Corned Beef and Cabbage

Posted by Judy | Bebe Love Okazu on March 25, 2010 in Beef, Blog, Family Favorites, Meat & Poultry, Special Occasions | Comments Off on Corned Beef and Cabbage

I love St. Patrick’s Day because of corned beef!

This year, we celebrated on Friday March 19, 2010 and invited my brother and his family, my BFF, and Aya-chan over for dinner.  I cooked three 3-pound corned beef slabs, purchased on sale at Albertsons for only 0.97 cents per pound!  Woo-hoo!  Keeping with my mom’s Japanese tradition, I made rice too.

SHOPPERS TIP:  I’ve found that corned beef goes on sale at the local supermarket for cheaper than what I’ve found at Costco, just before St. Paddy’s Day.

Growing up, my mom would make corned beef only once a year on St. Patrick’s Day.  March 17th was always special.  I would wear green to school so that I wouldn’t get pinched, and then I would look forward to dinner – corned beef and cabbage soup every year for as long as I can remember.

I know what some of you are thinking, “why is this girl talking about cabbage soup when it’s supposed to be boiled cabbage and potatoes?”

Well, I didn’t know that cabbage soup was not the social mainstream until bebe dada pointed this out when I made this for the first time about 5 years ago.  He ate the cabbage, potato, carrot, and onion soup I made from the corned beef broth, but he asked me only for a little bit of broth, and he didn’t want seconds.  Hmmmm.  No seconds usually means, “not lovin’ it sweetie.”

I informed bebe dada that this soup was a traditional accompaniment to corned beef.  Everyone has soup!  He told me his family always had the potatoes and cabbage just boiled, on the side, on a plate, not in a soup bowl.

Little did I know that this soup was more of a bebe mama family tradition rather than a mainstream tradition.  I was very confused at first and was adamant that the soup was T-R-A-D-I-T-I-O-N-A-L!

So I Googled.

I was wrong.

It turns out that every single recipe I reviewed for corned beef had boiled cabbage and potatoes as an accompaniment.  Not a soup.  Hmmmm.

I asked my native Japanese mom where she got her corned beef and cabbage soup recipe.  She told me it was from Ken-chan’s mom.  Hmmmm.  Ken-chan’s mom is also native Japanese.

There was also something different about the corned beef I grew up with.  You see, my corned beef was baked for 30 minutes with a delicious savory-sweet glaze.

Growing up, bebe dada’s corned beef was always just boiled, then sliced, then made its way on a plate.  I asked my BFF and her mom just boiled and served the corned beef too.  I asked aloha girl (my friend living on Oahu) how her mom served corned beef and it was the same – – – just boiled.  Hmmmm.

But bebe dada has 2nd and 3rd helpings of my glazed and baked corned beef so that means it’s pretty good, despite the fact that many others out there just boil their corned beef.  AND big onechan LOVES the sweet & tangy glaze.

I have to admit that after the first two years of serving cabbage soup, I switched to serving boiled cabbage, carrots and potatoes on a plate, next to the corned beef with no broth.  This actually made for easier clean-up so I’m OK with it.  I also started to think that the broth of the corned beef can’t be good for anyone.  It’s just fat and brine residue, right?

That may be true, but this year I kinda missed seeing a whole slice of cabbage with the core still in it, soft and mushy floating in some broth with onions, carrots, and potatoes.  :)

Ken-chan’s Moms’ Corned Beef Recipe Minus the Cabbage Soup

Corned Beef

• 3 pound corned beef
• 6 red potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium cabbage
• 1 1/2 cup rough chopped carrots
• Enough water to cover the corned beef
• 1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaf

Glaze

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 3 tablespoons water
• ½ cup ketchup
• ½ cup brown sugar

The biggest change I made to this recipe is using a slow cooker instead of boiling the corned beef on the stove.  The meat is more tender when you use a slow cooker.

1) Place corned beef in slow cooker, fat side up, cover with ample water.  Add sliced onions, peppercorns, bay leaf and spice pack.  (This is packaged with the corned beef.) Cook on low for 8 hours.

TIP: Trim the fat before cooking for a slightly more healthy corned beef.  I just cook it with the fat because I believe the meat is more tender this way, AND if you’re gonna eat corned beef, might as well cook it with the fat.  :D

I make the corned beef the night before I serve it by putting it in the slow cooker before I go to bed.  The warmer turns on automatically after its done cooking and then I keep it in the slow cooker all day until baking it, just before serving.

2) Slice the cabbage with core in tact into eighths.  Rough chop carrots and potatoes. Place all vegetables into a large stock pot, and then pour broth from the slow cooker into the stock pot and bring to a boil.  Then simmer on medium-low for approximately 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.