Exploring the Cultural & Historical Significance of SPAM

SPAM was introduced to Hawai’i by the United States military during World War II. Our aim for this project was to address how this food product illustrates the interconnectedness of the food, culture, and history present in O’ahu, Hawai'i.

When more and more migrants from Japan, China, Korea, Puerto Rico, and Portugal were coming into the islands as plantation workers during the 19th century, Hawai’i became the “melting pot of the Pacific.” On their meal breaks, sharing their food with each other allowed them to introduce their respective cuisines to others. The fusion of cultures, of which characterize the food scene in Hawai’i, is an example of the cultural exchange that has taken place throughout Hawai’i’s rich history.

To structure our project, we addressed a daily question regarding the history or culture of SPAM in Hawai'i. We investigated our questions by interviewing O’ahu residents, visiting local restaurants with SPAM dishes, and researching at the University of Hawai’i, Mānoa’s library.

Short for “Specially Processed American Meat,” SPAM was first introduced by Jay C. Hormel from the Hormel Foods company in 1937 in Austin, Minnesota. In Jay’s vision, he wanted to create a canned luncheon meat that would be flavorful, cheap, accessible, and had a long shelf life (Patten 10). However, it was Kenneth Daigneau who coined the name “SPAM,” as it aptly described the contents of the luncheon meat: shoulder of pork and ham (Patten 11). The ingredients are simple: pork with ham meat, salt, water, potato starch, sugar, and sodium nitrite (“What”). Overall, it is understood as an important comfort food that is thrifty, tasty, and nostalgic.

The islands of Hawai’i has one of the largest U.S. military presence because of mainland occupation. In 1941, Hormel became a wartime production firm, and SPAM was exported to various wartime locations, including Hawai’i (Patten 14). Given how SPAM has a long shelf life and is a meat product, it was a staple for the GI’s stationed on the islands.

Despite its beginnings in Hawai’i being tied to war, SPAM has become part of Hawai’i’s “local” food scene. In particular, SPAM sustained its popularity in Hawai’i because of Scott Gamble’s grandpa. Gamble’s grandpa was in the Pacific fleet and met someone selling SPAM in Hawai’i. In trying to figure out what to do and how to raise a family in Hawai’i, Gamble’s grandpa visited the Hormel headquarters in Minnesota and asked for permission to represent the company in Hawai’i (“SPAM”). To this day, Hawai’i is one of the largest consumers of SPAM, alongside other islands like Guam. Pre-covid, 15 varieties of SPAM were produced (“SPAM”).

One story of how SPAM became integrated into Hawai’i’s food scene relates back to World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese-owned fishing fleets in Hawai’i were being shut down by American authorities. Because the commercial fishing industry was mainly operated by the Japanese, they could not sell their fish. Without this source of protein, residents of Hawai’i turned to SPAM (“Why Do”). Another story is that the Japanese fishermen could not sell their fish and the GI’s had SPAM, so they exchanged their food, and SPAM became more integrated into civilian lifestyle (“SPAM”).

As SPAM became a regular part of the diet, Ann Kondo Corum, author of “Hawaii’s SPAM Cookbook” describes it as the “king of the canned meats in Hawaii” - beating its popular counterparts, corned beef, Vienna sausages, and sardines (Corum xvi). Corum’s cookbook - and its sequel - is just one example of how SPAM has become a quintessential ingredient in Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, and Portuguese cultures, each with its own unique culinary use of the ingredient (Ku 190-1).

Rather than calling the food scene in Hawai’i “Hawaiian cuisine,” we will address it by the name of the meal. The reasoning is that 1) using “Hawaiian” as a monolithic term to address the diverse populations on the islands is a continual erasure of Native Hawaiians and 2) calling the food scene as “local foods” assumes belonging on indigenous land.

