I wanted to get back to my Filipino roots a bit by cooking with Spam and Vienna Sausage. I used to eat that shit so much as a kid, but as a teenager and young adult, I found those canned meats to be repulsive. Now that I’m a lot older, I’ve grown to reaccept those pseudo-meats my mom fed me, and I figured I could perhaps class it up. Using the black garlic I made and the culinary torch my friend’s parents gave me a few Christmases ago, I wanted to create something sweet and savory that harkened back to my Filipino heritage.
Fried rice, motherfuckers.
Ingredients:- 1 can of Spam (7 oz), cubed
- 1 can of Pineapple Chunks (8.25 oz), drained and finely chopped
- 1 can of Vienna Sausage (4.6 oz), drained and chopped
- 3 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
- 3 cloves of Black Garlic, finely chopped
- 1/3 of a Yellow Onion, finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of Brown Rice
- 1 cup of Chicken Stock
- 1 teaspoon of Bacon Fat
- 2 stalks of Scallion, chopped
- Pepper to taste
1. First of all, you’ll need a culinary/creme brûlée torch. The one that was gifted to me didn’t contain fuel (naturally, because it’s an explosive), but I had the misfortune of buying a Zippo butane refuel canister from Amazon. After waiting 3 week for it to arrive, it didn’t fit into the bottom of my torch, and I’m pretty sure I got high or even developed a tumor as it leaked butane inside my apartment. The next day, I went to the hardware store and got a universal tip refuel canister, and now the torch works perfectly.
2. Place the rice in a mesh strainer and wash under the sink. This will remove some of the starch.
3. Either in a rice cooker or a large pot, cook the rice with the chicken stock (always remember when cooking rice, it’s a 1-to-1 liquid-rice ratio). The rice should be tender and not that sticky.
4. In a large frying pan, add the bacon fat and cook till fully rendered. Cook using medium to high heat.
5. Sauté the black garlic, the chopped onions, and pineapple till the onions are semi-translucent. Set aside in a bowl.
6. In the same pan, cook the Spam and the Vienna Sausage. There’s enough sodium and fat in both of these, so no need for additional salt or oil — in fact, the soy sauce is salty as it is. Cook until brown.
7. Add, in the same pan, the egg and mix with a spatula — cook till it’s like scrambled eggs.
8. Add the cooked rice into the pan with half the pineapple/garlic/onion mixture, stirring often.
9. Add 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce to cook and coat the rice. The liquid should essentially deglaze the pan from any burnt or crispy bits sticking to the bottom. Next, add some pepper to taste.
10. Finally, add 3/4 of the chopped scallions. You don’t want to overcook or burn it, so once it’s fully incorporated, remove the pan from the heat.
11. Transfer the fried rice to a serving bowl, and top with the remaining pineapple/garlic/onion mixture. Using the culinary torch, char the pineapple till brown or even blackened.
12. Garnish the dish with the remaining 1/4 of scallions.
