This classic sandwich is made with bully beef or tin corned beef. Every Jamaican child remembers eating these for lunch!
Happy Sunday!
In honor of Jamaica’s Independence Day, I am sharing a real old-time recipe for my Jamaican readers: a bully beef sandwich!
What is bully beef?
Bully beef is how Jamaicans refer to tin corned beef. You can find these tins in Caribbean stores, or online. Did anyone else eat these growing up? I feel like it was just a West Indian thing.
It’s been a looooong time since I’ve eaten meat, much less canned meat, but I fondly remember bully beef sandwiches. They were great for lunch or a quick snack. The only part I hated was opening the can. Unlike canned beans, canned tin beef has a little key that you have to use to unwind the metal and open the can. The keys would always fall off before the can was fully open, so it was a huge pain. I still have a scar on my hand from opening a tin as a child, so I will always have a special hate for these little cans.
How to prepare bully beef sandwiches
There are lots ways to prepare bully beef sandwiches:
1. Some people eat the beef uncooked, straight from the can. This is not for me.
2. Some people cook the beef with peas. I like this method, but usually when I’m eating bully beef with rice.
3. Some people cook the beef with onions and ketchup, and serve with cabbage. This is my family.
These sandwiches are meant to be simple meals. All you need is some bread (usually white slice bread but I used sourdough), beef, and a few seasonings. I also like to slather a bit of mustard on my bread, but this is not traditional.
For those who want to re-live their bully beef memories, go ahead and make this sandwich! For those of you who are new to the bully beef train, give this a try and let me know what you think!
Looking for another Jamaican dish? Try these recipes:
Share this recipe…
If you make this recipe, be sure to let me know by rating it and leaving a comment below. I would love to hear from you. And don’t forget to tag #sweetandsorrel on Instagram!
Bully Beef (Jamaican Corned Beef Sandwiches)
Ingredients
- 1 tin corned beef
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1 small cooking tomato, diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- coarse ground pepper
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 sliced bread
- mustard (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet. Add diced onion and tomato and cook for approximately 3 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add canned beef to the skillet. Use fork to break up the beef. Fry until the beef begins to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Stir in ketchup, then cook for another minute.
- Toast sliced bread of choice. Spread on some mustard (optional), then add cooked corned beef. Top with cooked cabbage (optional).
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @sweetandsorrel on Instagram and hashtag it #sweetandsorrel so we can see all the deliciousness!
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