Within the home, SPAM is convenient, tasty, and affordable. For people who grew up in Hawai’i during and post World War II, SPAM has become a nostalgic taste of comfort and childhood. Each culture has their own take on using SPAM, and in this way, SPAM is like a fusion between American and said culture. For instance, author and professor Robert Ji-Song Ku grew up eating Korean food, such as kimchi fried rice, with SPAM (Ku 190).

One way that SPAM has been incorporated into the food scene outside the home is through Zippy’s. Zippy’s is a casual restaurant chain that is “familiar and beloved” by many in Hawai’i (Ku 191). Their Zip Pac is a bento with rice with furikake, shredded cabbage, slice of yellow takuan, fried chicken, fried mahimahi, beef teriyaki, and a slice of SPAM (Ku 191).

In Hawai’i’s McDonalds, their breakfast platter has rice, scrambled eggs, and two slices of SPAM. This can also come as a combo with Portuguese sausage.

Another popular (tourist) spot where SPAM could be found is in the ABC convenience stores. Since it was already made, affordable, and filling, we spent quite some time there eating our fair share of SPAM.

The impression that many Mainlanders have on SPAM is one of disgust. To them, SPAM is the “epitome of horror” and a “grotesque concoction” of discarded food - pig - scraps, and as such, this canned meat is “unholy,” “unhealthy,” and “unnatural” (Ku 196).

Waikiki is O'ahu's primary tourist attraction. We expected eateries in this area to serve a SPAM dish as it is a popular and unique product. To our surprise, we discovered that none of fast food chains in the area served a SPAM dish. When exploring restaurants further away from Waikiki, we began seeing more dishes incorporating SPAM. We speculate that perceptions of SPAM on the mainland differ greatly than those on the island as read in literature.

For those who grew up in Hawai’i, SPAM is a fond memory to many. For Ku, SPAM is not so much a mystery meat as it is a “miracle meat” (Ku 196). It is “delicious,” “versatile,” and “surprisingly wholesome” (Ku 196-7). SPAM can be eaten in any meal of the day and be used in any cuisine, and there are only six ingredients (Ku 196).

To get a better understanding of Hawaiian perceptions of SPAM, we interviewed a current and former resident of Kailua, O'ahu.

AiLi: Tell me a little about yourself: Where did you grow up? How would you characterize Hawaiian cuisine?

Daniel: Hi, my name is Daniel. I grew up here in Hawai’i, born and raised. Hawaiian cuisine--there’s the local cuisine but if you’re talking about Hawaiian culture specific cuisine, then I would say rice, kalo or taro, fish, pork, and a decent variety of locally grown fruit. It really depends on where you go, which place you’re getting it from. Like the stuff you get at a restaurant is going to be way different from the stuff that Auntie makes at home.

AiLi: When were you first introduced to SPAM? In what context, and how was it prepared?

Daniel: Pan fried, baby. With rice and eggs.

AiLi: What are popular spam dishes in Hawai’i that you’ve had or you know of?

Daniel: Musubi. That’s the number one. I feel like it’s such a Hawai’i staple and it’s very popular as a breakfast and snack food. SPAM musubi is like Hawai’i in a food. Oh, fried rice. You always get SPAM in fried rice, especially here. You’ll like cube it up and put it in towards the end after you’ve put everything else together.

AiLi: What is your favorite way that it’s prepared?

Daniel: I mean I’m not really too picky. It’s SPAM so it goes in whatever and it tastes pretty good. I tell my friends on the mainland about it and they think I’m the weirdo, but maybe I am. I’d be okay with that.

AiLi and Min: Tell us a little about yourself: Where did you grow up? How would you characterize Hawaiian cuisine?

Ingrid: I grew up in Kailua on O'ahu. When generally thinking about food from Hawai'i I think about comfort food, large portions of food, family gatherings, warmth, aloha, a large mix of Asian food. We ate lots of Korean, Thai, Japanese, and "local" food. But when I think about getting food in Hawai'i, the first thing that comes to mind is "plate lunch" which is meat of fish, plus two scoops rice, plus mac salad. So ono! Could be teri chicken, kalbi, teri beef, beef stew, chicken katsu, grilled mahi...

