Corned beef hash and corn. Where did it come from?

[CowboyTutt]

My Dad really liked adding a can of corned beef hash and a can of corn together. While most corned beef hash (with potatoes) in a can is not very high quality, it has always been one of my more favorite greasy dishes once in a while. I asked him one time, where did this combo come from, and he said he learned of it in the military. Dad was a Navy boy and flew an A-4 off of an aircraft carrier (I think it was the Independence?) in Vietnam. I never asked him more about it, but now I'm understandably curios. I did a brief internet search, but could not find anything on the origins of the combination or where it was used.

I'm always impressed with the knowledge here, hoping someone can offer up more information. I would like to make a home-made version, I think that would be tasty (and less greasy too!) -Tutt

[Sevastopol]

Pretty standard with tomato sauce over white rice in Puerto Rico. One of my favorites and I'll have it a couple times a year. It does give me some acid indigestion, though.

***I was referring to corned beef, not the hash. Read it wrong.

[Ray]

I had a very brief naval career in the middle 1980s as a shipfitter/damage controlman (HTFN-HT3) and I confess to not remembering that particular combination. The navy's culinary specialty in those days was breakfast and there were so many fat folk that you could hardly pass a shipmate in a passageway without one or both hugging the bulkhead to civilly maintain personal space.

The base galleys all had most excellent fodder in those days. I have dined at great lakes n.t.c. (waukegan), treasure island n.s. (san francisco), norfolk naval shipyard (portsmouth), norfolk n.s. , mayport n.s., roosevelt roads n.s. and the ships, uss yoyo AD-19, uss sims FF-1059, uss sumter LST-1181......

First you get two trays and ignore the mess decks master at arms when he/she (and currently "it") tries to limit you to one.

Second you order three over medium with the understanding that if the cook breaks a yolk then they will go ahead and convert them to "country scrambled". Whilst your eggs are cooking you break line somewhat and get a ladle of grits in the entree section of one tray and a layer of hash browns or cottage fries on the other. At the next station you get a ladle of sawmill gravy on top of the grits and both types of s.o.s. gravy (chipped corned beef in cream and ground beef in white) on top of the spuds.

Back to the flattop, you get the special order eggs on top of the sawmill gravy on top of the grits. You get a heaping spatula of regular scrambled (dehydrated) on top of the spuds and s.o.s. gravies.

Now down to the meat stations you get three rashers of streaky bacon, two sausage patties, three sausage links and a ham steak stewed in redeye.

Now a bowl of farina with strawberries and a bowl of oats with blueberries.

You get seated with a mug of joe and you smack yourself on the forehead and cuss for forgetting the flap jacks and/or waffles.

You wonder at the obesity stats back then ? BT1 Weir and BM1 House could not get through a round scuttle during battle stations/general quarters. Whoever was in charge of the hatch would have to break zebra and undog it and raise it for them.

Them donning a m.s.a./o.b.a. was absurdly out of the question.

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hey griff, you ever wear one of these ?

Then there was GMMCS Sergeant, as round as a senior chief could be without bursting open !

[Ray]

And I forgot bug juice ! Green and red and purple flavored ascorbic acid blend packets formulated to make five gallons at a time. In R division we mixed a whole packet to just two gallons of near boiling water from the scullery deep sink to cut through the nitre concretions to unstop urinals. Didn't work up in officer country though. We'd get work orders to unstop urinals in state rooms up there and were never successful despite threats of captain's mast. The cheng, LTC Nowell (dead ringer for actor gordon jump) interceded on our behalf saying, " no bother, we officers squat to pee anyway."

[Sevastopol]

Besides all of that, there was also a rack with grapefruit and, I think, boxes of dry cereal in the mess hall. Breakfast was the best!

[earlmck]

I spent a couple years on a carrier which operated off coast of Vietnam. I worked the night shift by choice which gave me two breakfasts (what our cooks did best) per shift. Midnight chow was breakfast and morning chow was breakfast so us night owls dined well. We occasionally got corned beef hash but not with corn in it. That may have been a personal specialty of the cook in that mess on that particular ship your dad was on.

