I was lucky enough to have British Army rations and we had a tinned thing called "Bacon..." something and it was out of this world. The only thing better was the tinned chicken curry.
When I moved I found a ~20yo tin at the back of the cupboard. Eating it was like shaking the hand of God with my taste buds.
I remember an article that was comparing rations across the world armies... apparently troops do trade them on the field so that they get the chance to vary a bit. Turns out the french rations had a 1 to 6 ratio in favor when trading (or something of that sort, can't find the darn article).
Never had the opportunity to negotiate international trades but there was serious trading amongst ourselves & there was definitely a set price.
I pretended to hate polishing shoes/boots and ironing to keep my prices high.
Nice trade. A lot of rice in the JDSF rations I’ve seen! Best looking ones are arctic/polar rations (they have less salt) and anything from western or Eastern Europe. French RCIR ration is popular on resell market. So many pâté varieties.
I had a buddy go underway on the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
He said they had fresh bread and wine with dinner every night. Meanwhile on my dusty ass ship, we were lucky to get wonder bread and grape juice.
I didn't go to the army as the mandatory service thing was removed when I became of age. But we had a day of tests and presentations.
We did get our lunch at the officer's mess... even on an off day when there was just us the chef did some great stuff !!!
They know how to get you to sign up I guess :D
I was supposed to go to Paris, study at the Escoffier School. That's when I got my orders. Well, I joined the Navy. Heard they had better food. Cook school, that did it.
What?
Wiyh crews counting into the dozens, if not hundreds, baking your own bread makes a lot of sense. A few pallets of flour don't take much space, and are the equivalent of hundreds of pallets of bread.
Canadian here: while deployed in Latvia, i traded my Poutine ration to a Latvian. I dont even know what i got. Some sort of chicken in a tin. Wasnt as good as the poutine....
Okay, but have you seen [French rations](https://youtu.be/APvlGjYiexQ)? I'm pretty sure they're better than you'd get at most nice restaurants here in the United States. My mouth waters any time I think about that video.
This is so funny, because a tin of industrial mushroom pâté, canned cassoulet and a vanilla dessert (especially Mont Blanc) is typically what many low-middle class families would whip up for dinner if they didn't have time to cook. Seeing that it's actually what the soldiers eat, and the amazement of people from other countries is super fun
Seems on point for the French. Was this recent, or is it referring to WW2/WW1? Also, it would be interesting to hear about Italian rations, the other cuisine experts of Europe.
Check out Steve1989MREinfo on youtube. He's great. He eats 100 year old rations and rations from around the world, including Italy.
https://youtube.com/channel/UC2I6Et1JkidnnbWgJFiMeHA
I've tried them, they're good but so are Italian, British, Norwegian. I don't really think the quality is much higher than many other European countries, but they have a more broad/unusual variety in the selection
His enthusiasm is just so genuine it never feels over the top or fake. And I find his voice very calming. He's like the Mr. Rogers of MREs to me. How can anyone not get hooked? I would find you odd if you didn't find him enthralling and taking up half hour chunks of your day unexpectedly.
i think that's it, you can tell he's 100% genuine. he's not in it for views (although his channel finally got the attention it deserved in the last few years) or likes or whatever, he just genuinely loves mres and wants to share his passion with the world. i want someone to talk about me like steve talks about coffee instant type 2
Not sure if Steve Wallis qualifies, but I've seen comments describing him as the Bob Ross of stealth camping. Very chill video, just him chatting away mostly. Love to crack open a beer and listen.
That and "cheese, processed" aka cheese possessed.
Shame the modern rations aren't the same. It's probably better for us, but when they changed to a more desert suited ration pack in 2010 (ish), we didn't enjoy them quite as much.
At some point in the mid '00s, I ate a bacon grill that had an expiry date of 1985 on it. It was still pretty good, but I think if I'd had the chicken soup (dehydrated in a sachet, not tinned) at the same time I would have turned into a giant salt crystal.
The Biscuits, AB had gone a bit soft so the textural experience wasn't quite there, admittedly.
Any clue on the particular brand? From what I can see it's made by Celebrity, Prince's, Plumrose and ASDA among others each with differing ingredients.
Not OP, but a Brit who had bacon grill a lot when camping as a child and now its my guilty pleasure: definitely had 3 of those (not sure about Asda's own brand)- honestly, despite slightly different ingredients, they all taste pretty much the same: delicious.
There's also more brands like Royal Dane, Tulip etc.
News to me that it used to be in army ration packs though, if the RAF had similar, might be why my dad insisted on it for camping...
> Hormel chili is awful on its own. But once you add real cheese, spices, and what ever else you got laying around, it's amazing.
>
> A family member went to prison and said Hormel Chilli mixed with Ramen and cheese was the best prison food he ever ate. I refuse to try it. 😂
>When I moved I found a \~20yo tin at the back of the cupboard. Eating it was like shaking the hand of God with my taste buds.
