Oomph. Momma’s had a day. And as much as I didn’t really feel like cooking today, I have a couple of reasons why I had to:
- I had a head of cabbage in my fridge for several days and I wanted to cook it with corned beef, instead of leaving it there thinking it was alright for several more days, then finally picking it up to find it completely rotten on its bottom side. No! Might as well throw money out the window. If you can’t tell by now, I’m always competing with expiration dates of my groceries.
- Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day. It’s kind of become my own individual tradition to cook corned beef & cabbage to celebrate (since I don’t drink alcohol and I’m not Irish), but since St. Patrick’s Day happens to fall on a Friday during Lent this year and I am a practicing Catholic, that means no meat for me. So I have to celebrate the day before. (I could’ve celebrated the day after but I already have some leftovers needing my attention).
Let me throw my disclaimers out before I continue. I’ve only had the “real” corned beef & cabbage once at a buffet, and let’s just say I wish I liked it. It was not at all what I expected, but I’m hoping that it wasn’t prepared like a traditional Irish corned beef & cabbage so I’m willing to try it again if the opportunity presents itself. I didn’t like it because I was so used to the only corned beef I know of: canned corned beef.
I don’t know what it is with us Filipinos and our canned meat, but it was a staple in my mom’s pantry growing up. It’s emergency food when she wasn’t able to cook anything elaborate for us and needed to get some food on the table asap. It’s so quick and easy to make, it’s one of my favorites. I don’t cook it often because for whatever reason, canned corned beef is expensive where I live. And I, like my mom, only cook it as a backup.
So here’s another one-pot Filipino dish (most of them are) you can try to make if you feel so inclined and are one of those people who is not a wuss about canned meat. There are no exact measurements or cook times either, but I’ll try to provide some rough estimates. Please keep in mind I was ridiculously hungry as I suddenly thought to turn tonight’s dinner into a post.
Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can of corned beef [I currently have two brands in my pantry: Affcan/Crown Brand (?) and Ox & Palm. Both appear to be from Australia – is that why they’re expensive?? They’re in flat, round cans. Growing up we would use the Libby’s brand, in the trapezoid-shaped can you had to open with some kind of key. I think Libby’s still sells corned beef, but its consistency leans towards that of Spam or meatloaf now. If you’re going to buy canned corned beef, buy the type that has the consistency of what you’d need for corned beef hash]
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 medium size yellow onion, sliced or diced
1 tomato, diced
2-3 teaspoons whatever cooking oil you use
1 head of cabbage
I typically use two cans of corned beef but for the sake of time both in cooking tonight and this quasi recipe, I only used one. Open the can (of whoop ass! No, don’t, sorry, I just always feel compelled to say that when I open a can of anything) before you do anything, because you’ll have to loosen the beef from it. Run the back of a knife along the rim of the can to loosen the sides, and then shake the beef out onto a cutting board, then cut into cubes. Or you could do what I did and just scoop it out with a wooden spoon. Your choice. But because the entire dish doesn’t take long to cook, probably best to have it ready to pour right into the pot.
In a medium size pot, heat your cooking oil to MEDIUM and add the garlic and onions. Stir until the onions soften, and definitely don’t burn the garlic like I did here (this is what I get for trying to take pictures while cooking).
Add the corned beef, set the can aside, stir, and add a little bit more of your cooking oil if needed. You probably won’t have to since canned corned beef is quite greasy, but add some in case any of the garlic, onions, or beef is starting to stick. Adjust heat to MEDIUM HIGH and allow the meat to – hold for dramatic pause as I’m about to say one of the most magical phrases ever – render the fat. Flavor.
The heat is going to increase the chance of everything sticking. Your pot is going to sound angry. Instead of adding oil, fill the empty can with water and slowly pour enough water into the pot – Shhhhhhhhh, it’s ok, don’t be afraid….canned meat is alright….shhhh. That’s the sound you’ll hear. You’re basically deglazing the pot and adding some broth (What? Read the title of this post, it’s not the actual Irish dish). Be careful not to add too much water, i.e. do not submerge everything, otherwise you dilute the flavor you just rendered from the fat.
The pot should be at a steady boil, so add the diced tomato. Cover, and reduce heat to MEDIUM, let sit for about 5 minutes.
As everything is simmering together, wash the cabbage and cut into wedges. Increase heat to HIGH, and add the little cabbage monoliths. Cover for about 10-15 minutes, or until the cabbage has cooked through.
Now you’re ready to eat. Usually I’ll eat this over some newly cooked rice (white or brown), or some quinoa, but since I didn’t have the patience to cook any (it would’ve taken longer than the corned beef), I opted for some couscous. Eat with it what you will.
There you have it. Simple, so incredibly savory, and speedy. Have you had this before? How do you cook corned beef?
Have a safe and festive St. Patrick’s Day!