11/17/09 | Hormel Corned Beef Hash
[ Currently Eating: Uh, Cookies for Breakfast? ]
I have something to say. Here it is:
I am a Sucker.
Yes, a sucker. Maybe an unintentional, half-baked or day-old sucker, but a sucker nonetheless.
I reminisce. I nostaligicize. I ponderificate. I make up words. I think back to the Day.
Back to the Day when you had to be a nerd kid to use a computer. (Commodore 64 programmer, thank you very much. 40 characters across the screen was a luxury. Run-stop Restore that bizatch.)
The things you did in your wee moo-cow childhood dayz will always float to the surface like Dexter’s trash-bagged, hacksawed body parts in the bay.
Ok, maybe that’s going too far. Especially when talking about meat products.
We used to eat Hormel Corned Beef Hash on camping trips. This fleshy, fattening substance, studded with Rubik’s Cube corner chunks of potatoes was the highlight of breakfast. Fried up crispy and usually with scrambled eggs, this kind of corned beef hash reminds me of our clunky, yet reliable, motorhome. If you can believe it, my parents still have the SAME motorhome from the early 80s rusting in back of their house. The floor of the motorhome still smells faintly of motorbike dust and packets of Lipton instant cream of chicken soup.
I absolutely think Hormel knows that I’m a Sucker for old timey meat-in-a-can. I think they’re watching me from a spy satellite orbiting the Earth. Like that Simpsons episode. They have special punch cards in their satellite (yes, they use punch cards in case they need to burn the incriminating evidence) that contain food preference data on every single American citizen. I think they sent word to their flunkies on Earth that I was due for a corned beef purchase and thusly they moved quicky to place their product in the aisle I was walking down last week.
I am not paranoid, he sayeth as he dons his foil hat.
Corned Beef Hash in a can is an interesting experience. I’ve earlier reviewed Hartford House Corned Beef and if memory serves me correctly I didn’t like it very much. I wish I had a can of that to test side by side with the Hormel variety today, to see if my old score still stands up. Because I’m wondering just how different it can be from the Hormel variety.
Incidentally – who the hell is Mary Kitchen? I know Hormel has been around since 1891, and Mary Kitchen has been around since 1949. But I’m not sure when Hormel bought the brand. I’m trying to think back to the 1980s and remember if the old cans had the Mary Kitchen name on it. Strange, I don’t seem to recall it. I’m sure old fart out there will remind me. Or a new fart would be fine, someone who thinks that he knows stuff because he can read Wikipedia.
Back to the corned beef hash – I’m actually a pretty big fan of this stuff as a special occasion treat. I wouldn’t eat it more than a few times a year. If you do decide to take a trip down memory lane, or if you’re a newcomer to the wonderful world of canned meaty products, I would suggest you do NOT go and smell the unfried stuff straight out of the can. That would be unwise.
You just put it in a frying pan, flatten it slightly, and let it crisp up. I don’t really put oil in it, I just use a nonstick pan. Flip it once and then crack some eggs onto or around it. The best part is the crispy edges, so make sure it’s really flattened. Some people dislike the little Rubik’s Cube potato chunks, but I find that they actually go well with the corned beef. If that’s not enough potato for you, cut up some baked potato from the day before, fry that ahead of time, and then just add it in.
Hormel Corned Beef has a sort of roasty taste to it, but I’m not sure if that’s not from me nearly burning it to get the crispy edges. I paid over $2 for my 15 ounce can, but I think that it’ll occasionally go on sale. Like I said before, it’s not something I’d eat every day, but it’s worthwhile to pick up a can for the pantry. (Do you hear that, Hormel Sky-Watchers? I’m going to buy some more cans, so you better go put them on sale soon.)
And all you dieting nay-sayers out there will be glad to know that they have a “reduced fat” variety. If you still feel guilty, throw some veggies in there for god’s sake. Work with me here, people.
Price: $2.35 for 15oz
Found At: Fresh & Easy
Cheap Eats Score: 7/10
[Editor's Note: Unfortunately, I never learned how to solve the Rubik's Cube. I think I could've done it if I applied myself, but for some reason, the instructions my friend photocopied for me didn't make any sense. So instead, I learned an ancient, time-honored secret method to solve it: it's called the Screwdriver...]
November 17th, 2009 at 11:33 am
I love this stuff. I used to eat it as a kid, too and I still like it, even though every time I eat it around anyone else they make fun of me and say it looks like dog food. It’s about one step up from hot dogs so it doesn’t come in our house very often but every now and then… it has to be the hash.