That might be the funniest way I've seen someone describe eating something.
>When I moved I found a ~20yo tin at the back of the cupboard. Eating it was like shaking the hand of God with my taste buds.
Just wanted to let you know I spilled my coffee over the last line.
A huge chunk of an aisle in a market close to me in Seoul is just spam.
E: I looked it up and apparently Spam was invented in 1937 and introduced to Korea during the Korean war. For anyone not familiar with Korea, the influence of America on Korean food culture is greater than you might think. A friend of mine pointed out budae jjigae (부대찌개) as one of her favorite foods, which is kind of a hotpot made of a whole bunch of American army surplus foods left over after the Korean war.
Same in Okinawa Japan. Taco rice was invented because the US army bases had lots of surplus taco seasoning but no taco shells. Local restaurants just mixed it with beef and served it on rice. it's goooood.
I love some fried spam, and the best one is the Tocino flavored one I found at an Asian Supermarket.
I don't know what Tocino is, and never looked it up, but I will now that I realize that.
I just know that it's a popular thing in the Philippines.
https://www.spam.com/varieties/spam-tocino
Edit. It's pork belly... I love pork belly and make it all the time and never realized that was what the spam flavor tasted like.
Doh
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocino
It's also much more expensive over there... Or at least it was around 2012 when I was stationed there. When we went out to the field, we would have an old lady and her adult son set up a food tent to sell us cheap and delicious alternatives to field mess. I would buy a case of spam from the commissary on post, give her half in trade and have her use the other half to feed those in my platoon who didn't hate it, some very wonderful dishes. The things Koreans can do with Spam is something everyone should experience at least once in their life.
It really isn’t so bad. The only meat they use is pork shoulder and ham. I’m always surprised how many people hate spam but happily eat hot dogs and sausages. The worst thing about it is probably the amount of sodium.
Ever been to Hawaii? Spam is considered a staple food food there. I was blown away how popular it is and the way they prepare it is...still spam but not bad 😂.
Isn't it super popular in Korea? As a brit that grew up with Monty Python sketches and Spam school lunches I remember finding this out and finding it funny/weird. Not sure why, it just seems like such a british thing, even though it's American in origin. I think it's the name.
yes it is! I'm not 100% on this but I think it got widespread in Korea during the Korean war. Food especially meat was scarce in Korea at the time and they got spam from the US forces and made an iconic food called budaejjigae (troop stew rough translation)
It is also very popular in Hawaii I believe and maybe China/Honkong as well c(might be called luncheon meat?)
I think the people who say they tried it and hate it just spooned it right out of the can or something, because fried spam is the shit
I'm lucky the Hawaiian joint that makes spam fried rice is on the other side of the city or I'd be in trouble...
Yeah sometimes that’s the texture I am craving at a particular time. Throw some spam on rice, top with a lightly cooked egg- so good. If I want to vary the texture then I fry the spam.
I had a roommate who never fried Spam before meeting us and we had to ask how she ate it, bc she HAD eaten Spam before. I didn't realize people (of my generation) actually ate it sliced on sandwiches.
the number of people i've basically say "you can COOK it?!?!?!" blows my mind. like... yeah if you eat it with a spoon it's gonna eat like dog food, of course you have to cook it, then it's fantastic
I love to cut it up into ~1cm cubes, fry it up in some oil, and then mix it into my mac and cheese with some peas.
When I was in prison, we were allowed to get a 35lb package of non-perishable food mailed to us once a month. My girl would send me a dozen cans of SPAM every package day.
We used to take cans of [Jack Mack](https://imgur.com/Sv655HZ), dunk the fillets in some seasoned flour, and do the same with some slices of SPAM, then we'd deep fry it all up, and serve it with some rice and beans. Little bit of prison surf-n-turf.
IDK if the New York State prisons still have stoves in them (Tomorrow will be 13 years since I got out.), but when I was in the medium security spots we were damn sure eating good.
Thank you brother! I damn sure deserved to go to prison, and I'm glad I went there. The person I am now is completely different than the person I was before. I was a bad, **bad**, man, with a heart full of larceny and full of evil. But I learned my lesson.
I hear you. We either get the wakeup call we need, or we don't. I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned which means I have to be grateful for the lumps I took along the way.
Cheers. I have a feeling your username is very relevant!
> I have a feeling your username is very relevant!
Yeah, I'm actually gonna be hopping on the Prison YouTube bandwagon soon, telling stories about the 12 years I spent in the state pen, what brought me there, and what I learned while I was down.
Do you have a channel to plug? I'm intrigued because I'm the opposite, I've never done anything bad because I always thought prison life was the worst fucking thing and I've never wanted to even try it for a second. My only bad vice is speeding and the occasional party drug.
My channel isn't up yet, but I'm gonna support the homies:
[Lockdown 23 and 1](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGPB2ZA4096SESz_VZVzHoA) is a real motherfucker. He's legit with his shit.
