Although its origins are somewhat unclear, corned beef and cabbage is traditionally considered the ultimate Irish delicacy. That’s why St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect time for people to dine on the classic meat-and-vegetables dish.
While snobby foodies may look down on the standard corned beef and cabbage recipe, there are tons of ways you can reinvent this tried-and-true staple to give it some hipster appeal. YouTube, for instance, offers a slew of alternative recipes for corned beef and cabbage, as well as instructions for how to make more homespun dishes. We have just one question for you: Do you prefer flat cut or point cut corned beef?
1) Kimchi corned beef Reuben
While most chefs prefer to skip the time-consuming process of curing their own corned beef, Evan and Leo, the owners of Wise Sons Deli in San Francisco, are here to show you how it’s done. Then they take the finished product and turn it into a kimchi corned beef reuben mashup. On St. Patty’s Day, even Koreans are Irish.
2) Slow-cooked corned beef
If you don’t have time to labor over a stove to make corned beef before Mar. 17, then using a slow cooker is the way to go. The method generally involves a long, gentle bake or boil. Linda’s Pantry, a popular food vlog, offers a simple DIY approach to slow cooking your dish.
3) Caribbean corned beef and cabbage
This Caribbean approach to corned beef is adding some heat to St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a skillet-prepared wonder that takes traditional Irish ingredients and throws in some regional spices, such as the native Caribbean scotch bonnet peppers. These small-yet-mighty vegetables are way up on the Scoville scale (they’re 140 times as hot as a jalapeno), so it might be wise to have plenty of Guinness on hand to cool things off.
4) Corned beef and cabbage soup
If you want to tone down the rich, meaty goodness of a hearty slab of corned beef, one suggestion from Clean & Delicious vlogger Dani Spies is to use it as an ingredient in a veggie-filled soup. Use the corned beef to flavor the broth, then remove the meat, shred it, and return it to the pot along with some spuds and cabbage.
5) Corned beef and cabbage rolls
For a quick bite for your St. Patrick’s Day parade party, you can try and replicate this Polish-Irish-Chinese small dish from AmateurKitchen: a corned beef and cabbage roll. You can also improvise on the Eastern European stuffed cabbage dish prakas by using wonton wrappers or pasta sheets to hold corned beef filling.
Screengrab via Allrecipes/YouTube
