Corned Beef Hash
What do you do with all the leftover Corned Beef you made for St. Patrick’s Day—or any day for that matter?
Corned beef hash for breakfast, of course!
Brown-crusted potato cubes with crispy, salty corned beef bits and a fried egg on top… what’s not to like?
This is not a recipe that will provide exact quantities for ingredients because that’s not what a good breakfast hash is about. All you need are a few potatoes left from your corned beef & cabbage dinner, leftover corned beef, and eggs, in whatever quantities you desire or need to use up.
I particularly like Yukon Gold potatoes for my hash (pictured above), but sometimes I’ll use the way red ones. I usually use 3 of the smallish 2–2.5 inch ones per person. You’ll want to dice these however you prefer. I like pretty small cubes, but not so small that it’s a pain to do early in the morning. There are plenty of ways to do this; I prefer my cubes roughly ¼ of an inch. I don’t bother peeling them first.
If you’re using a starchy potato instead, be sure to soak the cubes in cold water for about 15 minutes or so to pull out excess starch, which can make your hash gummy.
Some folks prefer to parboil their potatoes first before cubing. This is an extra step (and pot) that I’d prefer not to deal with in the morning. However, you can achieve a crispier crust and creamier interior doing this, if you’re into that.
Dice up your cold corned beef. You can make them the same size as the potato cubes, or you can go to town with your knife every which way for a finer texture. Both are great.
Now heat a non-stick pan or cast-iron skillet on medium heat. Toss in an appropriate (or, if you prefer, inappropriate) amount of butter, oil, or my favorite, bacon fat (you save yours in a jar in the fridge, right?). Toss in the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. If you didn’t parboil yours, it helps to put a lid on for the first 5ish minutes to help them steam for even cooking, but it isn’t strictly required. Stir them occasionally to brown as much of the sides as possible.
Once they start to get to a nice golden brown, it’s time to add the corned beef. It’s up to you how much you want to cook it—just a minute or two to warm it up, or longer to get a nice crispy crust. Just don’t burn it!
When you’re satisfied, dump it out onto a warm plate (1 minute in the microwave usually does it) and make an indent for the eggs you’re about to fry. You might opt to set a square of foil loosely over top while the eggs fry but they don’t take too long.
Add some extra fat to the pan and fry the eggs how you like. Over-easy is my usual, or basted if I’m feeling up to it, so the warm liquid yolk mixes up with the hash. I usually go for 2 eggs, you do you.
Set those fried eggs on top of the corned beef hash pile, like some kind of horrible nest from a bird’s nightmare. Add a flourish of paprika if you’re feeling fancy. I usually put several generous glugs of homemade fermented hot sauce on mine and dig in with some pour-over coffee.
