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Corned Beef Hash - Chophouse Style
This is one of the meals which have made Sam’s and Tom’s famous.
It started on the specials blackboard and was a top-seller within a fortnight. It has even been compared as a signature dish to the classic fegatini alla Veneziana from Harry’s Bar in Venice by a fancy London journalist. We’re flattered by the comparison, but I like to think of it as perfect British comfort food – particularly the lunchtime after the night before!
And if you make your own corned beef, which we do and I certainly recommend, you might want to increase the quantities so that you have enough left over for delicious sandwiches.
Like so many dishes from the Great British Kitchen this too is based on a preserved product. Corning is nothing to do with the stuff that grows in fields. Instead it describes a traditional type of curing where beef was once rubbed with “corns” or chunks of coarse salt. This method was overtaken by new-fangled technology, known then as soaking the meat in brine or salt-water, which also predated refrigeration as a means of keeping meat fit to eat through the winter months.
Since fresh meats are available all year round now, dishes using cured products have fallen out of favour in the home.
Whatever, we think this dish is much more than fit to eat.
Wine choice
I’d serve this in our restaurant with a glass of Les Hauts du Mont, a great value Côtes de Ventoux red - made from Syrah and Grenache grapes. Its fruit and black pepper is the perfect accompaniment to this rich dish. Any good Côtes du Rhône wine, like a nice Châteauneuf du Pape, would be equally great.
The Recipe
Corned beef hash - chophouse style
(To serve four)
Making your own corned beef
1.25kg beef brisket in apple sized chunks – note: it will reduce in volume
900ml corned beef marinade
Marinade
8gm saltpetre – probably from your local butcher
40gm cooking salt
12gm soft brown sugar
1ltr water
Place all the marinade ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil for 10 minutes. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool.
The hash mix
700gm corned beef – ideally home made
400gm new potatoes
1-2 medium Spanish onions (80gm)
200ml whipping cream
8gm chives
8 rashers smoked Cheshire dry cure back bacon
4 free range eggs – size 3
80gm unsalted butter
Ask your butcher to chop the brisket into large (apple sized) chunks. Put these in a sealable container big enough to also take the cold brine marinade. Keep it in the fridge for five days or so.
Then rinse off the marinade (for around 15 minutes– to remove any excess salty taste) and simmer it in a pan for two to three hours on a low light until the beef begins to fall apart. Pour away the cooking juices and mash the meat with a fork. Ideally you want a mix of strands and some bigger chunks – again to keep the texture interesting.
You can store this back in the fridge – for up to 7 days if properly sealed.
Making the hash itself is the fun bit. I parboil the new potatoes till they’re just cooked. Cool them down and roughly chop them into 2cm chunks. Finely slice the onions and sweat them down with a little oil to cook them through without changing their colour.
Add your butter to a hot pan and sauté the potato chunks till they begin to colour golden brown. Add the onions and warm them through. Mix in the corned beef along with the cream, stirring till it’s warmed through. Mix in the chopped chives.
While this warms, heat your bacon under a grill and poach your eggs so they’re still runny (three minutes or so).
In the restaurant I’d build the hash into a thick circle in a stainless steel ring. It will taste just as good served straight onto a plate or in a large bowl. The final visual flourish comes by topping each serving with two rashers of slightly crispy bacon and a soft poached egg. Sprinkle this with cracked black pepper and garnish it with some parsley.
Top Tips
o You’ll know the brisket has simmered for long enough when it splits into strands by itself. I test it then with a fork. When there’s no resistance, it’s ready.
o If you want to press some left over corned beef for sandwiches or a Christmas buffet, squash it into a Tupperware container – squeezing it in firmly and ideally maintaining a real pressure on the meat until it sets into shape.
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