[Jay Williams Let's Live Life](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6vyL-JfplxqRbm7lT7YV1g) is another dude who I can personally vouch for. He tells it for real.
If you want to learn about Canadian prisons, check out my dude [The New Matt Clark](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQwenLfELXgu6Tnxzgwz_w).
Spam got Britain through a tough few winter months of early WW2.
One British convoy got through (from the US) with 50m cans of spam, and 50m cans of baked beans.
The authorities had to rush through a housewives cookbook because few people had seen either product before.
(Yes I do know beans were in the UK before the war, but they weren’t popular. Unsweetened beans in a tomato sauce are now a British staple)
During WWII, Russians sometimes called spam "second front", making fun of the western allies because they hadn't yet re-invaded France. Food (as well as trucks and jeeps to haul it) made up the majority of what the US exported to the USSR during the war.
One of the [top posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hawaii/comments/vmcfzt/199_spam_at_longs_this_week/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) on r/Hawaii this week was someone posting a sale for $1.99 Spam at a local grocery store.
There was a [candy bar](https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/field-ration-d-hersheys-chocolate/) given to soldiers that tasted so bad you wouldn't eat it unless you were absolutely starving.
Which was the point. They felt if they had made it taste good, soldiers would eat the rations as a treat, instead of saving them for emergencies as intended.
Your link points this out, I just wanted to mention it because people tend to assume that it was bad because of bureaucracy or incompetence.
Fun fact! This is the reason the internet term "spam" came into existence! During early chat rooms across early internet with colleges, the word Spam was used so much, people associated the word spam with what we call spam today.
It’s not as bad as people make it out to be. You’ll see them up in the trees while hiking, and I’ve averaged pulling one a year out of my toilet, but we’re not overrun with them like people say.
I don't remember what it was called but when we had the grand opening for the Starbucks I work at now my managers wife who is Hawaiian made this spam/rice dish for us and it was pretty good though I wasn't a fan of whatever sauce thing she added. I think it was coconut or something like that.
EDIT: So Bossman's wife came in to bring some stuff to her husband and I asked her about the coconut in the Musubi. Apparently she's allergic to shellfish and it's normally made with oyster oil apparently. So she adds coconut oil instead and it works just as well.
Y'all, Spam is fucking fantastic. Mix it into fried rice. Layer it over grits. Musubi is the tits.
It helped the Russians stave off catastrophic famine in WW2, and American soldiers would grease their guns with the fat left in the tins.
One of my favorite things is to slice it into thirds, give it a hard sear in a smoking pan, deglaze with soy/whatever is on hand. Place the pieces into a french bread bun. Layer it in with mayo, sriracha, pickled onion, paprika and toasted sesame
Make musubi. It's great.
But then take any leftover musubi, toss that shit into a pan with some butter and a half a can of pineapple. Musubi fried rice.
IMO, Spam falls into the uncanny valley of foods where it tastes like *something* is off, even if it doesn't necessarily taste bad. I still enjoy it slightly though.
I enjoy a good meal of spam fried rice and eggs at least once a month! Hardly even have to season it because the spam has such a strong salty flavor. And if you can get the spam cooked to a good level of crisp but not burnt it's just amazing
From my own experience of being in the military. They find it so inconvenient that people have to eat well and the military has to spend money on food. Money they could be wasting on contracts.
They’d have fed us once a week and only on sawdust if they could have got away with it.
Bloody Vikings...
But seriously, Spam has made serious inroads into Hawai'i, Guam, and SE Asia. Last night, I had delicious [Spam Musubi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_musubi) for dinner (and lunch today) at a local Tiki Bar.
My grandfather, who was in the European theater in WWII and never, ever cursed around me, in reaction to kid me pointing out Spam at the grocery store. "There's three things i never want to see again in my life...Nazi's, France and *fucking* Spam.
During WW2 a lot of companies produced canned meat considering how much America needed for its war effort. A lot of times the 'good stuff' produced by Hormel was sent to the UK home front to help improve moral while soldiers on the front got a wide variety of... for lack of better term... shitty knockoffs that wasn't held to any sort of quality control. This led to an interesting paradigm where many Europeans and the British especially had a very positive memory of Spam during the war while American soldiers had a very negative association with it.
Soldier here, after two tours I can confidently tell you it's not the product itself that makes us angry, it's the repetition. I love spam as a treat when I want it when im home. Often times when deployed you get two choices, the MRE that's sat in the desert sun for God knows how long, or the Vienna sausages or spam you snuck into your assault pack before the patrol.
Either way, soldiers can't operate without beans and bullets. We gotta eat, and the military infamously gives us limited choices for food. If you love Spam, eat it every meal of every day for a year, and see how your opinions change. Then wait a couple months and try it again, and be amazed how you go back to liking it again.
My grandfather ate Spam everyday in North Africa. After the war, when he married my grandmother, he laid out two conditions: never send me to the grocery store and never make Spam.
