Spam and Survival are synonymous with each other. The image of the tin foil hat wearing survivalist eating spam right from the can pops in many of our heads when talking about this canned meat. It is often frowned upon as a horrible thing to eat. A cruel and unusual punishment. In the words of Crocodile Dundee “Taste like shit but it’ll keep you alive”. Spam has a undeserved reputation in my opinion. Today I’m going to talk all about spam for survival. Why you should include it, how to make it taste even better and why it’s not bad for you either. So let’s get into this spam.
Spam!
Let’s look at what Wikipedia has to say about the product.
Spam is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation, first introduced in 1937. The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, sugar, and sodium nitrite as a preservative. Spam’s gelatinous glaze, or aspic, forms from the cooling of meat stock.[1]
I have said many time in the past how I like things with minimal ingredients. The less the better in my opinion. Spam only has 7 ingredients if you even count water as one. Of those the only ones that stand out as iffy are the Sugar and Sodium nitrite. The potato starch I’ll talk about later is actually good. Back to the sugar and nitrates. I’ve never been worried about consuming nitrates. While researching this article I found from Chris Kresser that not only are they not bad but are being studied for treatments in immune and cardiovascular function; they are being studied as a potential treatment for hypertension, heart attacks, sickle cell and circulatory disorders. On top of that the USDA only allows 120 parts per million in cured meats. As far as the sugar goes it’s in such a tiny amount I just don’t care. Let’s quickly tackle the potato starch. This would have in the past turned me off the product. Recently resistant starches have been making the rounds in the paleo sphere. I won’t go down that rabbit hole for this post, you can read more here, but the basic idea is that this indigestible fiber feeds the beneficial gut bacteria. I’ve been experimenting with taking potato starch itself so I’m ok with this ingredient. Lastly Spam is gluten free which would seem like a given for any meat product. It is not the case thought with many products including hamburger patties. I generally assume if it does not say it is Gluten Free is probably has it in there.
Spam For Survival
When I first became interested in survival I of course bought some spam. Maybe several cans. It has been since I was a child since I had eaten any and now there was a plethora of new flavors. Like bacon spam. I still keep a few cans in my pantry now and with a 2~5 year best by date I don’t worry about. A couple days ago I woke up to realize I had ran out of bacon. Trying to maintain my budget I knew I could not go buy any for a few days. How would I make it without bacon till then? Should I open my can of Yodders Bacon? Then I remembered about the Spam bacon in the cabinet. Though not as good as real bacon, when fried in left over bacon fat it is pretty tasty.
Cooking
It is pre cooked and can be eaten straight from the can it is not the best that way. To me Spam shines when it is fried and get’s some crispy bits. One thing I do on occasion is to dice it up in cubes and fry in a skillet. Add in onion and garlic. When the spam is getting a nice crust on it add in a veggie. Spinach, kale, broccoli all work great. I love a good asian flavor for I add some ginger and tamari sauce as well. Cook until either the leafy greens are wilted or the other veggies are fork tender. I challenge anyone to try this and tell me they still do not like Spam.
Do you have Spam in your preps? If not why especially after finding out it might just be a health food. I am a survivalist and health junkie and I love spam. Have any good Spam recipes? Let me know in the comments!
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