Luncheon Meat

I have always enjoyed the terribly unhealthy (supposedly) treat that is crispy-fried luncheon meat. This universal food is known as Spam in much of the world, but the label Ma Ling resonates deeply in these parts, where it is served in food stalls throughout the island and soldiers go to war (or the simulation thereof) with cans of it in their full-packs.

The meat itself, in its relatively 'raw' form, appears in the form of a pink and homogenized (although not homogeneous) mass, slightly gelatinous and finely textured. The colour comes from the sodium nitrite used to keep it bacterium-free. It's a known fact that cooking meat that has been preserved with nitrites may produce carcinogenic chemicals called nitrosamines.

The important point then is that such meats (sausages, bacon, ham, and luncheon meat), which are already more-or-less chemically cooked by perfusion with sodium nitrite, should be eaten as they are. That is, if you want to avoid nitrosamines. When such meats are eaten without thermal cooking, they are perfectly safe. You can even eat frozen bacon. It may look raw, but the nitrites have killed all the germs.

However, you will not get to enjoy the intense and flavourful crispiness of luncheon meat or bacon fried in their own respective payloads of grease. The salty crunch when you bite into such a treat, releasing glutamates and other amino acid derivatives into your finely tuned taste-buds... ahhhh!

You can always combat the nitrosamines with a generous helping of fresh berries, you know.

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And in other news, yes, I have had to enable comment moderation so that I can track electronic spam and fry it. Sigh.