Prior to refrigeration, the preservation of food was always a challenge, pickling, brining, and drying are just some of the ingenious ways our forebears found to preserve food. Brisket, a cheap cut of meat that requires a long and slow cook to become tender, is a favorite of Jewish communities everywhere and when pickled and then cooked is a delicacy of Jewish deli’s the world over. In London, we call it Salt Beef and it is served warm and sliced thick. In NY the same preparation is called Corned beef and is served cold sliced thin and piled high on fresh rye bread.
Here we have taken corned beef cooked it with a sweet/salty Asian glaze and served it warm or cold – it’s the fusion of NY, London, and Asian Jewish American flavours.
It is far easier to cut the corned beef once cold, or even super cold, but granted sometimes time doesn’t allow for the ins and outs of getting things cooked ahead of time into the fridge and back out again, so though it is messy to slice while hot, it will nonetheless be delicious.
There is a huge difference between dishes that are hard, dishes that are time-consuming and dishes that look after themselves. This one takes a long time, but absolutely takes care of itself. Allow for 4 hours minimum to cook this dish
- 1 (2 kl/3-4 lb) pickled brisket
GLAZE
- 1 cup hoisin sauce
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 4 Tablespoons honey
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2.5 cm fresh ginger, minced or 4 cubes frozen ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
Place meat into a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook for about three hours, until tender.
Drain (this can be done the day before).
Heat oven to 180℃/350℉.
To make the glaze: Place all the glaze ingredients to a small saucepan; whisk to combine, over low heat, keep whisking until all the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat.
Remove meat from pot; drain all liquid (this can be done the day before, just store the drained meat in the fridge in a sealed container until ready to use). Place the drained meat in a roasting tin, with high sides (at least 2 inches) pour half the glaze over the meat.
Bake covered for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven; pour remaining glaze over meat. Bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.
To serve, slice meat and spoon glaze/sauce over it.
