This one can also be archived within the “bache” or bachelor food section. When you grow up on the islands at one point or the other you’ve had corned beef than comes in the can and not the sliced stuff you get at the deli in north America, on your rye bread. We’ve reinvented the use of canned corned beef with the many ways we’ve now perfected at preparing something so simple. It had been a couple decades since I last had corned beef prepared with cabbage and to be quite honest I almost forgot about this preparation method. We were visiting my parents when they mentioned that they had this for dinner a few nights ago… a rush of memories came flooding back to me and I promised myself that this would be on my menu the coming weekend.
Not to be confused with the stuff you get on St Paddy’s day, this one is straight out of a can (bully beef in the UK) and very simple to prepare.
* Tip. Please don’t settle for the cheap canned corned beef. That stuff is usually very “mush” like in texture, loaded with salt and you’ll also notice that a lot of fat is included in it.
You’ll need…
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 of a hot pepper (your choice)
dash black pepper
1 can corned beef
1 onion diced
1 teaspoon oil
Start by shredding the cabbage, then peel and dice the onion (separate the onion in 2 portions). In a pan heat the oil, then add 1/2 of the onion that you diced and allow to cook until the onion is soft and translucent. At this point you can start adding the shredded cabbage. Keep the heat at med-high and don’t cover the pan or risk the entire thing going soggy by the liquid that will be released.
Add the rest of the onion and slices of hot pepper. I used a “young” habanero pepper, but you can add your favourite pepper (or none .. your choice). The next step is to add the black pepper and keep stirring the lot so nothing sticks or burn.
Allow this to cook for about 8 minutes (or until the cabbage is almost tender), then add the can of corned beef. Break up the beef and stir while cooking for another 5 minutes or so.
The amount of cabbage you use is entirely up to you, but 2 cups is a good starting point. When we were kids there were 6 of us in total that had to eat from 1 can or corned beef, so a lot more cabbage was added, but it still tasted the same.
If you notice I didn’t add any salt to this recipe, this is because all canned corned beef comes packaged with a ton of salt and too much of anything is never good.
Serve on a steaming bed of brown rice with a couple slices of avocado, with roti or fry bake, on buns like a sloppy joe or as a normal side dish as you would on your dinner table. BTW you can also pile bite-sized amounts on a cracker as a light snack. Be sure to leave me your comments below.
