When I was small, I had a preference for luncheon meat to corned beef. Those were the days when the latter was made in China and came in the red and yellow cans – I think it was the “Great Wall” brand but like the Ma Ling luncheon meat, it became mushy and had a peculiar smell and was hardly edible. These days, I would go for this brand…
…which is actually much nicer and more affordable than the rest. It does not come cheap though – at one time, it was RM5 something a can but the price has gone up to RM7 something now.
Normally, I would do exactly what my mum did all those years and just fry some sliced Bombay onions in a bit of oil, add the corned beef and the potatoes and fry till the potatoes were cooked like what you can see here but these days, I would do that without using any additional oil. If you open the can and let the meat slide out…
…you can see the fat/oil and that would be more than enough for the frying.
Use a fork to mash the block of corned beef…
…and at the same time, get the other ingredients ready. The other day, I decided to add just a little bit extra…
…so other than the onions and potatoes, I threw in some sliced chilies and some curry leaves as well.
I peeled the potatoes first and cut them into bite-size chunks and boiled them so that I would not have to fry them for too long for them to be cooked. Once that was done, I drained the potatoes for use later…
Fry the sliced onions in a non-stick pan…
…and add the corned beef…
Mixed the two well together and fry for a while to let the fat melt in the heat so that it could be used for frying all the other ingredients.
Having done that, throw in the chilies and the curry leaves…
…and lastly, the potatoes…
Cook for a while till you see that everything has been nicely fried…
…before you dish everything out and serve…
I thought it was very nice with the additional fragrance of the leaves and the little bit of spiciness from the chilies but my daughter said that she would rather have it the old way…so I guess some things, especially when everyone is happy with them, are best left unchanged and I would just have to go back to how my mum used to cook it before then.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
the post should be titled ‘did it MY WAY’. Hmm… so so long tak makan corned beef… over in indo, it is daging kornet… and they do have those with indomie goreng sold tepi jalan di warung… sometimes with telur… and will call that internet (indomie telur kornet)… their pronounciation of english bit tak betul as they were colonised by Dutch… so, ‘corned=kornet’, alarm=alaram, and the R is really RRrrrrr….. bet the dish is good with fresh toast for breakfast, goes well with kopi O. BTW, am starting to savour the Kopi powder u gave, boy o boy, think gotta reduce the dosage… muahahaha…
One spoon enough to brew one pot already – how many spoons did you put? Nice or not?
Kornet sounds familiar – I seem to have seen that brand of corned beef somewhere. Yea, great with bread for sandwiches too. MerySia gave me a packet of the corned beef mee goreng from Indon…but I thought it was ok – still prefer the original Indomie mee goreng.
I also used to have this same homecooked dish in my growing years back home….Mmmmm….almost forgot about this nostalgic meal! The dish you cooked looks great!!
A bit too much potatoes…but my daughter loves potatoes – in any form. LOL!!! 😀
Mmmm can’t remember the last time I had corned beef really, might be temped to get some. You really like the combination of onion, Chili and curry leaves eh?
My daughter loves it…with onions & potatoes. The chili & leaves would give it that extra fragrance but my daughter prefers the original – to each his/her own, I guess.
This is my favourite dish also. But the price is getting expensive nowadays so we seldom eat corned beef. I love to mix them with cabbage or just fried them with onion. This dish also considered as my ‘lazy dish’. hehehe…
That’s mee all right – lazy. That’s why all my cooking must be fuss opr hassle-free, all very easy one. Not too fond of cabbage – you can try potatoes – one or two per can, will taste nicer (and not so salty when eaten together).
Would prefer luncheon meat to corned beef. Have not taken corned beef for ages. Anyway, can give it a try one of these days.
Happy Chap Goh Mei to you & family. God Bless.
Same here when I was young but these days, I’ve grown to like corned beef. Thanks, and a Happy Chap Goh Mei to you and yours too.
Besides luncheon meat, this is my other love.. hehehe. I would always have a can or two in my pantry.I’ve tried cooking this before using your recipe and the boys love it. Corned beef to the mat Salleh is a boiled lump of meat akin to roast beef which they then slice thinly to be eaten with vegetables or fillings for sandwiches. I like mine in a can.. Lol!
Yes, I’ve seen fresh corned meat at the supermarket even here…or at least, in KL but I’ve never tried. Ya…see! The old folks can never do wrong – sure nice one…and sure will like. My daughter likes it that way – the original…no need to add this and that, buat sibuk only.
Your dish looks delicious. Libby’s costs about RM13/can in KL. I don’t add oil either but lots of onions and 3-4 eggs to a can. Talk about cholesterol! They make good spaghetti bolognese sauce too.
It’s around there here too, not affordable. I saw Ligo the other day – cheaper but not too sure whether it is good or not. Maybe will buy and try one of these days. Mili is quite good too…but I prefer Linkz.
My son bought back a few SPAMs.. maybe I will try it on them since Andy likes potatoes! Thanks for sharing, Arthur! 🙂
Adoi! Adoi!!!!! This is corned beef…not SPAM. Never cooked SPAM or luncheon meat with potatoes before – but you can always try. Who knows? It may turn out nice…
Can’t say anything on the luncheon meat.
But
Happy Chap Goh Meh, STP! 🙂
Thanks, but if you look and read carefully, it’s not luncheon meat today – it’s corned beef and if you look at the can, it is “ditanggung halal” so no worries, ok for you too. There, Azura loves cooking this “lazy dish” if you read her comment above.
