The word “spam” seems to conjure negative connotations in people’s minds but it is in fact, a brand name of luncheon meat and the name is actually a contraction of the words “spiced ham”.
Of course, there are people who would tell me that it is made from the unwanted parts of the pig after all the premier meat has been used for other purposes and more recently, the term “spam” has been used to describe junk e-mail. Whatever!
I have always been a fan of luncheon meat – the made-in-China ones – ever since I was a kid. However, my first encounter with Spam was not exactly favourable. I bought a tin when I was in the UK in 1994 and cooked it with Bombay onions and egg, the same way we would cook our Ma Ling luncheon meat…and unfortunately, I did not think it came anywhere near. That was why since then, I never bought it again and it is not exactly cheap if you buy it here. The going price right now is over RM15.00 a tin. But no worries!!! I’ve got a whole lot from Shereen when she came to town from Auckland, New Zealand and there would be enough to last me for quite a while. Hehehehehe!!!!
Well, the night before Shereen and her family were due to leave on a flight the next morning, a friend dropped by my house and gave me some very very nice butter milk bread that his wife made…and I’ve been making Spam sandwiches with that for breakfast every morning. The verdict? Nice, quite similar to ham…which I love a lot! Yumsssss!!!!!!
I’ve also had it with instant noodles…
You cook the noodles as usual…and when the noodles have cooked, place the sliced Spam on one side and break an egg and drop it gently on the other. Cover the saucepan and let the egg cook and in the meantime, you could warm the Spam as well – killing two birds with one stone.
To serve, take out the Spam slices and put on one side for a while, scoop out the egg and pour the noodles into a bowl. Place the egg on one side of the bowl and arrange the Spam slices on the other and you will get something looking like this…
If you want a balanced meal, perhaps you can put some leaves of lettuce in the bowl before pouring in the noodles and the soup. The heat would cook the veg and you can be sure that it would not be overcooked. There you have it – a balanced meal of protein, carbohydrates and greens, all in one. You can sprinkle some sliced chilies and chopped spring onions on top for some extra colour if you want.
I don’t know if it was my imagination or what but with the Spam, the instant noodles seemed to be a whole lot nicer. Yum! Yum!
Comments on: "The spam song…" (25)
I saw a chinese movie whereby the killer made his victim’s meat into luncheon meat and i never dare to eat them again.
My missus would not eat the canned meat from China – she says people say they’re human meat….. Yum! Yum! LOL!!!
my hubby surely loves that noodles…
Not you lah? You only go for the healthy stuff eh?
Both my favorite !! Yum !!
Hmmm, I always think Chinese luncheon meat taste a lot better than Spam . Hahahha
But one thing , cannot consume too often , however I love it so so much .
Not the Ma Ling ones anymore – they are so mushy and taste horrible. If you tell me that’s human meat, I would believe. They say the ones in the blue square tin, dunno what brand, is better but I’ve never tried… This Spam Lite tastes like ham – different and nice also. I love ham, sausages…and all those sinful stuff, you see. LOL!!!
darn expensive over here. I used to buy Ma Ling br but then noticed like there are two “ma Ling” brand here. Same packaging but one taste nicer. Maybe the other one is fake one or what. Now I switched to Gulong Brand. Not bad.
I also eat Gulong but not so nice…and not cheap. Last I saw, RM6.50, I think…and the stewed pork, RM8.50. I’d rather eat fresh pork… They say Gulong also has imitations now as well…
Butter milk bread.. Sounds delightful! and with ham.. mmm yum yum.. Would like to learn how to make it. Maybe during my holidays. Hopefully it’ll be successful. Have a good day
I think my friend has a bread maker and it usually comes with a recipe book… Can buy butter milk bread at the bakery too – more fragrant, tastier (and of course, more expensive)…but I’m not really into bread so I seldom go and buy. Got people give, I eat lor… Hint! Hint! LOL!!!
This is my favourite as well. But I got to cut down on this, and taiwan sausages, and bak gua.. lol! My spare tyre is increasing in size daily
No worries – evidence of a well-taken care of married man…. LOL!!!
Haha, not good weh. I want to be tall, and slim and good looking
..
Hahahahaha!!!! Too late, you’re on the river of no return. Just look at me! Muahahahaha!!!!
Hmmm…a nice bowl of mee with egg and luncheon meat. I love luncheon meat and prefer it fried till crispy at the edge. Makes me drool for it now. Have a great weekend.!!!….
Yes, egg also I prefer fried…but lazy…and healthier to poach. LOL!!!
didnt eat instant noodles for a long time already.. usually have it with eggs
Wah! You good boy, into healthy eating like your mum kah?
The other day I made a bowl for myself with just the vegetables.. cos I got no SPAM ma.. *hmmpt…..* lol…
Hahahahahaha!!!! That’s a broad hint! So who’s going to go to Ipoh next?
Luncheon meat is the one thing that i’d close both eyes and ears to comments..don’t care if they are made from human’s meat, dog’s meat, mouse meat…I must eat them…lol! Don’t care if they are healthy or not..it’s not like we are eating them everyday. Anyway, there are many brands available now in the market, just choose a reputable brand and I think we’ll be alright. As long as we don’t know…mata tak nampak, can still eat lar!