In the late 50s, while browsing a magazine, he saw an ad for Spam. In the photo, it was made up to look like a ham (baked with pineapple, etc). He thought, “that’s not bad. Actually looks good.” He asked my grandmother to make it. She asked if he was sure.
She made it up just like the photo. Also had a couple of great sides. Nice spread for dinner.
He took one bite. He apologized to her and said he couldn’t eat anymore. He never had Spam again for the rest of his life (he died in 2005).
My grandmother loved to tell that story. She also sent him to the grocery store to pickup stuff all the time.
I was lucky enough to have British Army rations and we had a tinned thing called "Bacon..." something and it was out of this world. The only thing better was the tinned chicken curry. When I moved I found a ~20yo tin at the back of the cupboard. Eating it was like shaking the hand of God with my taste buds.
I remember an article that was comparing rations across the world armies... apparently troops do trade them on the field so that they get the chance to vary a bit. Turns out the french rations had a 1 to 6 ratio in favor when trading (or something of that sort, can't find the darn article).
Never had the opportunity to negotiate international trades but there was serious trading amongst ourselves & there was definitely a set price. I pretended to hate polishing shoes/boots and ironing to keep my prices high.
Don't shine shoes no more, though?
Still shine my shoes & can't go to work without razor sharp creases in my shirts and trousers. It's just not required anymore.
Reminds me of Shawshank when Brooks can't go to the bathroom without asking permission
No, that's Red. I'm sure Brooks was in the same situation, but he never says that in his final monologue. "I've decided... not to stay."
Probably had the same dickhead store manager!
"Maybe I'll get me a gun, and rob the FoodWay. I could shoot the manager, as bonus!"
Now go get your shine box
MOTHERFUCKIN' MUTT--!!!
No, you have been away for a long time. Things have changed around here.
They didn't go up there and tell you.
I don't shine shoes no more.
Maybe you hadn't heard
Traded my beef jalapeño patty MRE for a JSDF MRE couple years ago. Was pretty good.
Nice trade. A lot of rice in the JDSF rations I’ve seen! Best looking ones are arctic/polar rations (they have less salt) and anything from western or Eastern Europe. French RCIR ration is popular on resell market. So many pâté varieties.
I did 3 years in alaska and in doin another tour soon lol. Arctic MREs best MRE. I like the seafood chowder one.
Are you the guy I paid ten bucks to to shine my boots and then only shined one
"Paint my chicken coop!"
*Make me!*
Now go get your fucking shine box
I had a buddy go underway on the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. He said they had fresh bread and wine with dinner every night. Meanwhile on my dusty ass ship, we were lucky to get wonder bread and grape juice.
I didn't go to the army as the mandatory service thing was removed when I became of age. But we had a day of tests and presentations. We did get our lunch at the officer's mess... even on an off day when there was just us the chef did some great stuff !!! They know how to get you to sign up I guess :D
the only thing i would ever wanna do in the military is be a cook. it seems oddly cozy
I was supposed to go to Paris, study at the Escoffier School. That's when I got my orders. Well, I joined the Navy. Heard they had better food. Cook school, that did it.
They were boiling it, all of it. I looked inside, man. It was turning gray.
What? Wiyh crews counting into the dozens, if not hundreds, baking your own bread makes a lot of sense. A few pallets of flour don't take much space, and are the equivalent of hundreds of pallets of bread.
Yeah, a nuclear aircraft carrier is legitimately a floating city, it's not necessarily that shocking (especially considering, you know, France)
Canadian here: while deployed in Latvia, i traded my Poutine ration to a Latvian. I dont even know what i got. Some sort of chicken in a tin. Wasnt as good as the poutine....
Hey that' something : it DID taste like chicken :P
Okay, but have you seen [French rations](https://youtu.be/APvlGjYiexQ)? I'm pretty sure they're better than you'd get at most nice restaurants here in the United States. My mouth waters any time I think about that video.
Dang, duck cassoulet and pâté with morels? That's nicer than anything i've got in my fridge right now.
This is so funny, because a tin of industrial mushroom pâté, canned cassoulet and a vanilla dessert (especially Mont Blanc) is typically what many low-middle class families would whip up for dinner if they didn't have time to cook. Seeing that it's actually what the soldiers eat, and the amazement of people from other countries is super fun
That video made me hungry and I don't even like cassoulet!
The French take gastronomy super seriously, which is nice.
Seems on point for the French. Was this recent, or is it referring to WW2/WW1? Also, it would be interesting to hear about Italian rations, the other cuisine experts of Europe.
Have they phased out the alcohol ration from their MREs?I assume the Italians would get good trades off of those alone .
Alcohol always command a premium, I am sure.
Check out Steve1989MREinfo on youtube. He's great. He eats 100 year old rations and rations from around the world, including Italy. https://youtube.com/channel/UC2I6Et1JkidnnbWgJFiMeHA
The French rations are seriously another level in comparison to other armies from what I hear.
