Food

Here’s How to Make Coconut Club’s Amazing Spam Fried Rice

Chef/owner Adam Greenberg shares his Hawaiian recipe.

Spam fried rice at Coconut Club. Photograph by Scott Suchman

The must-order at Coconut Club, Adam Greenberg’s island-style spot near Union Market, is this fried rice made with two distinctly Hawaiian touches: Spam and Dole pineapple. The dish is a quick one—just make sure you dry out the rice the night before.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 cup medium-diced low-sodium Spam
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
  • 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • ½ jalapeño, seeded and diced
  • 2 cups white rice (Greenberg uses jasmine) cooked the night before, spread on a tray, and dried out in the refrigerator
  • ½ cup medium-diced canned pineapple rings (Greenberg uses Dole)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped scallion
  • 1/3 to ½ cup soy sauce or tamari (enough just to coat the rice; Greenberg uses tamari)
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce, or a little less depending on taste (Greenberg uses Squid brand)
  • 1 tablespoon crispy shallots (available at Asian markets)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon furikake (available at Asian markets)
  • Kosher salt, to taste

Directions:

Set a sauté pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil to coat it. When the pan is hot, brown the Spam on all sides. Turn the heat to high, then, working quickly, add the ginger, garlic, and jalapeño, moving the ingredients around so they don’t burn. Once the garlic starts to brown, add the rice and pineapple, stirring to combine. Toss in the scallion, soy sauce or tamari, and fish sauce. Cook another 2 to 3 minutes, until the rice is fully browned. Season to taste with salt and place in a bowl.

Fry the egg, then set it on top of the rice. Finish with crispy shallots and furikake.

This article appears in the July 2019 issue of Washingtonian.

Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.