When I was dating Bobby during his NYU Dental School days, I remember him driving me down to meet his family in North Carolina. Ā It was such an exciting time; blissfully in love and we could take on the world. Ā I was excited to meet his mom who is from Okinawa, Japan and his three sisters.
I didn’t realize how close our cultures were. Ā Mama Schaffer was cooking up a storm just like my Italian NY family. Ā Bobby’s siblingsĀ are all very close and fortunately for me happily welcomed me with open arms. Ā I remember the smell of Mama’s cooking very vividly. Ā It had meĀ salivating in anticipation for what was about to be served.
“Yaki-Soba is ready,” Mama said. Ā It looked like a delicious noodle dish with lots of vegetables and meat. Ā I was thrilled. Ā It was beyond delicious. Ā I remember looking up from my plate and asking what’s the meat because it is soooooooo good. Ā They all looked at each other and someone said, “Oh that’s SPAM.” Ā I started coughing. Ā Not because it didn’t taste well, but because I knew it was meat in a can. Ā All I remember is wow, this is delicious and I don’t care how it comes because I want more. Ā That’s right! Ā I happily joined in on enjoying Mama Schaffers Yoki-Soba with fried up SPAM.
For those of you that are wondering well what exactly is spamā¦Ā it’s a brand of canned precooked meat. Ā It gained popularity after it was used in WWII. Ā Over 150 million pounds of Spam were purchased by the military before the warās end. Ā It was so prominent that Uncle Sam was nicknamed “Uncle Spam”.
According to its label,Ā itĀ contains only 6 ingredients: already-cooked pork (two different cuts: pork shoulder and ham), salt, water, potato starch (to keep the meat moist), sugar and sodium nitrite (a common preservative). Ā Ok, maybe it’s not grass-fed and no I don’t eat it often, but I am being honest, it’s really good, especially fried up with soy sauce. Ā It is most popular in Hawaii, who knew? Ā For years, after enjoying Mama’s Yaki-Soba, Bobby and I would make a form of a Ramen soup with noodles from the Japanese market, an egg, cabbage and you guessed it, fried up Spam. Ā Friends loved when we served our soup.
Luckily for us, Mama and his sister Kim and her family visit us every summer. Ā Upon arriving in San Diego, Mama makes her trip to the Japanese market so she couldĀ stock up on all of her ingredients to cook up a storm and sure enough Yaki-Soba is one of the dishes we all ask for.
From Mama’s kitchen to yours, here is how she makes it.
Ingredients:
- Asian Cabbage
- 5 packages of Yaki-Soba noodles
- 1 Large Onion
- Shredded Carrots
- Yoki- Soba Sauce (sold in asian markets and some grocery stores)
- 1 can of Spam
- Ajinomoto Soup Stock
Preparation
- Cut up the spam and fry it up with oil and soy sauce (mama doesn’t add soy sauce, but we like to)
- chop up the asian cabbage
- chop up the onion
- and to save time buy shredded carrots
- combine all chopped ingredients in a bowl
- add to the cooked meat preferably in a wok
- add the noodles which are open and throw in, no need to cook
- add two teaspoons of the soup stock
- and add a generous amount of yakisoba sauce (mama doesn’t measure, just like me) taste it to for liking and serve
I love my mother in laws’s culture and how family oriented she is. Ā I would eat Spam in any of her dishes as she is an excellent cook. Ā I would love to hear from you, be honest have you ever had spam? Ā Do tellā¦..
I don’t think I have ever had spam but that dish looks amazing, I’m going to cook it this week and let u know what I think! I can’t wait!
Go for itā¦. its amazing
Spam rocks!!! My mother is Okinawan and makes my babies spam and egg onigiri with miso!!! I grew up with it and living in okinawa now……everyone eats it here!!! I loved reading about your mother in law!!!!!!!
Awe thanks Michelleā¦. Thats awesome your mom is Okinawan tooā¦. and you know the culture first hand
I can’t believe you of all people eat spam! Must be delicious!!!!
Not all the timeā¦ just when mama cooks it reallyā¦.
its so good renee ahahhaahhah
Wow, you’re MIL is REALLY Asian…like she can be my grandma! haha we love yakisoba too and i cook it frequently. So cool that your MIL does too!
Awe thanks hunny…. she is straight from Okinawa…. My babies are 25% Japanese…. I love her cooking! It’s the best!