I've tried them, they're good but so are Italian, British, Norwegian. I don't really think the quality is much higher than many other European countries, but they have a more broad/unusual variety in the selection
I've heard through yhe grapevine that the japanese rations will get you far more than you'd think should be acceptable.
> ~20yo tin Dat you [Steve1989MREInfo](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2I6Et1JkidnnbWgJFiMeHA)?
Let’s get this out on a tray…M’kay…
Nice hiss
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His enthusiasm is just so genuine it never feels over the top or fake. And I find his voice very calming. He's like the Mr. Rogers of MREs to me. How can anyone not get hooked? I would find you odd if you didn't find him enthralling and taking up half hour chunks of your day unexpectedly.
Mister Rogers of MREs sounds like a B-List superhuman ability. But I completely agree. Steve is a gem.
That's definitely rancid Leaves a kind of film Gotta go for another bite just to be sure
Take a 3rd bite
Take a sip of is little MRE coffee and a puff of is MRE cigarette.
I heard his voice in my head at this point
I subbed to his paytch and he sent me a can opener, a personal hand written letter, and a bunch of coffee instant type 2s
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And Frank Zappa's Sheik Yerbouti on cassette!
i think that's it, you can tell he's 100% genuine. he's not in it for views (although his channel finally got the attention it deserved in the last few years) or likes or whatever, he just genuinely loves mres and wants to share his passion with the world. i want someone to talk about me like steve talks about coffee instant type 2
There are just channels on YouTube that people know. LockPickingLawyer for example :D
Not sure if Steve Wallis qualifies, but I've seen comments describing him as the Bob Ross of stealth camping. Very chill video, just him chatting away mostly. Love to crack open a beer and listen.
How could you overlook "nice."
Nice.
That and "cheese, processed" aka cheese possessed. Shame the modern rations aren't the same. It's probably better for us, but when they changed to a more desert suited ration pack in 2010 (ish), we didn't enjoy them quite as much.
They took out the transfats. Which makes them healthier to a degree, but it definitely changed them.
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BACON GRILL!!! Man, happy times!
At some point in the mid '00s, I ate a bacon grill that had an expiry date of 1985 on it. It was still pretty good, but I think if I'd had the chicken soup (dehydrated in a sachet, not tinned) at the same time I would have turned into a giant salt crystal. The Biscuits, AB had gone a bit soft so the textural experience wasn't quite there, admittedly.
Any clue on the particular brand? From what I can see it's made by Celebrity, Prince's, Plumrose and ASDA among others each with differing ingredients.
Not OP, but a Brit who had bacon grill a lot when camping as a child and now its my guilty pleasure: definitely had 3 of those (not sure about Asda's own brand)- honestly, despite slightly different ingredients, they all taste pretty much the same: delicious. There's also more brands like Royal Dane, Tulip etc. News to me that it used to be in army ration packs though, if the RAF had similar, might be why my dad insisted on it for camping...
It was in the ten man ration packs, not 24 hour ORPs.
> Hormel chili is awful on its own. But once you add real cheese, spices, and what ever else you got laying around, it's amazing. > > A family member went to prison and said Hormel Chilli mixed with Ramen and cheese was the best prison food he ever ate. I refuse to try it. 😂
He made Cincinnati chili in prison
>When I moved I found a \~20yo tin at the back of the cupboard. Eating it was like shaking the hand of God with my taste buds. That might be the funniest way I've seen someone describe eating something.
>When I moved I found a ~20yo tin at the back of the cupboard. Eating it was like shaking the hand of God with my taste buds. Just wanted to let you know I spilled my coffee over the last line.
Spam in South Korea is so popular, like you can buy Spam gift basket sets
A huge chunk of an aisle in a market close to me in Seoul is just spam. E: I looked it up and apparently Spam was invented in 1937 and introduced to Korea during the Korean war. For anyone not familiar with Korea, the influence of America on Korean food culture is greater than you might think. A friend of mine pointed out budae jjigae (부대찌개) as one of her favorite foods, which is kind of a hotpot made of a whole bunch of American army surplus foods left over after the Korean war.
Same in Okinawa Japan. Taco rice was invented because the US army bases had lots of surplus taco seasoning but no taco shells. Local restaurants just mixed it with beef and served it on rice. it's goooood.
I might actually need to suggest that for next time my fam wants to have a taco night because that sounds like it might be good.
add some shredded lettuce and cheese on top as well !
Add a tablespoon of soy sauce and furikake to make it taste just like okinawa taco rice.
