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Corn Beef Hash

A hash of cold corned beef, potatoes, onions, and cream cooked in butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Corn Beef Hash

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Rub the inside of a frying pan with a cut onion.

  2. Heat the butter in the pan.

Cook the hash

  1. Add the corned beef, potatoes, salt, and pepper; mix well.

  2. Moisten the mixture with cream and spread evenly.

  3. Cook slowly to brown the bottom evenly.

  4. When done, fold over and turn out onto a platter.

  5. Optionally, brown in the oven.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Corned beef
Provides the main meaty body and savory flavor of the hash.
Potatoes
Add starchy bulk and help the hash hold together while browning.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness so the mixture stays tender rather than drying out.
Butter
Fats the pan and promotes browning on the bottom of the hash.

The step that matters

Cook slowly to brown the bottom evenly. Low, steady heat lets the bottom form an even brown crust through browning reactions without scorching. Rushing with high heat can burn the bottom while the middle stays cold and soft.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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