New Spam dishes by Hawaiian and Asian cooks are a hit with diners across the US

Spam entered kitchens in Asia and Oceania in World War II. Cooks from those regions put new spins on the canned meat and US is lapping it up

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Hawaiian, Korean and other Asian cooks have developed new recipes using Spam, such as Spam musubi, which have spread to restaurants and convenience stores across the US mainland. Photo: Getty Images

Tribune News Service

Published: 7:15pm, 22 Oct 2024Updated: 8:19am, 24 Oct 2024

Jess Kelley, who grew up in Hawaii, cannot remember her first time trying Spam. It was just always there.

Hawaiians eat 7 million cans of Spam a year, more per capita than any other US state. Now Spam musubi (cooked Spam on sticky rice wrapped in seaweed) and other Polynesian and Korean recipes have started changing the cuisine in mainland states, including at Kelley’s Ono Hawaiian Plates.

When US food processing company Hormel Foods introduced the canned meat in 1937, company leaders did not envision it becoming part of world cuisine.

After a few groceries on the US’ west coast added Spam musubi to their sushi sections, the idea took off in the past few years. Now the Hawaiian treat, also a favourite in Japan, is in a thousand stores on the US mainland and showing up on restaurant menus, too.

A plate of Spam musubi at Ono Hawaiian Plates in Minneapolis, in the US. Photo: TNS

Add to that a permanent new Spam flavour, Korean BBQ, and a limited-time gochujang or red chilli paste flavour, and the canned meat is no longer an American cultural export. It is a global cuisine.