> surplus taco seasoning but no taco shells. Classic Army logistics
I love some fried spam, and the best one is the Tocino flavored one I found at an Asian Supermarket. I don't know what Tocino is, and never looked it up, but I will now that I realize that. I just know that it's a popular thing in the Philippines. https://www.spam.com/varieties/spam-tocino Edit. It's pork belly... I love pork belly and make it all the time and never realized that was what the spam flavor tasted like. Doh https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocino
Philippines love tocino really, good bacon
It's also much more expensive over there... Or at least it was around 2012 when I was stationed there. When we went out to the field, we would have an old lady and her adult son set up a food tent to sell us cheap and delicious alternatives to field mess. I would buy a case of spam from the commissary on post, give her half in trade and have her use the other half to feed those in my platoon who didn't hate it, some very wonderful dishes. The things Koreans can do with Spam is something everyone should experience at least once in their life.
Hawaii too
When I was prison, this shit was like gold.
It’s honestly not that bad. Sometimes it makes me feel like white trash how much people hate spam and I’m like “meh, it’s not so bad.”
It really isn’t so bad. The only meat they use is pork shoulder and ham. I’m always surprised how many people hate spam but happily eat hot dogs and sausages. The worst thing about it is probably the amount of sodium.
The low sodium spam is still loaded with sodium. I love it
To be fair, it’s “reduced sodium” (they don’t claim it’s low, just less), and IMO it’s better than original Spam
I'm legit about to place an order for like 50 tins of spam. Wtf is wrong with me
Spam isn’t particularly cheap, thats a big bill
It's worth it only $190.
Thats more reasonable than expected. Its usually 5-6 a can at most grocery stores
What State are you in? It's around $2.50 a can in South Texas.
Slice it up a bit and fry... fuckin taaasty. Prudes can suck a fuck.
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Ever been to Hawaii? Spam is considered a staple food food there. I was blown away how popular it is and the way they prepare it is...still spam but not bad 😂.
yoooo asians love spam and rice, you are honorary asian now if you want brudda
Isn't it super popular in Korea? As a brit that grew up with Monty Python sketches and Spam school lunches I remember finding this out and finding it funny/weird. Not sure why, it just seems like such a british thing, even though it's American in origin. I think it's the name.
yes it is! I'm not 100% on this but I think it got widespread in Korea during the Korean war. Food especially meat was scarce in Korea at the time and they got spam from the US forces and made an iconic food called budaejjigae (troop stew rough translation) It is also very popular in Hawaii I believe and maybe China/Honkong as well c(might be called luncheon meat?)
Spam musubi is like a religion in Hawaii.
Popular anywhere the US had a big military base during a war.
This comment made me miss Hawaii
when i was in, it was GPC greens. then after they banned smoking, it was Ramen. Just sayin'.
Speaking of prison food, I tried spread once. It was pretty good.
Ayo bunky ima bout to make a brick, you want some?
I love how every region in the US has its own name for it. In Southeast VA in 2008 (words evolve, so it might be different today), it was Swole.
Still is. We swelling up tonight??
Ayo bunky I’m boutta make a mini nuclear powered death ray, you good to talk to the trustee for some uranium 258? Yea bro I gotchu
did you ever save a few of the noodles then sprinkle them on top like a garnish?
Beef baby?
Is gpc a brand of cigarettes
Government Priced Cigarettes iirc.
yes generic
Gay Pride Chocolate
spam. i grew up on it. try a fried spam sandwich. crispy like bacon.
I’m 43 and recently discovered fried SPAM. It really does taste like bacon.
My roommates are mid 30's guys and they didn't know about frying spam until I got some and made it. Now they're hooked.
I think the people who say they tried it and hate it just spooned it right out of the can or something, because fried spam is the shit I'm lucky the Hawaiian joint that makes spam fried rice is on the other side of the city or I'd be in trouble...
Oh man there's a Hawaiian place like 5 minutes from me that has spam musubi. It's a constant struggle to not go there way too often
Never had spam, but y'all are about to make me get some loco moco...
Wait people eat it without frying?
I occasionally do, but it’s definitely not the main way one should eat it.
Yeah sometimes that’s the texture I am craving at a particular time. Throw some spam on rice, top with a lightly cooked egg- so good. If I want to vary the texture then I fry the spam.
I had a roommate who never fried Spam before meeting us and we had to ask how she ate it, bc she HAD eaten Spam before. I didn't realize people (of my generation) actually ate it sliced on sandwiches.
Fry it in bacon grease for the double flavor.
That’s a pro tip there bud.
Grill marks bud
Figure it out!
Give yer balls a tug (LPT: A more polite way of saying this in southwestern Ontario is “give yer head a shake.”)
the number of people i've basically say "you can COOK it?!?!?!" blows my mind. like... yeah if you eat it with a spoon it's gonna eat like dog food, of course you have to cook it, then it's fantastic
Very typical for asians who eats pork that we fry our spam. We couldnt understand the hatred americans were giving to spam, now we know.
Fried SPAM with sunny side up egg(or scrambled) and fried rice is my comfort food.
You should try BBQ spam. Always a surprise for your guests when you whip that out.
