Quail Egg Spam Sliders

It's been pretty hectic since I came back from Japan. I started teaching (registered veterinary technician classes) and it's amazing how the weeks can slip away from you. I can't believe it's almost July.

Though I'm glad things have slowed down a bit, because I have a lot of backlogged recipes to share with you, and I'm especially excited to bring you recipes from my trip to Japan! Plus this summer I have tons of events to share with you, from the plethora of night markets that abound to dancing through Obon matsuri season!

This recipe, however, certainly didn't come back with me from Japan. This is something born out of my love for SPAM and King's Hawaiian sweet rolls. You've already heard about my obsession with SPAM in multiple posts, but King's Hawaiian sweet rolls are another favorite of mine. My Japanese American side of the family always serves them at Thanksgiving, and I love making sliders with some sweet rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry-orange relish at the dinner table.

No, I never grew out of playing with my food. Thanksgiving sweet roll sliders are amazing, though. Dunk them in gravy.

These sliders might be even better. Sunny-side-up quail eggs, crispy slices of SPAM, and gooey American cheese are sandwiched in a sweet roll and drizzled with raspberry sriracha sauce for an easy-to-make party dish that takes only one skillet to make. These puppies are sweet, salty, savory and spicy, all in one bite, with oozey egg yolk and crispy SPAM making for a great textural contrast.

These may sound crazy, or like they have too much going on, but take a leap of faith and try one.

So cute!

NOTE: Quail eggs can be tricky to work with. They are really easy to overcook, and if you're not careful the whites can get wispy and tough as they form giant bubbles. My method for full-proof fully cooked soft whites and creamy yolk is to heat a nonstick skillet on low. Crack a quail egg into a saucer first, then carefully pour onto the skillet, and once the edges of the whites turn opaque, turn off the heat. Let the residual heat finish cooking the whites. Use a spatula to scoop up and transfer the sunny-side-up to your slider. Try it with just one egg, then you can do a lot of them at once if you crack them beforehand.

This recipe, like most of my recipes, can be doubled or tripled without incident, but you could just as easily make just one for a midnight snack.You can also put two slices of cheese, two slices of SPAM, or both for a double-decker slider!

Quail Egg Spam Sliders with Raspberry Sriracha Sauce

4 quail eggs
1 slice of American cheese, cut into four equal squares
2 1/4" slices of SPAM, cut in half widthwise
4 King's Hawaiian sweet rolls
1 tbs raspberry jam
1/4 tsp sriracha (or more to taste)

Microwave the jam for about 15 seconds, until loosened and warm. Mix together the raspberry jam and sriracha, adding more sriracha to taste if needed, then set aside when you're satisfied.

In a non-stick skillet, open the rolls and toast lightly over medium heat (you can also use a toaster oven, but I like to minimize clean up), then place on a serving platter/paper plate for us classy gals.

After toasting the bread, fry up the SPAM over medium heat until nice and crispy on the outside. (Unless you want to get all that juicy SPAM grease, feel free to reverse the order and fry the SPAM first and toast the bread second.)Place in the toasted rolls and top with the cheese slices, and then turn heat down to low for the eggs. Following the instructions above, cook the quail eggs and place on top of the cheese. Drizzle with the raspberry sriracha sauce and serve immediately with more raspberry sriracha sauce on the side.

See Also:
Spam Musubi
Hot Hawaiian Burgers
Tamago-Toji Spam Donburi