A Hawaiian breakfast
Every so often, on a weekend morning, I like to indulge in a Hawaiian breakfast. I usually have a can of low-sodium Spam hanging out in my pantry that I’ll crack open and slice into thin planks. From there, I add a dot of neutral oil to a pan (you don’t need much) and fry up the Spam until crisp and golden brown on both sides. In the same pan, I’ll crack an egg and watch it bubble and spat in the pork fat before sliding it onto a plate alongside a heap of white rice. For me, this breakfast isn’t complete without a healthy squirt of sriracha squiggled across the entire plate. —June Kim, executive editor
BEC → SEC
When I have a can of Spam and a free morning, I make a riff on a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. I sear a thick slice of Spam in a cast-iron skillet until crisped, then place it on a toasted English muffin, upon which I’ve laid out a slice of sharp white cheddar or American cheese. The warm ham melts the cheese while I quickly “framble” an egg in the pan. Then, a drizzle of maple syrup. (Sometimes I skip the syrup and add salt, pepper, and a squirt of ketchup like a proper BEC.) It’s comforting, warm, and salty-sweet—an ideal weekend breakfast. —Rebecca Firkser, Test Kitchen editor
A twist on carbonara
For those evenings when you open the fridge to find yourself clean out of pancetta or guanciale—though you’d spent the day dreaming of carbonara—there is Spam. When cut into small pieces, it renders and crisps not dissimilarly from its Italian cured pork counterparts. My method is mostly by the book: I salt my pot of water to boil spaghetti, and beat an egg with grated Pecorino and a few cracks of black pepper. I also add a blob of soy paste to my sauce, and top the dish off with kizami nori and fine-sliced scallions, or slide an extra raw egg yolk in the center. The comfort the first bite brings is undeniable, and I’ve never been much of a purist anyhow. —Ingu Chen, art director
Kimchi fried rice
Fried rice is a near-weekly staple in my household—usually deployed towards the end of the week when the produce drawer starts to look sparse. I invariably have a jar of kimchi living in the fridge and cans of Spam are always in this Korean American’s pantry. So I turn to kimchi fried rice, and make it differently each time, depending on what I have (or don’t have). Crisp up a half can of diced Spam in a touch of sesame oil (just to get it going), then drop in super ripe kimchi with some of its juices, a dab of gochujang, and cold rice. It’s totally satisfying, especially with a runny egg on top. —Hana Asbrink, deputy food editor
