Chinese Style Spam Fried Rice (in a Wok)
Piping hot, savoury and sweet, you’ll want to make this spam fried rice over and over again! A sleeper comfort dish, this dish comes together quickly with any ingredients you need cleared from your fridge. Spam fried rice is kid friendly and reheats well making it perfect for school lunches and potlucks. Follow my cooking tips and flavour guidelines to create foolproof spam fried rice!
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ tsp salt plus more to taste
- ½ red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 medium white onion finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 12 oz. can of spam low sodium (Note 1)
- 2 cup frozen sweetlet peas
- 7 cups cooked white rice preferably a day old (refrigerated) (Note 2)
- 3 Tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 3 scallions
- 4 Tbsp. grapeseed oil divided (for frying)
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper (optional)
- 1 tsp fish sauce (optional)
- 2 tsp oyster sauce (optional)
- sesame seeds (optional) (for garnish)
- nori cut into thin strips (optional) (for garnish)
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- Beat eggs until frothy and add the salt. Set aside for 15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. (Note 3)
- Chop and prepare red pepper and onion. Mince garlic. Set aside. (Note 4)
- Cut spam into ½” - ¾” cubes. Set aside.
Cooking the Dish
- Heat wok or large nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add 2 Tbsp oil. When oil starts to smoke, beat eggs a little and add to the pan. You should hear a satisfying sizzle when the eggs hit the pan. When the edges start to solidify, move them to the center and tip the wok to let the liquid egg run out and cook. Remove egg from wok when the eggs are 50% cooked (still runny). Place back in the raw egg dish and set aside.
- Add another 2 Tbsp oil. Add chopped onion. Fry until the onion is translucent. Add a pinch of salt.
- Add in red pepper, minced garlic and cubed Spam. Toss to mix and fry until your Spam has a nice sear. Keep contents moving using a scoop and flip motion being careful not to break up the cubed Spam too much. (Note 5)
- Lower heat to medium. Add cold rice. Using your spatula, break up any large chunks and mix well. As the rice heats up, it will start to break up easier. (Note 6)
- Add frozen sweetlet peas. Toss for 30 seconds. Add soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, white pepper and fish sauce (if using).
- Add back the egg. Toss for about 30 seconds breaking up the egg and until the seasonings are well mixed in the rice. Add chopped scallions and toss together for another minute.
- Sample a small spoonful and salt to taste.
- Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with sesame seeds and thinly sliced nori if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
Notes
Note 1: If you don’t have low sodium Spam, use regular Spam. I would adjust the amount of soy sauce you season your rice with. Taste it and add the soy sauce tablespoon by tablespoon. Note 2: If you don’t have left over rice in the fridge, make a new batch of rice with slightly less water so that the rice comes out a bit harder. Lay it out on a large flat pan (I used a cookie sheet lined with parchment) and place in the fridge until you’re ready to start cooking. Prep the other ingredients while the rice cools. Note 3: If you’re short on time, you can skip the salting of the eggs and use immediately once beaten. Seasoning the egg balances it out the flavours but not crucial. Note 4: To save time, chop the onions and peppers the night before. Mincing garlic and placing it in the fridge will leave a strong smell in your fridge (even if in a sealed container) so you can also do it right before use. Note 5: If your wok is way too hot, lower the heat to medium or you can add a few splashes of water. Don’t add too much or else you won’t be able to sear the Spam. Note 6: If you’re using fresh rice that you cooled in your fridge, your rice won’t clump as much but might stick together. Try your best to break up your rice and toss your ingredients thoroughly in the wok. If you’re able to easily smear a grain of rice across your finger, chances are it’s too soft.Substitutions and Add-Ins
No fresh produce Swap out pepper and green onions for any variety of niblet sized frozen vegetables (i.e. mixed, peas, corn etc). Garnish with nori to add some additional vegetable servings. I call this the dorm room special :) Garlic & onion If you don’t have fresh garlic or onion. Use garlic powder (2 tsp) and onion powder (1 Tbsp). Spam Use hot dogs, crumbled sausage, Chinese BBQ pork, Chinese sausage, salted fish or thick sliced bacon Other proteins Use shrimps, scallops, diced chicken, smoked salmon Vegetables Use any of your favourite vegetables, carrots, broccoli (cut into small pieces), corn, green beans, snow peas, snap peas or shredded cabbage. Shredded iceberg lettuce works well too, but would add it at the very end with the green onions. Avoid any vegetables that bleed (like beets) or get mushy (like sweet potato) or too watery (like eggplant). Gluten free Tamari or gluten free soy sauce. Vegetarian Swap out egg and any meat with firm tofu, cut into cubes and tossed with a bit of soy sauce. Or just use a variety of vegetables (see above) Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!