, right? Of course, I have to have solid explanation for my statement. My secret is no secret in the culinary industry at all. For whatever you make, just be sure the sauce is good then you’ll be in the right place. So to make my spam fried rice be the best fried rice of all time, I make sure my all purpose stir fry sauce tasted amazing. And in fact it is.
Believe it or not, at home, we often season our rice with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, and sometimes MSG. But in any restaurant, it’s not that simple. The fact that separate home kitchen and commercial kitchen is we always have more complicated (and consistent) sauce in place. Especially an Asian/Chinese type restaurant. I knew it because I had worked at one. Not an ordinary one but an amazing one in Austin, TX.
When it comes to fried rice, of course there is nobody eats this type of rice more than us, Asian. With eating comes practice. And practice makes us better in so many ways. So lets make this Spam fried rice not only with the most appropriate way but also with the best stir fry sauce on the planet.
What did I use to make this Spam and pineapple fried rice recipe?
- Spam Lite: I found this version of Spam is easier to use with any kind of cooking. I would recommend either this or Spam classic because any other types of Spam might interfere with the flavor.
- At least one-day-old and refrigerated cooked rice: the most and important part of any fried rice is you MUST use old cooked rice. Never ever use freshly cooked rice if you want your fried rice recipe tastes top notch. Why? Because old & refrigerated rice won’t become soggy during the process. With fresh rice, the starch is just developed and it’ll add a lot of moisture to your rice (on top of seasoning sauce), then you will end up with soup-like fried rice.
- Pineapple.
- All purpose stir fry sauce: you can use this stir fry recipe on almost anything. Your favorite vegetables or vermicelli dish can all taste better with it.
How long can this stir fry sauce last?
You can keep the left over stir fry sauce in an air tight container in your chiller for up to 2 weeks. We often use this amazing blue masking tape in commercial kitchen to help us keep track of the date each product was made on. I also continue keeping this habit at home by always having one roll in my kitchen drawer. I think it’s the best practice for home cook too so you always know when to dump expired products confidently.
What kind of rice did I use?
I prefer using long grain rice and this awesome brand has always been any Asian first pick. But I’ve seen some restaurants cook with short grain rice and it still turned out amazing. If you’re into Japanese type of rice then go for it. Just a rule of thumb: make sure to cook your rice at least 1 day ahead and put it in the chiller. You fried rice recipe tastes better with old cooked rice rather than fresh one.
Any other Spam recipe?
Of course. If you’re in a rush and want one quick bite for your backyard bbq during this lock down, then this amazing Elote with Spam will fit your pandemic-ready-pantry.
Spam and Pineapple Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 5 c 1-day-old cooked, refrigerated rice bring to room temperature before cooking
- 2 eggs
- vegetable oil as needed
- 1 pineapple cut into medium cubes
- green onion for garnish
- cilantro for garnish
- 4 bulb garlic minced
- 1/2 can Spam lite cut into medium cubes
Stir Fry Sauce
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
Served on the side (optional)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Thai chili chopped
Instructions
Stir fry sauce
- In a small sauce pan, combine all ingredients and heat on medium high heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is well incorporated. Turn off and remove from the heat immediately.
For fried rice
- Break 2 eggs and mix well into cooked rice. Divide this into 2 portions, we'll fry this in two small batches to make sure the rice is well seasoned.
- In a large frying pan or wok, turn on the heat to high setting. Add enough oil for your first batch of fried rice.
- When the oil is hot enough, add garlic and cook until garlic turns golden brown. Then add the first half of rice (already coated with eggs). Cook the rice on high heat and stir the rice or shake the pan/wok gradually to distribute even heat all over the rice, for about 5 minutes.
- Make a well in the middle of the pan, still on high heat, add cubes of Spam and pineapples. Keep gradually stir the rice for another 2-3 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to medium and gradually add stir fry sauce into the rice. As you add the sauce in, constantly stir the rice or shake the pan so the sauce won't be burnt in the bottom and ruin your rice.
- Add enough the sauce to coated all the ingredients.
- When the sauce is well incorporated with the rice, spam, and pineapple. Return to high heat and give the pan a few shake then turn the heat off immediately.
- Continue cooking the other batch using the same process
Serving
- Serve fried rice immediately with chopped green onion and cilantro as garnish, and chili soy on the side to add extra seasoning to your rice. Enjoy!
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