How Has SPAM Stayed So Popular?

What is your favorite way to prepare SPAM?

My father came home from WWII saying that SPAM was the only food they got that could be trusted to be good. We ate it often at home.

I'm 72 now. I spent almost 15 years in Hawai'i. Ate a lot of SPAM cause it was cheap, I was broke and it tastes good. I've lived in Florida for the last 30 years and my pantry is full of every type of SPAM that is made as a great Hurricane back up protien for me and my dogs. The Puppies love it and I do too. When the power is out for 9-10 days, I can open a can and grill it on the BBQ, put it on the exhaust system of my truck, or just eat it cold. It's cheap here, at about $3.29 a can and has a long shelf life. It's a Hell of a lot better then an MRE and you can even slice it and eat it cold if you have too. When I go shopping every 10 days, I always toss a few cans of SPAM in my cart. I gave a few different cans to my Daughter and her husband, but they were not fans. Just wait until they have no gas, power or heat for 10 days and then come on ever and raid my pantry.

My grandma had the best SPAM recipe. They lived on a farm that was not too far from the state capitol. Grandpa worked as an assistant to the governor. They were campaigning in the next county and Grandpa showed up, unannounced, with the governor for supper—on wash day. Grandma had not planned on company, so she partially boiled some potatoes, then cut them into chunks. Sliced a SPAM loaf in regular slices almost all the way through. Put the SPAM in a baking dish and stuffed sliced onions and cheddar cheese between each slice. Put the potatoes around it and put it in the oven until the potatoes browned. It was absolutely delicious and the governor loved it! Although when Grandma was telling me about it 40+ years later, she was still mad at Grandpa for just showing up with the governor. We ate it at least once a month when I was a kid and it was always a treat.

My dad refused ro eat Spam for decades after he left Vietnam. My entire childhood I had Spam once or twice at most. In recent years since I've been helping care for him, he's redeveloped a taste for it (typically with eggs and toast for breakfast) and it's become a common grab for myself when grocery shopping. So many ways to make it, and cheap as hell.

Spam has left its mark in Asian American History, cuz of its prescence in Hawaii and other Asian areas. Its very good in fried rice or noodles

You have to be in the mood for it. It's good on a sandwich or rice. Or left in your pantry for years.

Spam is great sliced thin and fried. My mother used to bake it over mac and cheese and that was great. It was always a staple for camping trips.

The thing about SPAM is that it goes SOOOO well with rice because of its saltiness. In Korea, a full set of SPAM is given as a holiday gift because of it. It also goes so well with Korean stew varieties since it also is consumed with rice.

Fried slices of spam, white rice, eggs (and aguacate if available) will always be one of my favorite simple go-to meals. If you grow up with Spam you tend to love it forever and if you didn’t, it’s a bit hard to understand I would imagine. Never change, Spam. Never change.

When I was in the Army, I remember telling my grandfather that our MREs didn't include SPAM. His reply was, "My God! The top brass got something right!!" He hated SPAM!

i love the thought of some hard ass vet just rubbing his rifle with a brick of spam.

Many years ago, I read an article about South Pacific headhunters who only recently stopped eating their enemies (cannibalism). During WW2, US soldiers gave them SPAM and they said it had the same texture and taste (saltiness) of human flesh. They LOVED it because it reminded them of their headhunting days.

As someone who was born and raised here in Hawaii, I had no idea that spam was considered “poor food” until the internet was a thing. It was and is just a normal food here. Super versatile also, if you never tried making spam fried rice, do it; it’s delicious. Hell, if you gave me a choice I’d eat fried spam over bacon 9/10 times just cause I like it better lol. It’s ironic cause I can’t stomach Vienna sausage or bologna, spam is delicious tho. Make sure you fry it though, raw spam is gross. No one here eats it like that lmao 😂

Austin, Minnesota (about three hours' drive south of Minneapolis) has the SPAM Museum that reveals a lot about what this video spoke about, and as of this writing, admission is still free.

I tried spam in middle school and was absolutely shocked to find out it was not as bad as I was previously led to believe. In the beginning of the Covid pandemic, just before things got bad in our state, I talked my wife into getting a few packages to fall back on as needed. Initially, she wasn't to keen on the idea, but she let me get them anyway. After frying them up in a breakfast scramble with some Pace Picante, she changed her mind completely.

There's a story that the Japanese got hooked on SPAM during and after WWII. During the battle of Okinawa, Japanese troops were dying of starvation and soldiers would often break into American PX stations and the first thing they stole were cans of SPAM. After the war and occupation of Japan, tons of SPAM were shipped to Japan.

Spam is made to be crispy. People who don't like it are probably eating it cold and soggy, and while that's fine and safe to do because it's precooked, it's leagues better hot and crisped. It isn't meant to be eaten as pate, and just like you wouldn't eat a cold hot dog or a frozen nugget without cooking it, the way to success is to heat it up. Saute it/pan fry it and experience joy ✨ Edit: And to those who complain it's too salty - you arent supposed to eat a whole can at once! Do you eat a whole pack of bacon at once? A whole pound of beef or other meat? A whole bag of chips? Lol. You combine it with other things, guys.

I grew up in Hawaii. Spam is a staple. I grew up saying " Spam... some parts are meat "

SPAM is one of the greatest canned foods ever made. It's kept me from starvation. A cheap food that is filling and goes well with lots of other foods. BBQ it, saute it, fry it, add it to beans or rice or mac n cheese. Make a grilled SPAM n cheese sammich or just eat it plain and cold out the can. I love SPAM.