Three trips to Hawaii during her teen years introduced my bride to the wonders of Spam, and now she has shared that island favorite with me.
Some think that Spam is an overly processed wanna-be meat product, but its ingredient list actually is quite short — and includes actual meat. Classic Spam is made from pork with ham, salt, water, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrite.
Like ham, it’s the salt content of Spam that can make it somewhat challenging to pair with wine. When salt is in evidence, there are two go-to options: sparkling wines, and rosé-style wines.
In both cases, bright acidity makes the wine refreshing, and that “freshness” provides the perfect counterpoint to saltiness.
The recipe that follows enables you to eat like an Hawaiian local, and when you pair it with sparkling wine or rosé, you’ll be dining like King Kamehameha. It makes one slider, but increase the number of beef and Spam patties to make multiple sandwiches because you’ll have plenty of glaze.
HAWAIIAN LOCAL’S BURGER
Ingredients
For the Pineapple Soy Glaze:
• 3 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups soy sauce
• 2 cups crushed pineapple
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
For the Slider:
• 1 slice of fried Spam Classic, sliced ¼-inch thick
• 1 sweet Hawaiian dinner roll
• Fine sliced green onions
• 2 ounces ground beef
Preparation
- To make the pineapple soy glaze, use a sauce pan and mix brown sugar, soy sauce, pineapple, garlic, lime juice and hoisin sauce together over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to thicken the glaze, and remove from the heat.
- To make the slider, use a separate pan to fry the Spam patty over medium heat, then remove from the pan.
- Roll and flatten the hamburger into a patty.
- Cook the patty to a minimum internal temperature of 160° F (using a calibrated hand-held thermometer to verify temperature). Brush glaze on both sides of the patty.
- Assemble slider by slicing the dinner roll in half and placing beef patty on bottom slice. Stack Spam patty on top of beef patty. Drizzle additional glaze on top, then sprinkle green onions.
- Place top of dinner roll on top of stack and enjoy.
