The Unique Spam Variety You Can Find At Costco

Costco may be known for offering bargain prices on a wide variety of bulk and basic items, but it's also known for stocking unique and special items from time to time, from high-end and highly sought-after bourbons such as Pappy Van Winkle at or below MSRP to an entire wheel of cheese and even a whole leg of jamon. In the case of Spam, that much maligned and supposedly mystery meat, Costco is currently the exclusive purveyor of a unique variety: Gochujang Spam.

Gochujang, in case you're not familiar, has a long history in Korea, where it is a cooking staple. A spicy paste made from red chili powder, fermented soybean powder, sticky rice, barley malt powder, and salt, it can be used as a condiment or marinade and is a key ingredient in many traditional Korean dishes, such as bibimbap and budae jjigae — though creative recipe developers have been using gochujang in everything from carbonara to chocolate cake. When combined with Spam, it adds "spicy, sweet, salty, and umami notes" along with an "approachable heat," according to the Spam website.

As is the case with certain special items at Costco, the gochujang Spam isn't available at every single warehouse and business center location, a fact that users have lamented online. The item has been spotted at Costco locations in Chicago, Dallas, Montgomery, Ocean Park (Florida), Omaha, Redmond (Washington), and Vacaville (California), based on recent online Reddit comments.

The online verdict from those who have managed to locate the elusive gochujang Spam is mixed though. While some people think it tastes great, many more were ambivalent to negative, with comments ranging from it was "just ok," "kind of plain really," and "pretty boring and underwhelming" to "I ended up throwing most of it away, would not buy again." Some commenters noted that it's not very spicy or salty — no need to dilute the gochujang here, as is sometimes needed. 

Gochujang is not the first Korean-inspired Spam flavor to hit the market, as there is also a Korean BBQ Spam available at Walmart. For those who cannot find the gochujang Spam, you can always try combining gochujang paste with a can of regular Spam. Though by the sounds of it, you may want to add some extra gochujang even if you can get your hands on a can.