I Just Ate My Word!

Last night, I swore on Facebook that I will never eat rice for dinner. But tonight, I broke that vow. I... had... rice! Lots and lots of rice!

I was contemplating about what to have for dinner when I remembered that I still had a batch of that home-made corned beef that Ate Marge and Kuya Nelson make (and sell). And so I decided to make some fried rice from my leftovers, fried some shoestring potatoes and boiled a few Baguio beans. I figured those would go very well with the crispy corned beef.

And the meal did not disappoint me! I feel so guilty right now for having seconds of that garlic fried rice, but at the same time I feel so satisfied. Like a cat that swallowed the canary. And so, before I could get a third helping, I decided to give away the rest of the rice to our caretaker, Nanay Nimfa.

Sorry, but I cannot share with you the meal itself. But I can show you how to make the crispy corned beef. It's really easy. Just heat up your frying pan, add about a tablespoon of cooking oil, reduce the heat and toss in your corned beef.

Canned corned beef like Palm or Purefoods is ok. What is important is that you get the kind that has long strands of meat. Take care not to burn the corned beef. Spread the corned beef evenly on the pan; do not lump them all together in the middle. This will ensure that every strand would get an equal amount of heat exposure. Scrape the pan from time to time in order to peel off the beef that has stuck to the bottom of the pan. That, my friend, is the crispy part!

Making crispy corned beef requires a bit of patience. You can't hurry crispy corned beef! So try to maintain a steady amount of heat from the burner. Don't turn it up too high as you could end up with burnt, not crisp corned beef.

When all the strands look crisp enough, transfer to a serving dish (don't forget to scrape the bottom of the pan!), surround with fried shoestring potatoes or hash browns, or boiled veggies like string beans or carrots and enjoy!

Don't forget the garlic rice!