AiLi and Min: When were you first introduced to SPAM? In what context, and how was it prepared?

Ingrid: I think I was probably first introduced to it in fried rice, little pieces chopped up in the fried rice, salty and delicious.

AiLi and Min: What do you know about how SPAM was introduced to Hawai'i?

Ingrid: I don't really know but my thought would be something related to the military? War time? It's easily stored. Not sure why it became so beloved?

AiLi and Min: What were popular SPAM dishes in Hawai'i when you lived there? 

Ingrid: SPAM fried rice, SPAM musubi, fried SPAM with rice and eggs for breakfast.

Saimin: Asian noodle soup topped with egg green onions, fishcakes, char siu or canned meat.

SPAM musubi: Rice and a slab of SPAM wrapped with seaweed. It was first introduced by Barbara Funamura. Here is a  link to a short video  about SPAM musubi and Funamura.

Plate lunch: Rice, macaroni salad, (pickled) vegetables, and portions of meat. Most common are: teri beef, chicken katsu, fried mahi mahi, kalua pig, curry stew, beef stew, roast pork, shoyu chicken, Korean grilled beef, meat jun, mandoo, and SPAM (Laudan 22).

SPAM fried rice: rice, SPAM, vegetables.

Budae-jjigae: Epitome of military and SPAM. Also known as “army base stew,” it is a Korean stew made with a various combination of hot dog, canned SPAM, canned Vienna sausage, canned baked beans, kimchi, ramen noodles, American cheese, and whatever else is available (Ku 212).

We explored this question by tasting dishes from a variety of cuisines present on the island. Regardless of whether it was pan fried, seared, or deep fried, SPAM's versatility as a food product proved to be delicious!

1) Japanese SPAM musubi (Musubi Cafe): sushi rice, nori, and SPAM. SPAM in a variety of seasonings and toppings.

2) Zippy's Zip Pac (Zippy's): rice, furikake, pickled radish, beef bulgogi, SPAM, deep fried fish fillet, deep fried chicken.

3) Korean kimchi fried rice (Willow Tree Korean Restaurant): rice, kimchi, SPAM, green onion, tofu, bean sprouts, fermented vegetables.

4) SPAM and eggs (Laylow Hotel): SPAM, eggs, potatoes, ketchup.

5) SPAM katsu curry (Daiichi Ramen): deep fried SPAM coated in panko breadcrumbs and egg batter served with Japanese curry over rice. 

6) McDonald's breakfast platter (McDonald's): SPAM, rice, eggs.

Corum, Ann Kondo. Hawaii’s SPAM Cookbook. Bess Press, Inc., 1987.

Ku, Robert Ji-Song. “SPAM.” Dubious Gastronomy: The Cultural Politics of Eating Asian in the USA, University of Hawai’i Press, 2014, pp. 190-223.

Laudan, Rachel. The Food of Paradise Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage. University of Hawai'i Press, 1996.

Shane-O. “Why Do Hawaii People Love Spam?” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Oct. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmyVzOeDbXM&list=PLfiZMG2BnxzFHqd_ Y618oZmBg2EX_Ecs4&index=65&ab_channel=Shane-O.

“SPAM® (with Scott Gamble).” PBS Hawai'i, 23 Mar. 2022, www.pbshawaii.org/spam/?utm_ source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HERE&utm_campaign =Newsletter07050711.

“What Is Spam, Anyway?” Hormel Foods, 3 Jan. 2022, www.hormelfoods.com/news room/in-the -news/what-is-spam-anyway/.

Venture Grant Committee

Jodie Mattos, Hawaiian Collection Librarian at the University of Hawai'i, Mānoa

Daniel Oka, Interviewee

Ingrid Llewellyn, Interviewee