Same Spam, Different flavors due to cultural differences

 There is a food ingredient treated like garbage in the United States but is considered a luxury food in Korea.

Spam History

Spam was made in 1937 and became widespread during World War II. Spam was supplied as food for the U.S. military during World War II and played a significant role in winning the war. But why is it treated as garbage food?
It is said that American soldiers initially liked Spam. Because they can store Spam for a long time, and it is easy to cook. However, the massive rush of Spam left the soldiers embarrassed. The soldiers ate Spam every day, and their tongues were paralyzed. Eventually, Spam was treated as junk food by soldiers. Spam became spam.

Spam landing in Korea.

But after a while, Spam was treated differently from the United States in South Korea on the other side of the globe. After the Korean War (1950-1953), Korea was in ruins. There wasn’t enough food to eat.

Seoul-ruined and refugees-September, 1950

Anyone would have seen a symbolic scene showing Korea’s state at that time in a movie or TV.

It was difficult to have meat in Korea at that time, so Spam provided through the US military PX was considered a luxury food.
At that time, there was a perception that all US military items were of high quality. The people who could get Spam were those who worked at US military bases or were privileged to make connections with the US military, so at the time, consuming Spam was considered a particular person.

The success of spam.

Spam became widespread in Korea in the late 1980s. The biggest traditional holidays in Korea are Lunar New Year and Chuseok(Thanksgiving Day) in autumn. At this time, Koreans have a custom to prepare a gift for their parents and return to their hometown. At this time, to prepare a gift for their hometowns.

In 1987, a Korean company produced Spam in Korea and made a gift set of a canned ham.

Spam was recognized as an inexpensive but luxurious gift set, as it reminded generations of parents of old memories of canned Spam.

For this reason alone, Spam is not popular in Korea. Spam goes well with Korean food that doesn’t have a main dish. If you eat one Spam, it is very salty. However, if you eat it as a side dish in Korean food, this saltiness is neutralized.

How to eat Spam

Here are two typical ways Koreans eat Spam.

1. Budae-jjigae (Army Stew)

It is a type of stew, made with ham, sausage, Spam, baked beans, kimchi and gochujang. This dish was created after the Korean War, using the scrounged or smuggled surplus foods from the U. S. army bases. Now, it is one of the nation’s favorite foods.

2. Eat Spam as a side dish for rice.

First, roast a slice of Spam in on a fry pan.
If you eat it with rice, the two flavors harmonize so that you can feel the sweet and moderately salty taste at the same time. If you add kimchi here, it blends with the meat’s taste and makes it more flavorful.

If you add seaweed to it, you can feel a more savory flavor.

Option 1: Rice+Spam

Option 2: Rice+Kimchi+Spam

Option 3: Seaweed+Rice+Kimch+Spam

-The End-