Glazed Spam & Rice | Always Be My Maybe

Today I'm sharing a ridiculously easy recipe inspired by the Netflix original movie, Always Be My Maybe. It's so simple that I almost feel silly sharing it, but that's kind of the point of this post, since I'm joining my friend Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles in another of our self-appointed just-for-fun challenges. Everybody has those days (weeks...months...) when they're lacking in funds, right? Well, since we were both feeling that pain, we decided our current project would be to pick a movie...any movie...and create a dish that uses either rice or ramen, since both are inexpensive (and I pretty much always have them in my pantry, anyway).

But then Kimberly suggested we also try making the dish cost $5 or less. So, in the end, our challenge was to create a movie-inspired dish that cost $5 or less per serving and included either rice or ramen noodles.

I actually knew almost immediately which movie I wanted to use, and what dish I would make. Like anybody who has Netflix knows, they've been releasing lots of original movies. Well, at the end of May, I settled in for a usual Friday night of excitement in front of the tv with the new (that night) Netflix release, Always Be My Maybe. Set in San Francisco, it's the story of two Asian-American kids (Marcus and Sasha) who are basically inseparable until hormones and pride cause them to fight. Life moves forward and so do they, until they cross each other's paths again 15 years later.

It's funny, it's cute, it's relatable...and it's a rom-com. I can't resist rom-coms. There's so much more to tell about the film, but since we're going to be creating dishes from this for Food 'n Flix in January (spoiler - it hadn't been announced yet!), I'll wait to go further into it until then. But my dish today was inspired by a seen very early in the film. Young Sasha comes home to an empty house and a message to make her own dinner because both of her parents are working late at their store. She lovingly puts SPAM slices onto a plate with rice that has been formed by a mold (a nod to the girl who will become a chef in the future).

So yeah, a simple dish...that can be made with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. The can of SPAM cost about $2.50. The rice is $1 for a whole bag. The chives grow alongside my garage. Everything else was already hanging out on my shelves. Definitely under $5 per serving.

Don't forget to head over to Coffee and Casseroles to find out which movie Kimberly picked...and the recipe it inspired her to make! And if you want to see more food inspired by Always Be My Maybe, keep an eye on the Food 'n Flix schedule in January of 2020.

Yield: serves 4

Author: Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Glazed SPAM and Rice

prep time: 10 Mcook time: 15 Mtotal time: 25 M

A few simple pantry ingredients transform a can a SPAM into an easy, sticky-glazed irresistible meal.

ingredients:

Rice:

• 1 cup Medium-Grain White Rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Mirin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons White Wine Vinegar
• big pinch ground white pepper

SPAM:

• 1 (12 ounce) can SPAM, preferably Bacon SPAM
• 1/4 cup + tablespoons Mirin
• 1/4 cup real Maple Syrup
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Sambal Olek (ground fresh chile paste)

Garnish:

• chopped fresh chives
• cracked black pepper

instructions:

How to cook Glazed SPAM and Rice

Make the Rice:

1. Combine rice, water, and salt in medium pot and bring to a boil. Cover, then reduce heat to low and cook until rice is tender and water has absorbed, 12-15 minutes.
2. Remove rice from heat and fluff with a fork. 
3. Combine mirin, vinegar, and white pepper. Drizzle over rice, stir it in, then fluff with a fork once more.

Make the SPAM (while the rice is cooking):

1. Cut the block of SPAM into 12 even slices. Stir the remaining SPAM ingredients together into a small bowl to make the glaze.
2. Set a nonstick pan over low heat. Add SPAM slices (do this in batches, if necessary to keep from crowding the pan). Cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes per side.
3. When golden and lightly crisp on both sides, pour in the glaze (only pour in half if cooking SPAM in 2 batches). Let it bubble up, turning the SPAM to coat, until liquid has all turned sticky and SPAM is glazed; this will take 30 seconds to a minute.
4. If doing in 2 batches, clean out pan before doing second half, then repeat.

Finish the dish:

1. Divide the rice into four portions (you can mold the portions by packing them into a small bowl and then turning out onto plate, if you wish). Add 3 slices of glazed SPAM per plate. Sprinkle with chives and cracked black pepper.

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