Irish Fusion
Corned Beef Glazed with a Plum Mustard Sauce pairs perfectly with a nice Guinness Stout — just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
In my early days, I awoke one St. Patrick’s Day to find my usual sugary breakfast cereal (probably Peanut Butter Captain Crunch) replaced with a big bright green bagel covered in butter. And there, in my very own kitchen, Irish-Jewish fusion was born! That may be a bit of a stretch but the rotation of traditional dishes based on our Italian, Irish and French heritage inspired me, later in life, to create my own blends based on my ethnic favorites.
Anyone who knows me well knows while my mother was a very good baker and could make a decent version of my Nana’s Italian sauces, her meat dishes were like something out of a horror novel. Boiling meat until it’s grey and then boiling for another 20 minutes is no way to encourage a picky child to eat. She did, however, make one mean corned beef and cabbage dinner. Why she saved it for once a year on St. Patrick’s Day, I’ll never know but once March 1st rolled around, I was always begging her to get an early start on the holiday.
Serving corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty’s day is an Irish-American tradition. The closest traditional dish in Ireland is bacon and cabbage. Irish-American immigrants in the 1800’s used corned beef as a substitute for the more expensive bacon. Irish immigrants living in NYC’s Lower East Side turned to their Jewish neighbors for a taste and texture that was equivalent to their traditional Irish bacon. And thus, a new tradition was born.
I wanted to update the dish just a bit and see if I could push the fusion envelope by pairing the corned beef with a traditional Chinese dumpling. I prepared the corned beef – an excellent old barrel, brine pickled cut from Fairway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan – as I typically would, adding some beer, butter and more pickling spices to the mix. Once the meat was finished, I brushed it with a plum mustard glaze and broiled it for 3 minutes. The result was beyond fantastic! I then shredded the beef with the cooked cabbage and more plum mustard sauce and made dumplings with a soy ginger dipping sauce. Delish!!
Irish-style corned beef collides with Chinese dumplings in this plum-flavored package. Mix 3 Tbl. soy sauce, 1 Tbs. rice vinegar, 1 Tbl. sugar, 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp. fresh ginger and 1 small scallion, sliced for a nice dipping sauce.
While Ireland takes a lot of heat for their perceived lack of culinary skills (my mom included), they are some of the most ingenious chefs around. I was inspired by several and thought I would prepare something new and different this St. Patrick’s Day this year – Guinness Poached Salmon with wilted spinach and hand cut pan-fried potatoes comes to mind – but tradition won out. Once I get through the dumplings, though, I plan to go Irish-Italian with some Corned Beef Gnocchi. Yum!
Make your own Corned Beef Dumplings with leftovers and purchased gyoza wrappers.
Recipe: Plum Mustard Glazed Corned Beef and Cabbage
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 (3-pound) cured corned beef brisket, trimmed
- 12 cups water
- 1 cup lager beer
- 1 tbl. butter
- 1 cups coarsely chopped onion
- 1 cup coarsely chopped carrot
- 1 1/2 tsp. pickling spice
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- Cooking spray
- 1 tabl. caraway seeds (optional)
- 1 (2 1/2-pound) head green cabbage, cored and cut into 1-inch strips
- 2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered
- 2 tbl. chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbl. butter
- 2 tsp. grated lemon rind
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper
For the Glaze
· 1 ½ tsp. dry mustard
· 1 tbl. hot water
· ¼ cup Chinese plum sauce
· 2 tsp. soy sauce
· 1 ½ tsp. sesame oil
· 5 tsp. rice vinegar
· Salt to taste
Preparation
Place brisket in a large stockpot; add water and next 5 ingredients (water through garlic). Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 ¾ hours. Remove brisket from pot.
Place brisket on the rack of a broiler pan or roasting pan coated with cooking spray; place rack in pan. Strain cooking liquid through a colander into 2 large bowls; discard solids. Return liquid to pot. Add caraway seeds and cabbage; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Drain.
While cabbage is cooking, place potatoes in a large Dutch oven. Cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook 20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return potatoes to pan. Stir in parsley, butter, rind and pepper; toss to coat. (Alternately, you may cook the potatoes and the cabbage together.
Preheat broiler.
Prepare Glaze: In small bowl, stir together mustard and hot water. Whisk in plum and soy sauces, sesame oil and vinegar until mixture is smooth. Sauce should be thick but fluid. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Sauce can be kept refrigerated up to 4 weeks but be sure to serve it at room temperature. Use leftover sauce for corned beef dumplings.
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