Corned Beef Hash

Corned beef hash

Our grocery shopping is done piecemeal balancing price and quality - canned goods at Aldi, fresh vegetables at Miles Market, and meat at Costco. If we need Japanese staples, we go to CAM.

Our previous excursions to Aldi, a discount grocery store, in the area were miserable - watching people pick through boxes of fresh vegetables intermingled with canned food.

We finally found a new store (North Olmsted) that still smells of fresh paint that we do not mind patronizing. The stores do not carry everything even a mom & pop store would carry, but what they do carry appear to be in good condition and competitively priced.

At Miles Market, we recently picked up 10 lb of russet potatoes for $1. When I strode by a display of corned beef ($2.29) at Aldi, a tsunami of warm fuzzies overcame me. We didn't eat corned beef hash often, since my mother usually made Japanese meals from scratch and wasn't really in to canned food, but when we did I loved it. I probably didn't consume as much Spam as your average local from Hawaii, but won't deny that I ate a healthy (or is it unhealthy?) amount.

The corned beef my mother bought was packed in a red and black can and originated from Argentina. The corned beef at Aldi is from Brazil and appeared a lot more processed than I remember.

Corned beef hash with ketchup and egg

It's nothing earth shattering, but here is my version of corned beef hash:
vegetable oil
5 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
fresh ground black pepper
Fuller's Fine Herbs Beaujolais Blend from Mendocino, CA (dried basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon, rosemary)
1/2 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp onion, grated
1 can corned beef
fresh ground black pepper

ketchup
1 egg yolk

The potatoes were fried in enough vegetable oil to lightly coat the pan under low heat with pepper, herbs, garlic, and onion until mostly cooked (approximately 10 minutes).

The corned beef was broken up and heated with the potatoes until the color of the smeat changes from pink to your desired hue of brown. For this shade, it was another 10 minutes. The heat was turned up to high the last 3-4 minutes to crisp everything. I also added more black pepper.

The Beaujolais [herb] Blend was a gift from my father years ago when he visited Mendocino, CA.

I prefer to eat my corned beef hash with ketchup and a raw egg yolk with extra black pepper. It wasn't as salty as I expected, which means less rice intake. A good thing.

My corned beef hash with ketchup and egg

Bug prepared his plate of corned beef hash with Kewpie mayonnaise, sriracha, and shoyu. This was pretty tasty; as such, the way my 2nd serving was prepared. [sorry, no pic]

The dish was pretty filling and cost a total of $2.50 for 4 servings plus white rice. It was a nice way to bring back the feeling of those carefree times when my biggest worry was what which fishnet stockings I was going to wear to school the next day.

- Cassaendra