Spam Jam’s 10th Anniversary

SPAM is a registered tradename of the Hormel Company.

Saturday, April 28th, 2012, is the day for the 10th Annual SPAM Jam Festival in Waikiki!  Come celebrate Hawaii’s love affair with this canned pork product!  Hawaii has the highest per capita consumption of SPAM anywhere…best estimates put it close to 7 Million cans of SPAM annually!  (The population of Hawaii, just over 1.3 Million men, women and children.)

To give you some idea of what a staple SPAM is, when the tsunami warnings went out in 2011 in anticipation of the tsunami waves generated by the Japan earthquakes, Hawaii did not ration gasoline sales as they often do in advance of hurricane warnings on the eastern seaboard, but they did restrict SPAM sales in many stores to one case!  (Man can’t live on rice alone, but SPAM and rice and you’re good to go!)

Speaking of which, you don’t have to go very far anywhere on these beautiful islands to find the ever popular SPAM-musubi, which can be found at 7-11’s, gas stations, grocery stores…and even near the check out counters at Wal-Mart.  This year’s attendance at SPAM Jam Festival 2012 is anticipated to reach as many as 20,000 as the festival once again, takes over Waikiki.  Even Kalakaua Avenue, Waikiki’s main drag, will be closed to host this popular annual event.

*This is not part of the SPAM Jam Festival, but I just had to include this here while on the subject of SPAM Musubi!

Only in Hawaii…SPAM Musubi Eating Contest at Rice Fest 2011

SPAM  Musubi (Serves 4)

You can make this island favorite in a variety of ways, as simple as SPAM from the can on plain rice, to fried SPAM in a sauce with fried rice, or whatever suits your fancy. The following is the recipe from SPAM Jam Festival’s website:

Ingredients:

• 1 can SPAM Classic (12-ounce)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Oil
• 3 cups cooked white sushi rice
• 1 package hoshi nori (Japanese dried seaweed)

Directions:

• Slice SPAM Classic lengthwise into 8 equal pieces. In a shallow dish, combine garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and soy sauce.
• Place SPAM slices in the mixture and let sit for 30 minutes.
• Remove and pat dry.
• In a skillet, heat the oil and brown the marinated SPAM slices.
• Moisten hands and mold rice into 8 thick blocks with the same outside dimensions as SPAM slices.  (This is assuming you have not yet purchased your clear, acrylic SPAM-musubi mold.)
• Cut nori into 8-1/2 inch strips.  (Or up to 4″ wide, as I prefer mine.)
• Place SPAM slices on rice blocks and wrap individual nori strips around each middle.
• Moisten one end slightly to fasten together and serve.
• The remaining marinate may be used as a dip.

Spam Musubi Rice Press

SPAM Treats For Every Taste

From food trucks to 5-star restaurants will be serving up their version of SPAM treats, including:

• Aqua Cafe  Loaded Potato Skins with SPAM, Ono Mac & Cheese with SPAM, and a SPAM Bento
• Atlantis Seafood and Steak  SPAM Mahi Carbonara
• Blue Water Shrimp Truck  To be advised
• Cheeseburger Beachwalk  SPAM Babies
• Cooking Fresh4U Food Truck  To be advised
• Doraku Sushi  SPAM Musubi & SPAM Tataki
• Duke’s/Hula Grill  SPAM Fried Rice, SPAM Loco Moco with Shiitake Mushroom Cream Gravy, SPAM Fried Rice Loco Moco, and SPAM Kanak Attack (SPAM Fried Rice with SPAM Katsu Loco Moco)
• Gordon Biersch  Island Spicy SPAM Wrap; Soutwest SPAM Quesadilla; Dynamite SPAM & Shrimp; Sicilian SPAM & Basil Foccacia Pizza; Chinatown SPAM Wonton;  Hawaiian SPAM Caesar Salad; Ono-Asian (spicy) SPAM Fried Rice; SPAM Devil-icious (deviled) Eggs; Local Kine SPAM Hash Cake w/Asian BBQ
• Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber  SPAM® Nachos; SPAM® Stuffed Mushroom Caps; SPAM Quesadillas; Great American SPAM® Championship –  Hormel’s Grand Prize Winning Recipe (Entered by Jason Munson; Puyallup Fair, Washington) Mini Maple SPAM® Doughnuts
• Okonomiyaki Chibo Restaurant  SPAM Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancake); SPAM Yakisoba
• OnoPops  To be advised.
• P.F. Chang’s  SPAM Lettuce Wraps and SPAM Lo Mein
• Queen’s Surf Cafe  To be advised
• Seafood Village  SPAM Siu Mai, SPAM Manapua, SPAM Jam Plate, and SPAM Spring Roll

Where else but Hawaii would you find recipes for dishes like:

SPAM Katsu (from K’s Restaurant)

Ingredients:

• 1 can of SPAM Classic
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbs flour
• 1 cup panko or breadcrumbs
• 1 cup of oil

Directions:

• Cut SPAM Classic into 7  pieces
• Lightly coat SPAM Classic with flour
• Next, beat egg in a bowl
• Lightly coat SPAM Classic with beaten egg
• Lightly coat SPAM Classic with panko
• Use skillet and pour 1 cup of oil
• Heat oil for deep frying and once oil is hot
• Fry SPAM Classic until they are golden brown

 

SPAM Jam is a non-profit organization the collects donations for the Hawaii Foodbank.

Booths also will be set up with volunteers collecting donations of SPAM for the Hawaii Foodbank.

Since 2004, more than 10,000 pounds of SPAM has been donated to the Hawaii Foodbank thanks to the Waikiki SPAM Jam Festival.

Enjoy this video from SPAM Jam 2008!

So, mark your calendar and prepare to join in on the fun while providing support for a good cause,

SPAM Jam 2012, Saturday, April 28th, from 4:00 pm till 10:00 pm!

Incoming search terms:

• spam musubi mold walmart