Corned Beef Hash

It's time to update this old post that I had to put offline since it was getting a lot of hits based on a very negative and insulting post of another food blogger. He was mocking my picture saying that it looks like a dog's dinner although he didn't have the courage to post his name online (or even just his persona) in the comments section. His blog was based around all the disgusting food pictures he can find and went on great lengths to mock them. I say them lot never last.

While admittedly my picture is not a paragon of beauty (I will upload a better picture later). I think the insults and online mocking is uncalled for. If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. Besides, there are food that taste better than they look - like ma po tofu for example.

Well, nowadays his blog is nowhere to be found. And so is the old Frugal Fridays food blog to which I initially intended this recipe. But nevermind blogs of short endurance, I resolved to post this again for my recipe collection.

This is one of cheaper dishes you can make. As you can imagine this graces our dinner table here and when we were growing up in the Philippines whenever we want something cheap and cheerful and relatively easy to make.

Actually this is quite adaptable in terms of stretching to feed people. The principle is the more people you have to feed the more potatoes or water (or both) you have in add in. And I've seen near soup-like consistency of this that feeds a large family with a big help from heaps of rice of course. It's quite versatile in that you can have it with rice as mentioned and with almost all types of breads.


As you can see from the ingredients I used this would hardly come up to £3.00. One thing about the canned corned beef, the brands they sell in the local supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, etc., are quite bland. They don't even taste beefy. Previously I have to look for Libby's brand in either Filipino, Chinese, or Caribbean shops. It's worth mentioning as well that the Purefoods brand from the Philippines is simply delish. Anyways, it's a good thing we found that the cut-price supermarkets of Aldi and Lidl sell brands like Mawma and Premium which taste closer to Libby's and the ones we got used to in the Phils. Besides the fact that they are much much cheaper than supermarkets.

Cooking this is a doddle. Probably the only effort you need is in slicing the garlic, onion and tomatoes. The latter is optional because I learned from experience that if you put tomatoes it spoils faster than without. If you're eating it all right away or if you refrigerate leftovers then it's not really a problem. If your corned beef brand is good then its saltiness is enough so you do not have to add salt.

As I said before the amount of potatoes and water is up to you. Me, I like it dry and even crusty at the bottom. Do have it with rice but it's especially yummy with pandesal.




Corned Beef Hash
(Ginisang Carne Norte)

1 can corned beef
1 medium onion - roughly chopped
1-2 cloves garlic - minced
1 medium tomato - chopped (optional)
1 medium potato - peeled and diced
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp cooking oil

1. In a pan or saucepan, heat the cooking oil.
2. Saute the garlic and onion in medium heat until it is translucent.
3. Stir in the tomato and cook until soft.
4. Open can and put the contents in the pan. Mash the corned beef and mix well.
5. Add water and bring to boil.
6. Add the potatoes and stir to mix. Cover pan, lower heat and simmer until potatoes are cooked.
7. If you want it a bit drier, remove cover turn up heat to medium and cook for a few minutes more. Dish up and serve.