I’m pretty sure it was always Mary Kitchen – at least since 1984, when it probably first entered my life (that is, when I was born).
November 17th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Oh yeah, this is pure comfort food. Before I got all holier-than-thou and health conscious my ex and I would have this for dinner maybe once a month or so. It was always in the pantry for those nights when cooking anything resembling real food was completely out of the question. Hash and eggs and mind-numbing television. Good times!
November 17th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
We love this stuff…every once in a while.
I have a few cans in my hurricane stash too. Gotta have something to cook up with the eggs when the fridge goes out. Give me a plate of Hormel Corned Beef Hash and eggs and everything’s gonna be alright.
November 17th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
This is one of those classic American foods that I have managed to avoid for my entire life. Not on purpose, exactly; it just somehow happened that I have lived 45 years on this earth without ever tasting Hormel Corned Beef Hash. I admit I’m being shallow and judging it on its looks, but the words “Here, kitty kitty!” come to mind when I look at that picture.
And about the Rubik’s cube — use a screwdriver to solve it? Brilliant! Wish I’d thought of that.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
l love canned corned beef hash. I prefer it over the fresh stuff for some strange reason. I think I eat it once a year, but I really should eat it more often because it is sooooo good.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Ah yes… childhood attachments. This was my first “solid” food. I don’t remember it, but there’s a picture of me somewhere wearing corned beef hash, a diaper and a smile.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:41 am
I LOVE HORMEL HASH!! i’ve tried the other canned varieties and nothing stacks up to the can i always had througout my childhood! Hash is one of those things that i can’t help but to order when i go to a breakfast restaurant, and for some reason, they’re always compared to that childhood favorite, with its mini potato cubes and shredded, smashed beef.
i’ve had the low fat variety too, and yes, its still better than most other canned hashes…theres just something to that texture that they have down!
I have to admit to another evil breakfast meat that i enjoy, perhaps twice a year…scrapple. I know – terrible name. but the stuff is tasty none the less. and cubed up, fried crisp on the outside, super soft and spicy on the inside, tossed with some homefries, it’s comfort food at its best
November 18th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I’ve never had this but now I’m craving it. ^^; I so am going to buy this on my next grocery trip.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Thank God! There are others like me!! Yippee! I love this stuff! I try not to serve it too often now, maybe once every 2 years or so. Its greasy and with eggs with soft yolks over the top, its gooey and just right! I started eating it on girl scout campouts many, many moons ago (that’s in the 60’s for you young ‘uns) and have loved it ever since. Every so often I get a powerful craving for it and I have to go and buy a couple cans and we have it for dinner. Even hubby usually remarks that we haven’t had it for a while.
As for Mary Kitchen? I don’t recall when it came out but, like you, I started noticing it on shelves in the 80’s.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
OMG I love dog food and potatoes (that’s what I call corned beef hash from a can)!!
I always keep a couple cans in the pantry for craving days. Expensive, but worth it as a treat every now and again.
November 22nd, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Mmmm. I love canned hash. It’s so much better than ‘real’ corned beef hash, even.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:57 am
We just moved my parents in with us and guess what Mom brought over after cleaning out her pantry? You guessed it! I haven’t had fried eggs and hash in years, but it is now on our menu this week.
December 1st, 2009 at 8:08 am
@everyone – thanks for all the comments, had no idea there were so many Corned Beef Hash heads out there!
December 1st, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Wow, I haven’t had corned beef hash in years. I may have to get some! We never had it with eggs. Just straight up, maybe with catsup on it.
Hormel says their cans said Mary Kitchen in the 50’s and also in the 90’s, so I’m thinking they said that in the 80’s as well. I could check my parents’ house, my mom probably stocked up in 1982 and still has some left.
Maybe Mary Kitchen is Dinty Moore’s grand-daughter?
January 7th, 2010 at 3:02 am
where in the UK can I get my hormel corned beef hash???
January 29th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Love this stuff! Sautee with sliced onions and diced tomatoes. Umph, so good!
January 29th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
My family often eats the Mary Kitchen Corned Beef Hash for breakfast. I open up bagels and butter the bottom half. Then place a slice of American cheese over the butter. (I fold the corners of the cheese so they don’t hang over the side of the bagel.) Then I take the hash and place a few tablespoonfuls over the cheese. Put the top on the bagel. Then place it in the oven on a foil covered cookie sheet. I usually heat the oven to 350 degrees and heat the hash bagels until the cheese melts and the hash is hot. It is so good!
February 12th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
I bought some on impulse the other day ($1.00 each at Kroger!) apparently in an attempt to revisit my childhood. So glad to know I’m not alone in my guilty hash-love.