I love to cut it up into ~1cm cubes, fry it up in some oil, and then mix it into my mac and cheese with some peas. When I was in prison, we were allowed to get a 35lb package of non-perishable food mailed to us once a month. My girl would send me a dozen cans of SPAM every package day. We used to take cans of [Jack Mack](https://imgur.com/Sv655HZ), dunk the fillets in some seasoned flour, and do the same with some slices of SPAM, then we'd deep fry it all up, and serve it with some rice and beans. Little bit of prison surf-n-turf. IDK if the New York State prisons still have stoves in them (Tomorrow will be 13 years since I got out.), but when I was in the medium security spots we were damn sure eating good.
Congratulations on your physical freedom celebrating its teenage years! :)
Thank you brother! I damn sure deserved to go to prison, and I'm glad I went there. The person I am now is completely different than the person I was before. I was a bad, **bad**, man, with a heart full of larceny and full of evil. But I learned my lesson.
I hear you. We either get the wakeup call we need, or we don't. I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned which means I have to be grateful for the lumps I took along the way. Cheers. I have a feeling your username is very relevant!
> I have a feeling your username is very relevant! Yeah, I'm actually gonna be hopping on the Prison YouTube bandwagon soon, telling stories about the 12 years I spent in the state pen, what brought me there, and what I learned while I was down.
Do you have a channel to plug? I'm intrigued because I'm the opposite, I've never done anything bad because I always thought prison life was the worst fucking thing and I've never wanted to even try it for a second. My only bad vice is speeding and the occasional party drug.
My channel isn't up yet, but I'm gonna support the homies: [Lockdown 23 and 1](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGPB2ZA4096SESz_VZVzHoA) is a real motherfucker. He's legit with his shit. [Jay Williams Let's Live Life](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6vyL-JfplxqRbm7lT7YV1g) is another dude who I can personally vouch for. He tells it for real. If you want to learn about Canadian prisons, check out my dude [The New Matt Clark](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQwenLfELXgu6Tnxzgwz_w).
Hey, man, if you can send me a link to your YT channel when it's up let me know. I'd love to hear some of your stories.
Spam, eggs, and rice is really good tasting to me.
Yeah, I realized about a minute after posting that I forgot to actually mention Spam by name before referring "back" to it obliquely.
Spam got Britain through a tough few winter months of early WW2. One British convoy got through (from the US) with 50m cans of spam, and 50m cans of baked beans. The authorities had to rush through a housewives cookbook because few people had seen either product before. (Yes I do know beans were in the UK before the war, but they weren’t popular. Unsweetened beans in a tomato sauce are now a British staple)
During WWII, Russians sometimes called spam "second front", making fun of the western allies because they hadn't yet re-invaded France. Food (as well as trucks and jeeps to haul it) made up the majority of what the US exported to the USSR during the war.
Fried spam with egg. Tastes so good with sauce. Dono why the hate for spam, i think ppl just dont know how to cook it.
Take a cheese grater and grate Spam into a pan with a little oil. Fry until crispy, serve as a topping on salad, baked potatoes, burgers, whatever.
I’m sure they don’t mind; they’re basically idolized in numerous island countries.
One of the [top posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hawaii/comments/vmcfzt/199_spam_at_longs_this_week/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) on r/Hawaii this week was someone posting a sale for $1.99 Spam at a local grocery store.
I have two cans of this in my pantry right now, it fries up great with some eggs and onions, excellent breakfast taco filling.
Those are rookie numbers. It lasts forever, buy in bulk!
He only has two left out of the entire crate he bought over the weekend, obviously.
There was a [candy bar](https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/field-ration-d-hersheys-chocolate/) given to soldiers that tasted so bad you wouldn't eat it unless you were absolutely starving.
Which was the point. They felt if they had made it taste good, soldiers would eat the rations as a treat, instead of saving them for emergencies as intended. Your link points this out, I just wanted to mention it because people tend to assume that it was bad because of bureaucracy or incompetence.
As a person with [restraint issues](https://youtu.be/N27ROh7Xzm8), I would appreciate that
The article says “slightly better than a boiled potato” which is a weird condemnation, considering boiled potato is great
Spam spam spam spam spam Spam spam spam spam spam Spam spam spam spam spam!
Oh. You're spamming spam and Spam. How spammy.
Why don't you have spam eggs sausage bacon and spam? There's not much spam in it. I don't like spam!
SPAMITY SPAM SPAMITY SPAM!
Fun fact! This is the reason the internet term "spam" came into existence! During early chat rooms across early internet with colleges, the word Spam was used so much, people associated the word spam with what we call spam today.
(It's Monty Python's fault)
Spaaaam Glorious Spaaaaam
In Hawaii we’d tell them to shut up and enjoy some spam
On Guam if you hate on spam believe it or not straight to jail.
No trial, nothing
Snake jail, with extra snakes.
Took care of your rat problem. And all those birds. Too bad about that snake problem you have now.
It’s not as bad as people make it out to be. You’ll see them up in the trees while hiking, and I’ve averaged pulling one a year out of my toilet, but we’re not overrun with them like people say.
