We have several comfort foods that characterize how and what we eat in Hawaii. My favorite growing up even as an adult was corn beef and onions! Very simple recipe, but a favorite that brought comfort to me, my family and my friends. I don’t prepare this anymore because my kids all left the nest and I have not eaten beef, pork, or lamb for over 25 years. Why? Another story.
Cornbeef and Onions
Ingredients
- 1 can corn beef Libby's
- 1 large round onion
- .5 cup of brown sugar
- .5 cup shoyu sauce
- .5 tablespoon of ground pepper
- Sticky rice
Instructions
- Prepare the onions by cutting it in half, then slicing it across, so it looks like the shape of a rainbow.
- In a large pan, sautee the corn beef, breaking it down into small pieces. If the corn beef is on the drier side (less fat), add some olive oil in the beginning. I usually use level 5 on the stove for this sauteeing.
- Gather all the cornbeef into the middle of the pan and layer the onions over the cornbeef...like a mound.
- Add sugar, pour shoyu, and sprinkle with pepper.
- Lower heat to 2 or low, and cover for about ten minutes. Check to see when the onions turn translucent.
- Mix everything together and serve on warm sticky rice.
Notes
As the locals say...."So ono!" (So delicious)
Attending college, we found a place that made this dish and it was a bakery, Mori's Bakery in Moiliili (Oahu). Our late studying always turned to a hunger for comfort food and we made our early morning trek, around 5:00am, to Mori's Bakery and sat with a room filled with construction workers. Most were having the same. Corn beef and onions! Although I don't eat it anymore, I salivate uncontrollably remembering this special part of growing up.
Al, the canned corned beef sounded strange until I figured out it is Corned beef hash. Is that correct?
Libby’s sells corned beef in a can. It is not corned beef hash. I contacted Al to confirm!