Can I Make It at Home? - Teriyaki-glazed Spam Hash

by Mike Lunsford, Editor-in-Cheese of the Great Geek Refuge

It’s now June. The quarantine has stretched on for nearly 90 days. Because of being at home for the sake of safety, it has given me the opportunity to experiment in the kitchen. This can be a disastrous prospect for many of us. I am by far no chef, but I’m a decent cook. I truly enjoy spending my weekends or days off cooking. For the most part, I stick to things that I know I can make: breakfast foods especially if it’s potato-based or involves waffles, I’ve gotten pretty good at a jerk chicken concoction, and a few other staples. But here we are, staring at more time where social distancing seems like a really good idea. A man gets bored. He starts looking up recipes for things he’s tried before and liked. Then it dawns on him: Epcot Food & Wine Festival has a plethora of interesting recipes! Now I have my muse. Let’s try some new stuff. My first attempt will be the teriyaki-glazed Spam hash from the Hawaii booth.

Some of you may read that ingredient and think “Spam? Really? That stuff is like dog food!” It smells gross when you take it out of the can. It looks gross as it has a slimy coating surrounding the pressed meat loaf you just plopped out of the can. However, as fans of the canned meat will tell you, when you slice and fry this disgusting-looking-smelling-sounding meat log (the ‘plop’ is a bit disconcerting), magic happens, especially if you make sure to get the edges crispy. Plus, I grew up in the DC metro area. I was raised on Scrapple, man. I’m immune to this. Spam wouldn’t want to run into Scrapple in a dark alley…especially with its thick Baltimore accent.

“Ya lost, Spam? You picked the wrong neighborhood, Hon.”

Us mainland-ers tend to turn our noses up at Spam, but Hawaiians LOVE IT. Remember, Hawaii is an island and getting fresh meat can be difficult for this tropical oasis. Many Hawaiians were raised on the stuff and it’s taken on legendary status there, so much so that it shows up in sushi, breakfast meals, and all sorts of other fun creations. I’m a mainland-er as previously mentioned, but I’ll eat just about anything that doesn’t eat me first. When I saw this menu option on our last visit to Epcot, I knew I had to try it. I immediately fell in love with it.

I loved it so much, I took the obligatory jaunty-angled Instagram pic of it!

There are two factors that can either lead to amazing things or frightening monstrosities if you’re not careful: boredom and hunger. Thanks to being able to pick up groceries via the now-commonplace concept of a personal shopper, I got all my ingredients for the Teriyaki-glazed Spam hash. It’s not a complex dish. Here are the components:

2 tablespoons canola oil
4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
1 medium onion, medium diced
1 red bell pepper, medium diced
1 green pepper, medium diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
12-ounce can SPAM®, cubed in bite-size pieces
¾ to 1 cup teriyaki sauce

Spicy mayonnaise. Combine in a small bowl:
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Sriracha

You chop your potatoes, put them in your oiled pan, get them cooking for about 10 minutes then add your garlic, peppers, and onions. Now…I’m an improvisational chef. I try different things and add ingredients when I think they’ll be a good fit. I added about 1/4 can of pineapple. It’s a Hawaiian themed dish, it made sense. Plus, I love pineapple.

I fried the Spam in a separate pan to get it crispy on the edges, added it to the veggies and then added the teriyaki sauce. Take a look!

The assembly and cooking was not difficult at all, but the test was going to be in eating it. Would it actually work? In theory, this dish has a LOT going on flavor wise. Savory Spam, starchy potatoes, the crisp bite of the green peppers, the sweetness of the teriyaki and the x-factor of my pineapple add in. How would this all play out?

How did it taste? I loved it. So did my son. Full disclosure on my son though, he loves crazy flavor combos so he was in no matter what. He’s my ride-or-die assistant in these culinary adventures. Overall, there’s a little bit of everything going on in this dish. The Spam is salty and savory, the pineapples and teriyaki sauce are sweet, the Sriracha mayo gives it a kick at the end. I don’t know if my final product looked as good as the one from Food & Wine, mostly because I didn’t have a squeeze bottle for my Sriracha mayo. I’m happy with the results but I needed a control: someone who is picky about what they eat. So I consulted my stepdaughter. She tried it, and said this

If you pick out the pineapple it’s really good.

I’m not putting that on my resume, but that works for me!