Chili con Spam

At work a couple of weeks ago, two of my friends and I were reminiscing about Spam. Verna is Hawaiian-Filipino and Kaileigh is Mexican-Filipino. Besides having Filipino blood in common, we all share a love of Spam. Anyway, Kaileigh was telling us about this really easy dish she makes called Chili con Spam and she shared her recipe with us.

Fast forward to today. School is officially over and 3 of my kids came home this morning. I decided to fix a late breakfast to feed everyone…. bacon, eggs, hash browns…. and then I thought it would be a perfect time to try the Chili con Spam recipe. I searched everywhere but couldn’t remember where I saved it! I decided to google it, but only ONE recipe for Chili con Spam came up. It was a recipe submitted by a lady in Guam named Jane Certeza who apparently took 2nd Place for it at The Great Spam Cook-Off Island Style. I looked at it but it had way more ingredients than I remembered Kaileigh’s recipe having so it couldn’t be the same one.

I decided to text Kaileigh and ask her for her recipe again which she promptly sent off to me. Ah…. that was the one I remembered! Super easy with just 4 ingredients. But then another obstacle came along. Kaileigh’s recipe called for yellow wax chilies which I didn’t have. Great. I didn’t want to drive all the way down the hill just for chilies and none of the kids did either. So with wails of, “But I just drove hours to get here, Mama. You want me to drive some more?!?” ringing in my ears, I turned back to the Guamanian recipe which I happened to have all the ingredients for in my pantry.

Guess I’ll have to save Kaileigh’s Chili con Spam for next time. Sigh……. By the way, the Guamanian Chili con Spam was a hit. Everyone loved it and it quickly disappeared.

CHILI CON SPAM

• 1 can (12 oz.) spam, cubed
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can (15 oz.) stewed tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 Tbsp. cumin (I only used 1 Tbsp.)
• dash of black pepper
• 1½ tsp. sugar
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1. In skillet, fry spam until light brown on all sides.
2. Add onions and garlic; sauté until onions are softened.
3. Stir in stewed tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and sugar.
4. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add tomato sauce and kidney beans.
6. Simmer over low heat for an additional 10 minutes or so.