What's the Trick to Making Awesome Corned Beef?

The best way to prepare corned beef? That is simple. Beer! Yep, soak (or I should say "marinate") that baby in beer overnight and then simmer it in a bath of beer and water for 6-8 hours the next day. This imparts a wonderful flavor to the meat, as well as tenderizing it.

In Cooking with Beer, Lucy Saunders writes that beer flavors foods in three ways:

• bitterness from the hops
• sweetness from the malt, and
• a "yeasty bite from the fermented brew with its tenderizing enzymes."

All of these combine together to turn corned beef, potatoes, onions, cabbage and carrots into a fantabulously yummy dish.

The way I have prepared for the past 30 years may seem a little odd, but I cook it in an electric wok. After marinating the corned beef in a bath of beer over night, I pour the marinade into the electric wok, turn it on medium low and then place the corned beef on top. I then pour a 50/50 mix of beer and water over the meat until it is just covered. Most corned beef comes with a package of spices, and I toss this in also. I then let this simmer in the wok for about six hours. I replenish the water/beer mixture as needed.

About an hour and a half before I want to serve the dinner, I throw sliced onions, chunks of potatoes and carrots on top of the meat, cover it and let it cook and steam until they are tender.

About half an hour before serving time, I place wedges of the cabbage over the vegetables, cover it and let it finish making itself delicious. I make sure that the meat is always, just covered with the beer/water mix. I don't let the vegetables soak in the mixtures, rather letting them cook from the steam.

I then remove the vegetables and put them in a separate bowl which I cover with a towel to keep warm and then let the brisket sit for about 30 minutes to make carving easier.

Serve this with a nice warm dark bread, so good Irish butter, and you will think you have died and gone to heaven. My kids also like to slather the meat with a coarse bitter mustard.

This dish is such a hit with my family that both of my daughters usually ask for this meal for their birthday dinners. In fact, one of my daughters wanted it served at a slumber party! Needless to say, we ordered pizza for the kids that weren't used to this delicacy. Living in Dallas, corned beef is not very traditional, and it is not always easy to find, so in March when they are plentiful, we stock up and freeze them.

Needless to say, St. Patty's Day is a big deal in our home even though we are not Irish!

Ironically, corned beef is not really a traditional Irish dish at all, although it has become a traditional Irish-American dish. In fact, the Irish would have been loathe to have used beef for meat purposes since they much preferred using their cows for dairy products. They would have much preferred to eat pork products, as pigs were more expendable. Beef, for the Irish, was a delicacy reserved for royalty.

However, corned beef did become a tradition for Irish Americans. According to the History Channel, corned beef originally became a substitute for bacon in the Irish American diet in the late 1800's on the Lower East Side of New York City. They learned about this alternative to bacon from their Jewish neighbors. Kosher diet prohibits eating pork, and thus corned beef would be a good alternative to bacon.

The process of corning beef is a form of curing that has nothing to do with corn at all. The name denotes a process of dry-curing meat using coarse "corns" of salt pellets that were rubbed into the beef to keep it from spoiling.

Today, brining has replaced the dry salt cure. But the name still sticks. Corned beef just sounds more appealing that brined or pickled beef.

Corned Beef Trivia:

In Germany, there are two canned versions of corned beef. One is called American Corned Beef and consists of finely ground corned beef and resembles Spam(T). It has a very low fat content. The other version is Deutsches Corned Beef and contains chunks of meat preserved in an aspic. Deutsches Corned Beef is also sold in slices at delicatessens, supermarket meat counters and butcher shops.

In the UK, corned beef is sold as "salt beef" and is served on bagels with mustard and pickles.

In the U.S. canned corned beef hash is a popular breakfast meat, and is especially good with poached eggs.

In any of its forms, corned beef is delicious.

- Julie O'Hara 2023

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