Kid-friendly Vegan Corny "Beef" Hash Recipe - Sticky Fingers Cooking
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Recipe: Vegan Corny "Beef" Hash

Recipe: Vegan Corny "Beef" Hash

Vegan Corny "Beef" Hash

by Dylan Sabuco
Photo by Dylan Sabuco
prep time
10 minutes
cook time
20 minutes
makes
4-6 servings

Fun Food Story

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Vegan Corny "Beef" Hash

In my family, St. Patrick's Day is synonymous with hearty, comforting, classic dishes. But who says we can't keep the comfort and skip the beef?

Channeling the mischievous spirit of a leprechaun, our Vegan Corny "Beef" Hash brings a playful surprise to the St. Paddy's Day feast. Swap the corned beef for tofu, spice it up with the familiar flavors you know and love, and toss it all together with the staple of every hash: potatoes! The result is a plant-based makeover of a beloved classic, a tribute to the traditional, adapted for contemporary palates. I recommend serving it with Egg-celent Omelette Cups and Orange Juice Bubble Pop for a complete spread that's sure to bring a dash of Irish luck to your day!

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Chef Erin, Food-Geek-in-Chief

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

  • chop :

    to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.

  • measure :

    to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

  • sauté :

    to cook or brown food in a pan containing a small quantity of butter, oil, or other fat.

  • stir :

    to mix together two or more ingredients with a spoon or spatula, usually in a circle pattern, or figure eight, or in whatever direction you like!

Equipment Checklist

  • Large skillet
  • Medium mixing bowl
  • Cutting board
  • Kid-safe knife
  • Measuring spoons
  • Wooden spoon
scale
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Ingredients

Vegan Corny "Beef" Hash

  • 1 pkg extra firm tofu **(for SOY ALLERGY sub 2 C mushrooms)**
  • 1 large potato **(for NIGHTSHADE ALLERGY sub sweet potato)**
  • 1 T pickling spice **(for NIGHTSHADE ALLERGY make your own pickling spice: 1 tsp dill seed, 1 tsp mustard seed, 2 bay leaves)**
  • 1 tsp paprika **(Omit for NIGHTSHADE ALLERGY)**
  • 1 tsp ground mustard
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 T vegetable oil **

Food Allergen Substitutions

Vegan Corny "Beef" Hash

  • Soy: For 1 pkg extra firm tofu, substitute 2 C mushrooms. Substitute canola oil or other nut-free oil for vegetable oil.
  • Nightshade: For 1 large potato, substitute 1 sweet potato. Omit ground paprika. Make your own pickling spice—for 1 T, use 1 tsp dill seed, 1 tsp mustard seed, and 2 bay leaves.

Instructions

Vegan Corny "Beef" Hash

1.
intro

"Dia duit" (Jee-ah ghwitch) or "Hello" in Irish! Corned beef is a staple of St. Patrick's Day celebrations, especially in America. This dish actually has a history dating back to the Middle Ages. Pickling the beef with spices and salt would preserve the beef in a world before refrigeration. In current times, we don't need to pickle and preserve our meats to keep them fresh, but it tastes so good that people have kept making corned beef for centuries. In this recipe, you will replace the beef with tofu to create a similar styled corned "tofu" hash! Enjoy!

2.
strain + chop

Start by draining all the liquid from 1 pkg extra firm tofu. You can squeeze it with a paper towel to get even more liquid out. Then, chop the tofu and 1 large potato as finely as possible and place in a medium mixing bowl.

3.
measure + season + mix

Next, measure 1 tablespoon pickling spice, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon ground mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and add them to the bowl of tofu and potato. These 5 ingredients will give the tofu the flavor and color of corned beef. Tofu is great because it can take on many flavors. Mix the spices, tofu, and potato with a wooden spoon.

4.
preheat + sauté

In a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and turn the heat to medium. After the oil is heated, add the tofu mixture and cook for 20 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon.

5.
brown + serve

Cook until browned and the potatoes are tender. Serve alongside eggs, like our Egg-celent Omelet Cups! "Bain taitneamh as do bhéile" (Bwin tat-nyuv oss duh vay-il-eh) or "Enjoy your meal" in Irish!

Surprise Ingredient: Pickling Spice!

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Photo by Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock.com

Hi! I'm Pickling Spice!

"I'm in a pickle—can you help me? I'm not sure which type of pickled cucumber I like best: sweet pickles, dill pickles, or bread and butter pickles. Which do you like best, or do you like them all? Did you know pickling spice makes them what they are? I like to think we're a vibrant community of wonderfully flavorful spices that make taste buds say, 'Mmm, that's tasty!'"

  • Pickling spice is a blend of spices, typically whole or crushed, added to brine (salty water) or vinegar to pickle fruits, vegetables, and other foods. It is also used to season beans, meats, rice, soups, stews, and corned beef and cabbage. 
  • Pickling spice blends may include various combinations of allspice berries, anise seeds, bay leaves, black peppercorns, caraway seeds, cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves, coriander seeds, dill seeds, fennel seeds, garlic cloves, ginger, mace (protective outer covering of nutmeg seed), mustard seeds, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes.
  • We mostly see and hear about pickled cucumbers (pickles), but other foods can also be pickled, such as asparagus, baby corn cobs, beets, carrots, green beans, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, onions, peaches, peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, and more.
  • Corned beef is beef brisket cured in salt and cooked by boiling, usually with pickling spices. To make a corned beef and cabbage dinner, popular on Saint Patrick's Day, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage are added to the pot cooking the corned beef, so the vegetables also take on the flavor of the spices.

History of Corned Beef!