I have quite fond memories of our cooks' version of an especially fine S.O.S. and the canned grapefruit sections that accompanied every breakfast on the ship, but it was all good. Except for the milk. I'm a milk drinker to this day and I could not gag down the "reconstituted" milk they produced from (I suspected at the time) WWII surplus powdered milk.

[.45colt]

What a Great idea...never had hash & corn together but now I will have to try it ! My Dad was a WW2 vet and He used to drain a small can of corn and mix it in pancake batter , I love them as a Kid. I f I'm going fishing or hunting, cutting wood or anything serious outside I always eat hash and eggs in the morning and I can go along time without getting hungry. .

[samsi]

Having been an Air Wing Marine I spent some time on Naval Air Stations and don't ever recall corn in the hash, although it sounds like it might be pretty good. I do have mostly good memories of Navy chow, with the exception of a mass food poisoning episode via fried rabbit at NAS Memphis. Spent close to a year at Barber's Point on graveyards and the Mid Rats cook would indulge us with 5 egg omelettes every night - I was more than a couple pounds over my allowable weight for a while.

[Griff]

hey griff, you ever wear one of these ?

No. The day we had fire training, I spent in the pool & track doin' my bit to qualify for SpecOps. You have to know just WHEN to volunteer! Spent 3 mos in country, then out to the fleet due to an injury and the balance of my 2nd year on Midway Island recovering. Did last 2 years a SK2 aboard a DDG. Our CS2 was a bud and I ate breakfast with the cooks, yeah 4am is a little early, but no powdered milk or reconstituted eggs, fresh bacon & sausage, sliced potatoes just like my grandmother made them, fried in bacon grease and break the over-easy eggs on top of those and mix... still my go-to breakfast to this day! I have to settle for hash-browns out on the road, but at home... I'm slicing potatoes like grandma's thick chips for my breakfast.

Back to the OP, can't say as I've ever had Corned Beef Hash with corn. Not gonna say I haven't, but I tend to avoid SOS and Corned beef hash.

[CowboyTutt]

I made some "high dollar" corned beef hash and corn with Boar's Head corned beef (super lean and expensive sandwich meat), diced fresh potato's, green onions and frozen corn. Turned out exceptionally tasty, not overly salty at all, in fact I added some salt and pepper to one batch, and pickled jalapenos to another batch I cooked up. I would cover the skillet to let it steam a bit to soften the potatoes, then let the rest of the moisture cook off until things started to brown a bit. Serve hot and fresh in a deep bowel. I couldn't bring myself to toss an egg over it yet, too tasty as is. Family loved it, highly recommend! -Tutt

[JimT]

Back to the OP, can't say as I've ever had Corned Beef Hash with corn. Not gonna say I haven't, but I tend to avoid SOS and Corned beef hash.

Interesting. I always liked SOS and still have some now and again.

[Grizz]

Yeah! Stuff on Other Stuff is a fish boat standby.

To answer Andy's question, the term corned beef refers to beef that was heavily salted to cure it by drawing out the fluids, thus preserving before refrigeration became available. the "corns" are large bits of salt that might hurt cracked teeth.

the hash could be shredded meat or potatos and corn are addenda piled onto the salt cured beef. leastwise i think that's how Mom will explain it next time i see her.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/pack ... orned-beef

any combination of venison bacon beef ham cod salmon beans rice and ice water are fine by me. with corn tortillas of course

†

[Ray]

ray's s.o.s. gravy recipe.....

one pound ground meat of your choice browned in skillet, herbed, seasoned and spiced to your taste.
remove as much or as little of the rendered fat as you like.
on low heat, sprinkle just enough flour (amount depends on rendered fat level) over meat to begin gravy.
stir about until flour loses its rawness (blondish roux).
gradually add water while stirring until gravy is as loose or as thick as you like.
melt into gravy a good portion of headcheese stir, stir, stir.....

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add brewed coffee left over from last pot to thin consistency if needed.
serve over your preferred shingle, or grits/polenta, rice, pasta, spuds etc.

Notice, lactose free for those allergic to dairy. headcheeses ain't got no cheese

[CowboyTutt]

That sounds pretty good Ray! Here's a pic of my hash and corn. It is colorful and tasty as well.. -T-

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