Freedom Curry

Pork Curry

Go big when you are making curry as if you have a family of ten. Consider the three ‘T” benefits of cooking a large portion. The first benefit is taste, although fresh made curry is good, everybody knows that the next day is much better like some magic happened over night. The second T is for time. when you make enough for 3-4 days worth of curry (and taste is still good the third day) it frees up your time for other million things on my to-do list before Christmas. The third T is for… Thank goodness for the supper, just microwave-minutes away! Phew! Christmas super sale is over rated you’d think?

What an awesome store name! Jiyuken (自由軒/Freedom House) curry restaurant in Osaka, Japan since 1910. They serve curry with signature style which combines curry sauce and rice mix together and drops an egg yolk on top. The restaurant scene is as if stuck in Showa era, not at all fancy…I can go there with my comfy sweat on…homey and nostalgic.  I used their original house blend curry powder (photo below) to made super tasty curry sauce…what a difference it makes when you use the right stuff.

I referred to Yoshiharu Doi a celebrity food researcher in Japan, his no -nonsense recipe I applaud. 

Ingredients and Instruction for 4 to 6 servings (Print Recipe Here)

• 400g pork bone in spare lib cut in big chunks
• 300g pork shoulder cut in 1 inch cube
• 2 teaspoons salt plus
• 30g butter
• 2 Tablespoons divided
• 2 medium size onion sliced thin
• 2-3 cloves of garlic grated
• 20g ginger grated
• 4 Tablespoons flour
• 2 Tablespoons curry powder I used close to 3 Tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon red pepper
• 50g tomato ketchup
• 5 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or more

1. Place all cut meat in large bowl and massage with 2 teaspoons of salt and let rest for 30 minutes
    
2. Melt butter and 1Tablespoon oil in heavy pot at medium heat and put in the sliced onion, garlic and ginger. Sauté  until golden brown, about 7-8 minutes. Note: onion may stick to the bottom of the pan so scrape off with a wooden spatula as you go, this slightly burnt stuff gives onion a nice color.
   
3. Turn heat to low, put flour in and continue to sauté . Scrape off thin film that develops at the bottom of the pan occasionally. Add curry and red pepper. Add ketchup, sauté well with each addition. about 5 minutes. Set aside
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4. In a  large skillet, heat 1Tablespoon oil . Blot dry the meat with paper towel and place in the skillet. Brown meats then add to the pot (#3) and sauté for 2-3 minutes at medium heat. Pour water 1 cup at times, turning the meat frequently. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer at low heat until sauce thickens and meat is tender, and the bone starts to separate from meat.about 1-2 hours. Add more salt if necessary.
   
5. Serve hot over cooked rice. Garnish with sliced almond or parsley (optional).Reheating instruction – you may need to add more water to loosen and  may need to adjust seasoning.

My homemade kabocha / Japanese pumpkin puree was not quite enough to make pumpkin pie… but we had a equally fabulous pumpkin chiffon roll cake.

I was eager to try the donuts muffin I spied on two great bloggers – Bake for Happy kids and Anncoo Journal. Mine with homemade Quincy jam.

My husband’s co-worker handed him some persimmons last week…firm, sweet, zero fat, and no seeds (this variety has transparent seeds?), a perfect snack! 
I read an interesting article about Hashimoto Farm who grows persimmon extensively in Hawaii.

Happy December!