Jamaican-Style Bully Beef
Tinned corned beef simmered with onion, tomatoes, sweet peppers, thyme, ketchup and a whole Scotch bonnet into a quick, peppery stew for rice.
"Bully beef" is the soldiers' name for tinned corned beef. Wikipedia says canned corned beef, with hardtack, was the British Army's main field ration from the Second Boer War to World War II, and traces the name to sailors' "soup and bouilli" in the 1860s. Sainsbury's Magazine, introducing Nadine Brown's recipe, notes that the tins were a wartime ration in both world wars because they kept so well, and that in Jamaica bully beef becomes a quick stew with peppers, herbs, ketchup and a Scotch bonnet. Wikipedia lists Jamaica, Barbados and Puerto Rico among the Caribbean places with their own canned corned beef dishes. CaribbeanPot.com's "Loaded Caribbean Corned Beef", inspired by a Jamaican friend's grandmother, calls the same dish "fry" corned beef or bully beef.
Why it works the kitchen science
Whole scotch bonnet
Simmering the pepper unbroken lets its fruity aroma into the sauce while most of the heat stays sealed inside.
Ketchup and browning
Ketchup adds the sweet-sour tomato backbone a 25-minute stew cannot build on its own, and the browning darkens the sauce the way a long-cooked stew would.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oil in a deep skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring now and then, until soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the scallions and garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Step 2
Add the tomatoes, green and red peppers, the whole Scotch bonnet and the thyme. Simmer, stirring often, until the tomatoes break down and the peppers soften, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Step 3
Stir in the corned beef, breaking up the big chunks. Add the ketchup, browning and water.
- Step 4
Turn the heat to its lowest setting and simmer 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.
- Step 5
Fish out the Scotch bonnet (whole, it gives flavor and gentle heat; burst, it gets very hot). Season with black pepper; the beef is salty enough that it rarely needs salt.
- Step 6
Serve over hot rice.
Jamaican-Style Bully Beef
Serves 4 · about 4 cups stew, plus rice · 40 min total
Stew
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 whole Scotch bonnet pepper
- Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 (12 oz) can corned beef, broken up
- 4 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp gravy browning (or Kitchen Bouquet)
- 1/4 cup water
- Black pepper
To serve
- 4 cups hot cooked white rice
Method
- Heat the oil in a deep skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring now and then, until soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the scallions and garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Add the tomatoes, green and red peppers, the whole Scotch bonnet and the thyme. Simmer, stirring often, until the tomatoes break down and the peppers soften, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in the corned beef, breaking up the big chunks. Add the ketchup, browning and water.
- Turn the heat to its lowest setting and simmer 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.
- Fish out the Scotch bonnet (whole, it gives flavor and gentle heat; burst, it gets very hot). Season with black pepper; the beef is salty enough that it rarely needs salt.
- Serve over hot rice.
Adapted from Nadine Brown, "Jamaican-style bully beef", Sainsbury's Magazine, as written for 4. A 340 g tin is the standard 12 oz can. "Gravy browning" is a UK caramel coloring; Kitchen Bouquet is the usual US equivalent (our substitution). The splash of water as 1/4 cup and the cabbage tip (from CaribbeanPot.com) are ours. Canned corned beef is fully cooked. sainsburysmagazine.co.uk. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Want more heat? Slit the Scotch bonnet before it goes in, and wear gloves when you handle it (CaribbeanPot.com's advice for habanero applies).
- CaribbeanPot.com refries leftovers with chopped cabbage for another side dish.
- Chill the tin first and it slides out in one piece, easy to break up.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- "Bully beef" comes from the French "bouilli". Disputed: Wikipedia traces it to sailors' "soup and bouilli" (1866 and 1867 sources); other accounts in search results point to French "boeuf bouilli" on World War I tins, an Australian cattle station, or the bull on a Hereford-brand tin.
- Bully beef was the British Army's ration. Documented (Wikipedia, Corned beef): the main field ration from the Second Boer War to World War II.
- Jamaicans call all tinned corned beef bully beef. Folklore: repeated by recipe sites and a Wikipedia talk page; no survey.
- It must be served with rice. Folklore: Sainsbury's serves it with rice; others serve it on toast or with hard dough bread.
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