Photo by Elena Veselova/Shutterstock.com
  • Salt-curing became a way to preserve meat in the Middle Ages. Evidence of this preservation method has been seen in several societies in Europe and the Middle East. 
  • The Irish called beef cured this way "salted beef." Later, the English called it "corned beef," possibly due to the size of the salt crystals. Plentiful herds of cows and less expensive salt allowed Ireland to produce more corned beef than England.
  • A beef brisket is generally used for corned beef in the United States. It may be cured or pickled in a brine of salt, sugar, and pickling spices and then cooked. Corned beef is part of Irish-American culture and is often eaten on March 17, St. Patrick's Day.
  • The Reuben is a famous corned beef sandwich, which also includes Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian or Thousand Island dressing on rye bread. Leftover chopped corned beef can be made into a popular hash with potatoes and onions and served with eggs for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Let's Learn About Ireland!

Photo by Thomas Bresenhuber/Shutterstock.com (Rock of Cashel)
  • Ireland, or the Republic of Ireland, is on the island of Ireland, called Éire in the Irish language. Its nickname is the Emerald Isle because it is very green and lush! 
  • Ireland is a country in northwestern Europe, west of Great Britain, another island.
  • The Republic of Ireland shares a border with Northern Ireland, which belongs to the United Kingdom. England, Scotland, Wales, which make up Great Britain, and Northern Ireland are all part of the UK.
  • Irish is one of two official languages, with English being the second; however, English is more commonly spoken.
  • Over 5 million people live in Ireland, and its total area is 32,595 square miles. Their currency is the euro. 
  • The capital city, Dublin, and its environs are home to about 40 percent of the population of Ireland.
  • Ireland has a long, complicated history, but people called the Celts made their home in the region about 700 years BCE and thrived for almost 2,000 years. Then, in the Middle Ages, Vikings arrived on ships and started settling the area, which led to conflict.
  • The Rock of Cashel is one of several popular tourist sites in Ireland. It is a rocky, limestone outcropping. At the top, you will find medieval buildings, including a Gothic cathedral; a Romanesque chapel called Cormac's Chapel, named for a King of Munster; the Hall of the Vicars Choral; a 15th-century Tower House; an abbey; a round tower; and a high cross. Saint Patrick, of St. Patrick's Day fame, is associated with the Rock of Cashel.
  • Ireland was part of the United Kingdom from 1801 until December 6, 1922, when it became a self-governing nation but still part of the British Empire, known as the Irish Free State. In 1937 it became a republic, which was made official in 1949. The British had been involved in Ireland since 1169, when the Anglo-Normans invaded, and English kings claimed sovereignty there.
  • The Great Famine (or Irish Potato Famine) affected Ireland from 1845 to 1849. Potatoes were a staple food, and when the potato blight decimated the potato crop. As a result, many people got sick, died, or fled the country, and the population decreased by 30 percent.
  • The green on the Irish flag represents Ireland's nationalists, orange represents the Protestant followers of William of Orange in Ireland, and white represents peace between the two groups.
  • Some of the well-known symbols of Ireland include the shamrock, Celtic knot, Celtic cross, and the Celtic harp.
  • Famous Irish authors and poets include Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, and George Bernard Shaw.
  • Ireland is also famous for its Irish Celtic music and Irish dancing.
  • Green is associated with St. Patrick's Day because it is the color of spring, Ireland, and the shamrock. Saint Patrick's Day on March 17 is a public religious and cultural holiday in Ireland. Many other countries around the world also celebrate it.
  • St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in the United States for the first time in 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts. However, the city to hold the first official St. Patrick's Day parade was New York City, starting in 1766. Over 100 US cities now have Saint Patrick's Day parades. After all, on St. Patrick's day, "everybody is Irish!"
  • Traditional Irish sports are Gaelic football and hurling, and they are also the most popular sports in the country. Association football (soccer) is third in popularity. Additional sports include rugby, cricket, and horseracing. At the Olympics, boxing is Ireland's most successful sport.
  • Irish cuisine includes "boxty" (potato pancake), "colcannon" (mashed potatoes with cabbage), "coddle" (a dish of potatoes, sausage, thin bacon or "rashers," and onion), and Irish soda bread.  
  • A "full Irish breakfast" consists of bacon, pork sausage, fried eggs, black pudding (blood sausage), baked beans, sliced tomato, sautéed mushrooms, soda bread or toast, and tea or coffee.

What's It Like to Be a Kid in Ireland?

  • If kids in Ireland live in Irish-speaking communities, their schools teach classes in the Irish language. If they live in English-speaking areas, instruction is in the English language, unless kids attend an Irish-language school called a "gaelscoil," where classes are in Irish.
  • Most Irish schools require students to wear uniforms.
  • Irish children may play "rounders," a bat and ball game, "skipping" or jumping rope, marbles, and Irish "skittles," a bowling-like game where kids try to hit pins that are set up on the ground with pieces of wood called skittles.
  • Kids may participate in some of the following sports: Gaelic football, handball, hurling or camogie, association football (soccer), rugby, boxing, and swimming.
  • For breakfast, kids may eat the full, traditional Irish breakfast or have pancakes or scones. For a snack, they may eat potato chips or Irish flapjacks, which are granola bars made with oats. A favorite sweet treat is a fairy cake, a small cupcake with icing drizzled on top

That's Berry Funny

What is a foots’ favorite food? 

Toe-fu!

Lettuce Joke Around

What do you say to an angry potato? 

Anything, just butter him up first.

THYME for a Laugh

What do you call a baby potato? 

A small fry!

That's Berry Funny

Why did the Tofu cross the road? 

To prove he wasn’t chicken!

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