Dear Reader,
How are you? I hope the past week has been good for you. I’ve had a good one. Work has been good and life in general is on track. It’s wonderful to feel happy.
On Thursday night, I got back to bible study which had been in hiatus over the school holidays. I attend a fellowship in a parish with three fellowships and a large number of bible study groups. It was good to meet a couple of new people to the group.
Another high point was returning to my honorary VMO role at the local hospital on Friday. It was good to think a little differently and to spend time with other medical practitioners and medical laboratory scientists. I met a new trainee and spent time with another trainee discussing last week’s tutorial topic.
Because of COVID-19 and because we work in close quarters, we wear particulate filter respirators (P2/N95 respirators) and face shields when we’re near others. It’s a relatively light inconvenience to be able to work.
Do you get inspired to cook things when chatting with friends? I do. Earlier in the week, I was chatting with dear friend who has a love of Spam probably greater than my own fondness for the salty porcine treat. She’s amazing, she eats it straight out of the tin. I always cook mine first. It turns out, she’s not familiar with Chinese sausage, so I described how I like eating Chinese sausage.
Tonight’s meal is quick and easy and tasty.
Ingredients
- Brown rice (microwave radiation variety)
- Spam
- Chinese sausage
- Spring onion
- Fennel
- Red onion
- Capsicum
- Red cabbage
- Soy sauce
- Cooking sherry
- Fried shallots
- Fried noodles
Instructions
- Pull back the tab on a tin of Spam and give it a shake to get the block of processed and cured pork onto a plate. You will hopefully enjoy the satisfying thud when it lands. You should also hear a gentle whoosh as the slippery meat slides out of the tin and pressure of forced gravity exceeds the force of the vacuum holding the meat in its cosy vault. It sounds like a gentle fart.
- Cut the prism of meat into a thirds and then cut one third into one centimetre cubes.
- Take your Chinese sausage in hand and with a sharp knife, slice it on an angle for a fancy look and feel. Doing this also gets more surface area on the cooking surface to more easily render out all the fatty juices from your sausage.
- Place the Spam and sausage into a cold skillet and gently heat with the lid on. Gently agitate the skillet to keep the meat moving and as the fat renders out the meat will brown and caramelise.
- While the meat is frying off, cook the rice with microwave radiation according to the packet instructions.
- Add the cooked rice to the pan which should now be meat swimming in fat.
- The rice will soak up the tasty fatty goodness. Nothing like a nice fatty sausage.
- Add a splash of soy sauce for more saltiness and for the colour to the rice.
- Cook until the rice starts to dry and stick a little.
- Add a slug of cooking sherry and deglaze the surface of the skillet.
- Turn the heat off and add the sliced spring onions, fennel, red onion, and red cabbage.
- Stir everything through and transfer to a bowl.
- Garnish with some fried noodles and fried shallots for some crunch.
- Give thanks to the Lord and enjoy.
How was it?
The meal was a little more salty than I should have eaten. My hypertension probably didn’t appreciate it.
I split the meal in half so I can eat the rest tomorrow.
Final thoughts
- Do you eat Spam straight from the tin?
- How do you stop your glasses and face shield from fogging up? I can’t seem to find a way to prevent it.
- Do you enjoy Chinese sausage? How do you like your Chinese sausage?
Gary! I cannot believe it. We just opened up a can of Spam in this household last night!! This, so far, went to sandwiches. Straight out of the gentle farting can. I also fry it with pancakes and dice it if I need a meat for a dish. It makes GREAT camping food, too. As for the glasses. Still needing to get my new ones, but the old ones are horrid when they start to fog up. It is also horrid when my eyes are tearing up so constantly after the various surgeries and dry eyeness. I have read many a remedy for the fogs, but nothing seems to work for long. And some I’ve opted to NOT try. Shaving cream wasn’t a favorite, maybe a floral scent would have made it more agreeable!
Thanks, Kris. Great you enjoyed a can of Spam. I hope our eyes get better with new technology which works.
The first time I was on Kauai, I was amazed at the (at least) 10 varieties of Spam on the grocery store shelves. I had to try some of them out. 😜
I was in food heaven when I took a holiday in Hawaii in 2015. It was amazing.
I am forever connected to the island. 🌴🌊
My favourite thing was snorkelling and enjoying the fish, reptiles, and mammals underwater.
The rainbows were the best unexpected surprises. 🌈
Hahah! I’m amused by cooking a dish that begins with a gentle fart! I haven’t had Spam since my Dad made me eat it when I was a kid. I’m curious, though, about combining it with such other interesting ingredients!
Give it a go! I’d be keen to know what you think 😊
Methinks all of us are viewing ‘Vuity’ at the moment – a case of seeing what long-term daily usage for just a few hours help would do ! I have reservations regarding hitting my eyes for a few hours’ help but am watching in hope . . .
Likewise, I’m interested but will wait for more evidence of safety.
Your reply seems to have been stolen by the fairies . . .
Oh, I wrote: Likewise, I’m interested but will wait for more evidence of safety
I have never seen anyone describe getting Spam out of a can quite the way you do here–it was absolutely perfect! 🙂
Hehe I like to describe things in my own special way 😊
My son eats Spam out of the tin with a spoon. Train journeys usually!
Wow, respect! I’d be self-conscious of people complaining of the smell.
This deservers a WOW!!!!!!!! response!
Thanks, Kris 😊
What a nice colourful dish… I haven’t eaten Spam since I was a child and can’t really remember what it tastes like, though they sometimes discuss it on the Kitchen Cabinet. Chinese sausage isn’t something I’m familiar with either. Ah, the glasses question! At the star of the pandemic, I bought special wipes from Specsavers which were supposed to keep your glasses fog-free for 24 hours but they didn’t work for me. If I know I’m going to be wearing a mask for a long time, like a train journey, most of the time I wear my contacts instead.
I wish I had contacts as an option, Emma. I saw on TV a couple of months ago there is an eye drop preparation being sold for long sightedness. I wonder if it would work for me. I’m tired of wearing glasses.