Hawaiian Spamayamato Omelette

Spamayamato?  Ha!

     The ingredients of this omelette are a fun combination of flavors.  Hawaiian cuisine is fun, colorful, island food, so I had to give this Hawaiian style breakfast creation a colorful fun name.  Spamayamato is short for spam, Hawaiian purple yam and tomato.  The name Spamayamato kind of has a nifty ring to it!  You can pronounce the name Spamayamato however you can manage saying it.  This laid back Hawaiian style breakfast omelette creation of mine could catch on!  I just hope that my Hawaiian friends get a kick out of this recipe.

     When I drove taxi in Las Vegas for one year, several years ago, I had a great time hanging out with my friends who were taxi drivers from Hawaii and the Philippines.  My best pal at the time was a Filipino taxi driver that lived in Hawaii for a long time, before moving to Las Vegas.  The guy had a great funny sense of humor.  When we waited in the taxi lines at the casinos, we usually had some very comical conversations that were very off the wall.  Other cab drivers that listened to us "ham it up" would usually end up doubling over with laughter.

     My Filipino Hawaiian cab driver friend introduced me to the Hawaiian hangouts in Las Vegas.  I became a real fan of Hawaiian and Filipino cuisine.  Caribbean and Floribbean food was the only island food that I cooked or ate previously.  Hawaiian and Pacific rim cuisine is quite different than caribbean style food.  There are some common entrees that are of Spanish influence in those two parts of the world, but the old traditional cooking was quite different.  The modern trendy creative Hawaiian and Pacific rim cuisine differs from modern caribbean cuisine too.  

     Spam is very popular in Hawaii.  Spam is not quite as popular in the caribbean.  Hawaii hosts the Waikiki Spam Jam Festivals every year.  No where else but Hawaii does spam get put that high on a pedestal!

     Cooking spam is a personal thing.  Some like their spam grilled brown and caramelized.  Some people like their spam cooked lightly.  Many people like their spam straight out of the can and sliced thin like a lunchmeat.  For this recipe, I lightly sauteed the thin slices of spam.  How you cook the slices of spam is up to your own preference.

     Purple yam is very popular in the Philippines.  Powdered purple yam is used to make some very tasty traditional Filipino cakes.  Purple yam is also popular in Hawaii.  In Las Vegas, many markets sell purple yam by the name Hawaiian yam.  Chinatown in Las Vegas or any city is a good place to find fresh purple yam.  Purple yam has a nice sweet candy like yam flavor.

     I chose pepper jack cheese for this omelette, just because I wanted to add a mild spicy kick to this entree.  Cheddar, Swiss, Munster, Queso Fresco or Monterey Jack would be nice cheese options for this omelette too.

     Hawaiian Spamayamato Omelette Recipe:  

     Heat 3 cups of water in a small sauce pot over medium/medium high heat.

     Add 1 tiny handful of thin julienne sliced purple yam.

     Blanch the purple yam matchsticks, till they become al dente.  (Do not over cook the purple yam matchsticks, or they will easily break apart!)

     Drain the water off of the purple yam matchsticks and set them aside to cool.

     Heat a saute pan over medium/medium low heat.

     Add 2 or 3 pats of unsalted butter.

     Add 4 thin slices of spam.  (If you are health conscious, you can use Turkey Spam or Spam Lite.  Spam Lite!  Ha Ha Ha!  I know that sounds weird, but it does contain 30% less calories.)

     Saute the spam, till it becomes lightly caramelized on both sides.

     Set the sauteed spam slices aside, and keep them warm on a stove top.

     Place 2 eggs into a mixing bowl.

     Add 1 tablespoon of milk.

     Whisk the egg mixture, till it becomes slightly foamy.

     Heat a non-stick saute pan over medium/medium low heat.

     Add 3 or 4 pats of unsalted butter.

     Add 5 or 6 slices of Roma tomato.

     Cook the tomato slices lightly on both sides.

     Sort the tomato slices in the non-stick saute pan, so they cover the bottom of the pan.

     Slowly pour the egg mixture over the sliced tomatoes, so the tomatoes stay in place and so they do not float in the eggs.

     Sprinkle the blanched purple yam matchsticks on the eggs.

     Even the edges of the omelette with a rubber spatula.

     When the bottom half of the omelette becomes firm, flip the omelette.

     Immediately place a few thin slices of pepper jack on top of the omelette.

     Place the grilled spam slices on the cheese and only on one half of the omelette.

     After the eggs are fully cooked and the omelette becomes firm, fold the omelette in half.

     Slide the omelette onto a plate and garnish with a parsley sprig.

     This was the best spamayamato omelette that I ever had!  Actually, this was the very first spamayamato omelette that has ever been made.  Ha! 

     I know that the combination of ingredients may seem awkward, but they tasted incredibly good together.  The flavors combine to create a unique Hawaiian style breakfast flavor and there is no single flavor that is overpowering.  I gave this omelette plenty of thought before cooking it and the proportions of each choice ingredient turned out to give this omelette the flavor that I was seeking.

     This spamayamato omelette has a nice laid back, easy going Hawaiian breakfast flavor!  Yum!  ...  Shawna