Ginisang Carne Norte (Sauteed Corned Beef)

My husband has been down with flu a few days ago. The problem with breathing the same air as the sick person, you catch the virus too. So, here I am, with sore throat and achy joints.

When my daughter left at 7:30 AM for school today, I was still in bed trying to sleep in my cold for an extra couple of hours. But when I got up around ten o’ clock, I was still feeling wozzy and I decided to call in at work for the rest of the day. So when my daughter walked in back from school around two in the afternoon, I was lying on the sofa, half-watching Pahiram nang Pagibig soap opera via The Filipino Channel, and sipping a cup of lemon-flavored TheraFlu. She was ravenous, going straight to the refrigerator to heat up one of the “tupperware meals” I prepared for her last Sunday. “Chicken again?” she laments. The four dishes I cooked were chicken afritada, chicken curry, paksiw na bangus (which she is not very fond of) and miswa-and-meatball soup. You know what they say, a mother will walk on coals for her child. I dragged myself from the comforts of my blankets into the kitchen. I love her with all my life but no amount of affection in this world will enable me to whip up a gourmet meal (and I never did claim mama will walk on HOT coals, did I?)! We made a compromise-she is in-charge of cooking the rice and opening the can of Purefoods corned beef and I’ll saute the beef. So there-corned beef, poached eggs and steamed rice for lunch! And with the way I am feeling still, the leftover of this more-like-for-breakfast meal is what my husband is having for dinner!

This dish is popularly known here in the U.S. as corned beef hash, basically just chopped up meat cooked with onions, potatoes and spices. It’s traditionally served for breakfast with eggs, a side of toast and hashbrowns. I don’t really enjoy the commercial kind as you can barely differentiate the meat from the potatoes as they are almost ground up. And I certainly am not a big fan of U.S. brands of canned corned beef. I like mine chunky, with recognizable large stands of beef. My mother, who visits here from the Philippines every 6 months, brings a supply of Purefoods corned beef for me to stock for “emergency meals” as today.

Makes 4 Servings

16 oz canned corned beef
2 large potatoes, sliced to strips or cut into small cubes
1 onion, sliced
1 cup water
vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a skillet. Fry potato cubes until slightly brown. Remove and set aside.
Saute onions until translucent. Add corned beef, separating meat.
Add water. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Add potatoes. Simmer for an addititional 2-3 minutes until potatoes are tender.
Serve hot.

TIPS:
1) Dish goes well with sunny-side up eggs and garlic fried rice.