Brings back memories of ‘Bringing Up Father’ when I was small who loves the cartoon column in NST whenJiggs asked ‘what’s for dinner?’ & a reply from Maggie ‘corned beef’. Those days thought its corn & beef back no got internet to check and dictionary was unheard of. Now you know my Engrish eat over mountain haha.
No, no…you got it all wrong! Jiggs loves corned beef and cabbage but the class-conscious wife would not hear of it as she thinks it’s for the NCAA (No class at all) people…and she would call the hubby, “Insect!!!”
Ooops 1001 apologies. Wokay too long to remember the actual cartoon who said what haha. Yeah the ‘insect’ word was Maggie’s trade mark with the throwing of the rolling pin too haha.
Yup! And her waiting by the door, rolling pin in hand, waiting for Jiggs to come home.
Happy Chap Goh Meh! Not coming to Penang for the Chapo Gohnam Style celebration?
Same to you. No, thank you…
ooh, my childhood preparation was for corned beef (fried with onions and sometimes eggs) compared to luncheon meat. maybe cos more flavorful and a bit less one-dimensional in textures. both ingredients always fondly remind me of after-school lunches 😀
Egg and onions with corned beef too? We would have those with luncheon meat. Can give that a try sometime…
Hi Arthur!
I’m not a fan of corn beef… Prefer luncheon meat but I hardly cook them at home nowadays … I try to avoid can food if possible. But I like the use of onion, curry leaves and chili… very asian flavour.
I thought so too and in fact, I thought it was very nice…but I would admit that they did drown out the corned beef flavour somewhat. Maybe that was why my daughter said she would prefer the original. Wah!!! Healthy living, healthy eating eh? 😉
I love corned beef! I have a post on corned beef omelette in my draft. Hmmm….must post it soon. I like what you did, adding chillies and curry leaves. Must be very fragrant and full of aroma and flavors. Will try that when I get my next can of corned beef 🙂
Omelette? Never tried that. I’ve had soup:
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/on-your-own/
which some people did not like. I thought the soup was nice but the corned beef would be rendered tasteless as the flavour would have gone into the soup…and I also made a very nice shepherd pie with it once:
https://suituapui.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/the-lonely-goatherd/
thats how i would also prepare that canned goods
but yet less the leaves and chilies
My daughter would love how you cook it then… 😉
i bet you really love onions curry leaves and chilies dont yah?
you used it too on the dish you recently cooked right?
I’ve got curry leaves growing in the garden so I can just go and pluck for free…and they do enhance the fragrance of what you cook…plus they are very good for health. Chilies…well, only when available.
Long time didn’t eat this canned corn beef…
Should be cheap in Singapore…the imported brands like Libby’s? SPAM is so cheap over at your side, cheaper than in NZ or Australia.
It’s still cheaper than SPAM, right?
Haven’t had luncheon meat in years, so I can only imagine the taste… pity me.
This is corned beef, not luncheon meat and yes, it is cheaper than SPAM – this brand but not some of the others – more or less the same.
Looks yummy to me!! But I’d rather go without chili cos I can’t tolerate it
You’re allergic to it or you don’t eat spicy stuff – the typical Chinese/Foochow? So how do you go for food tasting? Or those serving spicy food never invite bloggers over?
i’ve completely forgotten about its existence, it’s been quite a while since the last time i had corned beef, years even hahaha
Good! Good! Let’s keep it that way. My daughter likes it so I would buy sometimes when she’s home, otherwise we seldom eat it too. Too expensive…especially those imported brands.
I dun take beef, but I certainly like the way u did it. I ll love to use SPAM in future to try this dish. Oohh..curry leaves! Must remember it.
They always add them in butter prawns. So nice. Good even in plain omelette or in fried rice…and they’re good for health. Got very productive tree in my garden so I can use as much as I want.
lazy to cook. I go Sibu and eat la :p
Come, come! Anytime!
new or old versions, both looked equally yummy…. I love corned beef but has stop buying them now cos my partner does not take beef. It’s kinda hard to finish up one whole can by myself… lol….
oo, I thought its pricey here in KL for corned beef!
Some brands are very expensive…as expensive as SPAM but this one’s ok and another affordable brand is Mili. Not bad too that brand.
hmmmm…i don know why i always cannot get this correct. It always turn out a bit mushy mushy, not like the one that i had when i am young, a bit dried and taste nice. Maybe is the brand thing.
Maybe. Have you tried this brand? The current Great Wall, the brand we ate while we were growing up, is mushy and smelly…and too fat, not nice at all – I would never buy that one anymore.
I like your preparation – something different! Was just reading it when the hubster walked pass me and exclaimed “Corned beef! Can we have it for breakfast tomorrow?”
Hahahahahaha!!! Talk about bloggers being influential eh? Wink! Wink! LOL!!! 😀
When you were small.. Hmm, I’m trying to imagine you being small, Arthur! 😀
I think I’d love the corned beef being prepared the traditional way without the curry leaves and chili coz my mom used to cook that (but with luncheon meat) and i love it lots!
i actually have not tried corned beef but i am a fan of luncheon meat. And I think it’s a great idea in adding those curry leaves for the extra flavour and fragrance to the meat. Well done!!
Especially for those not really into the (corned) beef smell – they will drown that out and bring the taste to a whole new level. It’s very nice really…but I guess some actually like the smell and would not like it toned down this way.