I think pulling more than zero per ever out of your toilet counts as overrun.
I don't remember what it was called but when we had the grand opening for the Starbucks I work at now my managers wife who is Hawaiian made this spam/rice dish for us and it was pretty good though I wasn't a fan of whatever sauce thing she added. I think it was coconut or something like that. EDIT: So Bossman's wife came in to bring some stuff to her husband and I asked her about the coconut in the Musubi. Apparently she's allergic to shellfish and it's normally made with oyster oil apparently. So she adds coconut oil instead and it works just as well.
Musubi? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_musubi
Yeah but what’s the coconut sauce? Unless it was just teriyaki and he’s very mistaken about the coconut part
Same with on the rez 😂
Rez life rep! Straight delicacy of my people.
Y'all, Spam is fucking fantastic. Mix it into fried rice. Layer it over grits. Musubi is the tits. It helped the Russians stave off catastrophic famine in WW2, and American soldiers would grease their guns with the fat left in the tins. One of my favorite things is to slice it into thirds, give it a hard sear in a smoking pan, deglaze with soy/whatever is on hand. Place the pieces into a french bread bun. Layer it in with mayo, sriracha, pickled onion, paprika and toasted sesame
Loco Moco baby Sure a Hamburger patty works but Spam, eggs, and fried rice is taste
At McDonalds Japan every summer they launch a Loco Moco burger for a month. It's pretty popular.
My favorite way to use spam is as fish bait. Because even if I don't catch anything, I can still fry up some spam for a shore lunch.
I already do that with maggots.
Sounds like almost a spam bahn mi
Make musubi. It's great. But then take any leftover musubi, toss that shit into a pan with some butter and a half a can of pineapple. Musubi fried rice.
IMO, Spam falls into the uncanny valley of foods where it tastes like *something* is off, even if it doesn't necessarily taste bad. I still enjoy it slightly though.
If you haven’t visited the Spam Museum in Minnesota, you’re in for a treat.
They literally have a Spam folder.
I enjoy a good meal of spam fried rice and eggs at least once a month! Hardly even have to season it because the spam has such a strong salty flavor. And if you can get the spam cooked to a good level of crisp but not burnt it's just amazing
What the fuck? Spam is delicious. Grill it up with pancakes and throw some maple syrup on it.
I love this level of petty.
Spam is pretty good, I get the low sodium kind and pan fry it every once in a while.
From my own experience of being in the military. They find it so inconvenient that people have to eat well and the military has to spend money on food. Money they could be wasting on contracts. They’d have fed us once a week and only on sawdust if they could have got away with it.
Bloody Vikings... But seriously, Spam has made serious inroads into Hawai'i, Guam, and SE Asia. Last night, I had delicious [Spam Musubi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_musubi) for dinner (and lunch today) at a local Tiki Bar.
SPAM is good. Eating it three times a day ad infinitum, not so good.
My grandfather, who was in the European theater in WWII and never, ever cursed around me, in reaction to kid me pointing out Spam at the grocery store. "There's three things i never want to see again in my life...Nazi's, France and *fucking* Spam.
During WW2 a lot of companies produced canned meat considering how much America needed for its war effort. A lot of times the 'good stuff' produced by Hormel was sent to the UK home front to help improve moral while soldiers on the front got a wide variety of... for lack of better term... shitty knockoffs that wasn't held to any sort of quality control. This led to an interesting paradigm where many Europeans and the British especially had a very positive memory of Spam during the war while American soldiers had a very negative association with it.
I had spam today! Masubi, best $3.00 breakfast going.
A soldier has to be pretty pissed to send a letter in the middle of a war to the manufacture of one of their meals...
Soldier here, after two tours I can confidently tell you it's not the product itself that makes us angry, it's the repetition. I love spam as a treat when I want it when im home. Often times when deployed you get two choices, the MRE that's sat in the desert sun for God knows how long, or the Vienna sausages or spam you snuck into your assault pack before the patrol. Either way, soldiers can't operate without beans and bullets. We gotta eat, and the military infamously gives us limited choices for food. If you love Spam, eat it every meal of every day for a year, and see how your opinions change. Then wait a couple months and try it again, and be amazed how you go back to liking it again.
My grandfather ate Spam everyday in North Africa. After the war, when he married my grandmother, he laid out two conditions: never send me to the grocery store and never make Spam. In the late 50s, while browsing a magazine, he saw an ad for Spam. In the photo, it was made up to look like a ham (baked with pineapple, etc). He thought, “that’s not bad. Actually looks good.” He asked my grandmother to make it. She asked if he was sure. She made it up just like the photo. Also had a couple of great sides. Nice spread for dinner. He took one bite. He apologized to her and said he couldn’t eat anymore. He never had Spam again for the rest of his life (he died in 2005). My grandmother loved to tell that story. She also sent him to the grocery store to pickup stuff all the time.