everything you never wanted to know about spam

When I arrived home, we had various gifts given to us for celebration of the Chuseok holiday. We had gifts of ginseng, fruit, and ....... I can't believe it ........our first SPAM gift box.




I don't know if you remember my prior post mentioning SPAM gift boxes. I felt at that time that a SPAM gift box was on the "lower end of the hierarchy of gifts". Well, I think that I have changed my mind. I did some research on SPAM and came up with some interesting facts. (I can't believe I am talking about doing research on SPAM . I have learned alot of the history, customs and culture of the Korean people while writing this blog though, so I guess SPAM just goes with the territory!) I have the usual biases against SPAM - you know, Something Posing As Meat and urban legends like that. Anyway, for those with inquiring minds, SPAM was originally made in the U.S. by the Hormel company. They had just introduced a canned ham product and were trying to figure out what to do with all the leftover pork shoulder they had. They came out with another canned product which was originally called Hormel Spiced Ham, but was renamed SPAM after a naming contest - get it - SPiced hAM?

What does this have to do with Korea, you say? SPAM was perfect for military use, due to the fact that it doesn't require refrigeration. Sales of SPAM rocketed during World War II. It is interesting to note that places with history of U.S. military presence have the largest amount of SPAM sold today - Hawaii, the Phillipines, Okinawa, Guam and Saipan. And don't forget South Korea, with the most SPAM sold each year, after the U.S.

I also found a website that stated that SPAM in Korea bought the rights to start making it's own version. It supposedly has less salt to cater more to Korean tastes. At the little grocery store down the street, I found 3 different types of SPAM.
There are also "generic" cans of the same product that aren't as costly. SPAM costs 4200Won at the store in our town (approximately $4.00).

It is surprising that the Korean people have taken to SPAM - they are usually very health conscious.

Wikipedia states that:

A 56 gram (approximately 2 ounce) serving of original Spam provides 7 grams of protein, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of fat (23% US Daily Value) including 6 grams of saturated fat (28% US Daily Value), and over 170 calories. A serving also contains nearly a third of the recommended daily intake of sodium (salt). Spam provides very little in terms of vitamins and minerals (0% vitamin A, 1% vitamin C, 1% calcium, 3% iron). It has been listed as a food that is a poor choice for weight loss and optimum health and as a food that "is high in saturated fat and sodium".

I guess they figure that a can of SPAM followed by a box of Krispy Kreme donuts (another favorite) won't hurt you too bad. Seriously, apparently during the Korean War, SPAM was an item smuggled by Korean women from the GI's on military bases. To the very hungry Korean people, this was quite a treat and continued to be so even after the war ended. According to another website, the trade treaties at that time prohibited alot of foreign food to be imported to South Korea. SPAM was hard to find, and thus, very desirable. By the way, I am trying to be correct in showing my sources for this "research paper". After all, we didn't have computers when I was in school - so I am sure it isn't quite right. (I just wanted to get that across in case I am cited for plagiarism!)

My father was in the Army and I remember eating SPAM growing up. However, I don't think it was an Army ration - I am sure it was purchased at the commissary. Ken has told me stories about his sister and her husband living on SPAM as poor college students. I wonder if they eat it now - I'll have to find out. I can't remember the last time I had SPAM (I think my mother would fry it) but I am sure I would probably like it okay. I don't think Ken would go for it though. He is so anti things like hot dogs and bologna. He once took a tour of a plant that made hot dogs and will now only eat hot dogs that look like sausage. I really don't see the difference since I have heard horror stories about what goes in sausage, but I guess it made quite an impact on him.

As you can see, the box also contained cans of tuna and bottles of sesame and corn oil. I wonder what the significance of that is. Maybe my next research will be looking for a recipe using those ingredients? I'll take suggestions.