Old Chinese people say, “La sap ciak, la sap pui!” Dirty eat, dirty fat…meaning that if you are too choosy about your food, you will be all skin and bone…cannot put on weight. I dunno about NZ but if you drop by the kitchens in some of the Chinese restaurants here, you will not want to eat anymore. So I’m the same – say what they want… That is not going to stop me from eating. Period!
I love luncheon mean esp the Ma Ling ones (you have to get the Canadian ones these days) but spam is something else, no flavor, just a mushy mess. Maybe spam in other countries are different. BTW, I’ve seen Rejang RIver brand luncheon meat. Ever seen those?
Nope? Haven’t been shopping around for luncheon meat since it got worse and worse… Any good? Ma Ling, made in Canada? Gee! I wonder it tastes like what it used to taste like when I was small. My mum would cook a plateful for lunch and dinner…but it never lasted till dinner. SOMEBODY would be sneaking into the kitchen to pinch piece by piece… LOL!!!!
This can of SPAM that I opened was really good – I positively remember buying a can in the UK in 1994…and did not like it one bit – extremely salty and as you say, a mushy mess!
Haven’t had the Canadian Ma Ling in quite some time. But will try it again soon and will report back to you. Went to Amazon and noticed they even have Holland made Ma Ling luncheon meat now. The spam in your pic does look different from the ones here. Is it because it’s an NZ product?
It’s Australian. I wonder if those Ma Ling taste like the ones I used to love when I was younger. It was still ok in the 70s, I remember…and maybe in the 80s too. The China-made corned beef too – absolutely horrible now, stopped buying that too.
Of course, Australian. They still have taste buds over there. I’ll see if I can smuggle some non-China-made Ma Ling luncheon meat into the country next July.
I don’t think there’s a problem bringing that into the country – not like going to Australia and New Zealand.
Hi stp, i`m back
ohhh…i cannot eat noodles nowadays, but the SPAM is a must lor
have a great weekend!
Welcome back! No noodles? Usually for many people. it would be the other round – no SPAM, just noodles, ok… High blood sugar? Cutting down on carbs? :(
yeah i love spam too! but usually i’ll pan fry them and go with rice.
Ya, would be nice with rice too… Yummmm!!!!
Wahhh! Finally I ur blog can load. I have been trying to get in but the wordpress keep gv me error! >.<
Neway… I dun eat spam…well, once a upon a time… I dod makan spam meat, but then my grandma bluff me cakap it's human meat… so since den, dah tak makan dah.
Oh? Whole day, ok for me leh…even though my connection is so very poor lately. I surf on hp, also ok… Wah…your grandma so clever, tipu u so you would not eat…and u believes her. LOL!!!
I think poor connection or wud on my side… been trying since noon.
Screamyx punya pasal again, I think… not only ur page… some page oso kenot load. Geram betul!
Dunno whether my late grandma was very smart or us kids very easy kena tipu. All of her grandkids tak makan these stuff, cuz we believe that it’s human meat. *pengsan* Haihh… kids last time so easy tipu wan la…tell us apa pun percaya. >.<
Must be. Mine, very often too, connection so very slow…cannot comment in others’ blogs…and some take forever to load….and then have to do all the macam2 some more, each step will take at least 5 minutes, one comment half an hour. I don’t think they realise that they are making it so hard for people to comment when they have this and that – a real nuisance. ya…kids those days real simpletons one – couldn’t point at a snake – the finger will become like a snake’s head, could not point at a new moon, will come down and cut the ear….
When I was younger (not that I’m so old now, ahem), I never touch luncheon meat. Can’t remember why. Anyway, seldom eat and never buy it myself! The other day, went to the market to buy and was at a loss because didn’t know which brand! The lady kindly explained that the ma ling brand is the more popular one but the square can blue label taste better(needless to say, more pricey). Anyway, bought the square can and it was really good when I sliced them thin and fried them crispy! Yummy.
Oh, and your curry instant noodle tambah telur and luncheon meat is making me drool!
LOL!!! Go, go cook one yourself. Ya…people keep telling me that the blue tin one is nice but I haven’t tried. Should go out and get one myself one of these days…
i am soooo loving this!! yish yish!!
LOL!!! Yummmmmm!!!!
instant noodles r definitely one of the yummiest things in the world! i love those korean instant udon noodles. big packet and more-than-usual ingredients. plus an egg and some other things u wanna throw in – yumz!
They’re nice…will not get too soggy even if boiled for a long time, but they’re expensive. Buy two…can get 5 of the usual instant noodles, with some change left.
btw… many faked food items in china that can lead to death. tsk tsk.
That’s why we avoid anything from China as far as possible, and not just food – their products are of low quality – wouldn’t last very long.
I love some version of spam–some spam are too salty, they have to be dipped for a while in pineapple juice
Oh? Never heard of that before. Wouldn’t it taste of pineapple then?
There are days when I crave for instant noodles with luncheon meat and I make it exactly the way you describe it! I LOVE, LOVE it! My mum used to buy Ma Ling ones too then change to Gulong but they are not nice anymore so now I eat SPAM. They are very expensive here so now instant noodles with them is a TREAT!
I’ve not bought Ma Ling for ages…and was eating Gulong for a while but it’s getting too expensive and I hear there are imitations too. Can live without it…and now that I’ve this Spam…I can indulge for a bit. Can’t afford it – over RM15.00 a tin here.
[...] - SPAM with real bacon, no less. [...]