Eurasian corned beef stew is a delicious but little known stew from the Eurasian community in Singapore and Malaysia that’s perfect as a quick meal that ticks all the boxes.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
What is Corned Beef?
Corned beef is basically salt cured beef, with or without the addition of sugar and spices. The term corned comes from the fact that the large grains of salt used in the process are called corns of salt.
This method of curing beef has been around for hundreds of years, and is still popular today. You can get corned beef in cans (as I’ve got here) or even fresh, sold in delis. Either of these is perfect for our Eurasian Corned Beef Stew today. You can, if you prefer, also go for the low fat variety.
Eurasian Corned Beef Stew Recipe
It’s a very, very easy recipe to make. There are no hard and fast rules with what vegetables you can or can’t use. You can pretty much please yourself, or follow the recipe here exactly.
This Eurasian Corned Beef Stew is also a great recipe for students who are on a budget, or for anyone in that category, for that matter. Corned beef is inexpensive, and the rest of the vegetables are all common and easy to get.
I’ve added a small amount of cinnamon, cloves and black peppercorns for some spice. If you’d like it spicy, add more chillies or use a spicier chilli.
This Eurasian Corned Beef Stew Recipe was one of my mother’s frequent dishes at home. As she was always working long shifts as a nurse, her food was always of the quick and easy variety.
Click here to read up more about the Eurasians and the various ethnic groups in Singapore and Malaysia.
How to Serve Eurasian Corned Beef Stew?
It is traditionally eaten with white rice, but you can also serve this with breads like baguettes or your regular crusty rolls. A little sambal on the side is always a welcome addition as it gives added flavour to the whole meal.
You could also serve this as pat of an Asian meal, with a curry and vegetable dish on the side.
And on that not, seeing how this is such an easy recipe, shall we get cooking?
♥ If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you! ♥
And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Eurasian Corned Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 100 g white cabbage
- 100 g cauliflower
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 medium potato
- 1 green capsicum (bell pepper)
- 1 tomato
- 1 handful peas fresh or frozen
Aromatics
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 red chilli
Dry Spices
- 1 small piece cinnamon
- 3 cloves
- ¼ tsp black peppercorns
Everything Else
- 300 g corned beef (can or fresh) more or less is fine, depending on the size of your can
- 250 ml beef stock
- 250 ml water
Garnish
- 1 small bunch fresh coriander leaves chopped, to serve
Instructions
Prepare the Vegetables
- Halve, then slice the onion thinly. Slice the garlic widthwise. Slice the red chilli.
- Slice the cabbage into thin strips.
- Cut the cauliflower into little florets.
- Chop up the carrot into thin rings. Chop up the bell peppers into roughly the same size as the carrots and quarter the tomatoes.
- Scrub the potato clean, no need to peel, then chop into 5cm/2" cubes.
Let's get Cooking
- Skim some of the fat off the corned beef and heat in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. If there isn't much fat, add 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil.
- Sauté the cinnamon, cloves and black peppercorns in this fat or oil for 30 seconds.
- Add the onions, garlic and chillies and fry for 1 minute, until you get a whiff of the aroma.
- Add the corned beef and fry for about 3 minutes, breaking it up with the end of your ladle as you go along.
- Add the stock, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and capsicum and cook for 15 minutes.
- At the end of 15 minutes, add the cauliflower and tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Finally, stir in the peas and check seasoning. Add a little salt if you think you need it but corned beef is pretty salty to begin with.
- Finish off with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and the coriander leaves (cilantro).
This was so nice Azlin, never would have thought of corned beef in stew. I am so intrigued by all these recipes you have here and can’t wait for this new site of yours to grow!
Hi Brad, I’m so pleased to hear that. It’s a curiously delicious stew, this one!