Of course there is a big influence from the US mainland, but Hawaii has a huge influence from the other side of the Pacific…from Japan.

This means that those cultures get together and start mixing things up, and when it happens in a culinary way some interesting food mash-ups appear.

One of the things that comes from the USA and has become extremely popular is…wait for it…spam! An ingredient you have probably forgotten (or want to forget!)

Apparently Hawaiians consume more spam per person than any other place in the world. It became hugely popular since the Second World War due to the large military presence there. Spam was a large part of military basic rations and was cheap to buy so the love affair was born.

In fact spam musubi (spam on sushi rice wrapped in nori) is a big snack time favourite with Hawaiians and possibly the ultimate example of this East/West crossover.

I am going to share with you my version of Hawaiian fried rice which is an easy way to show off this unique cuisine.

Ingredients

• 200g Spam (or cooked ham)
• 200g Long grain rice (cooked and left to go cold)
• 1 TBSP Mirin
• 1 -2 TBSP Soy Sauce
• ½ Red bell pepper (capsicum)
• 3 Slices tinned pineapple drained (or equivalent fresh)
• 1 Spring Onion (scallions)
• 1 Garlic clove
• 1 Grated fresh ginger (same size as the garlic clove)
• 1 TBSP Vegetable oil

Serves 2

Dice the spam, red pepper, pineapple and spring onion into similar size pieces, no bigger than 1cm or ½ inch square.

Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok then add the chopped spam, diced red pepper and pineapple and fry until you see a little caramelisation.

Next add the spring onions, ginger and garlic and fry for 1 minute stirring well. Put in the soy sauce and mirin and mix thoroughly through.

Finally add the cooked rice and stir fry until the rice is heated through and your dish is ready! Garnish with the extra spring onion on the plate and season with soy sauce to taste if you feel you need to.

The salty spam goes really well with the intensely sweet pineapple and the mirin and soy sauce give a nice background balance of sweet and umami.

You can even add a few peas or even egg to this to bulk it out into a more substantial meal.

Remember to share how you got on with this recipe below. Have you ever tried Hawaiian style food before?

Michael Robinson

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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