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Monday 13 April 2009

Fond Memories of Corned Beef and Cabbage



When I was young, I used to read the comic strip 'Bringing up Father' in the newspapers and used to get a kick out of Jiggs asking his wife Maggie to make Corned Beef and Cabbage. I used to think that was such a strange combination.

My Mom used to serve us corned beef too. She would buy the canned variety (Libby's) and then fry the corned beef. She would always break up the corned beef and then give it a good stir fry till it was a little crispy on the outside but still soft inside. This was a great dish when we were hungry or she needed to whip up a quick meal.


Since Mom always broke up the corned beef, I never realised till much later that corned beef is supposed to be eaten in slices and not broken up. But hey, who ever said there were any rules when it came to food!



When I was a student in Melbourne, Corned Beef was again always stocked in our pantry. That was the first time that my housemates and I actually made Corned Beef and Cabbage. We enjoyed it like that but as always, decided to Asian-ise it by making it Indian style! We'd mash up the corned beef, add lots of curry powder and chilli powder, fry it till it was cooked then add the cabbage and give it a good stir fry too. Libby's Corned Beef soon became a staple for us and we'd have it at least once a week. It was cheap and eaten with rice was simply delightful.

I was reminiscing with the Lovely Wife recently about how my housemates and I used to enjoy our food although on a tight budget and she decided she would make Corned Beef and Cabbage - minus the curry and chilli powder though!



All she did was to fry some onions and garlic, fried the corned beef, added in the cabbage and voila! Corned Beef and Cabbage. A very simple meal and so, so delicious eaten with rice.

Like it? As a matter of fact, I LOVE IT!

7 comments:

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

My mom used to serve the same corned beef from a can, but she would add it to potatoes for corned beef hash. I will have to give it a try Dharm:D

Ms. Kong Piang: said...

Its dinner time and looking at your corn beef makes me hungrier. I think I'll try the spicy version. Sounds interesting.

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

OMG I love this....I find it very comforting to eat this dish. And like your mum, I also mash it up into bits. Didn't know there was any other way to serve it. ;-)

Chefspiration said...

sometimes the most delicious dishes are the most simple :)

Naomi said...

Wherever I go, I always have a can of corned beef 'just in case' we run out of food. But secretly, it's my favourite dish. The moment I have to cook for myself its either this or spam with baked beans, onions and lots of curry powder.
Spam is really popular here - they have it with everything...
Spam and Corned beef is in every supermarket I've been to. They even come in half sized tins.
So I guess we aren't the only ones. I'm living with a whole nation of spam and corned beef loving ppl.

Alicia Foodycat said...

Irish corned beef and cabbage really doesn't look at all like that! But it sounds tasty. My husband makes a lovely pasta sauce from broken up canned corned beef.

Cynthia said...

Like Val, my mom would make her corned beef with potatoes too.

Actually, I think I am going to see if I have a can of corn beef and cook some rice. Pray that I have a can :)