Welcome to the column to go to when you’re a broke, tired college student in a dorm. Today, I wanted to share a recipe a good friend of mine helped me make this semester. While her parents are native to Knoxville area of Appalachia, she was raised in Japan for the first 10 years of her life. As a result, her family has a lot of Japanese recipes that they still make here, including recipes like this. Since I usually cook by eye, this version is more Americanized compared to authentic Japanese curry.  

The ingredients are: salted bone-in pork chops, one diced onion, one diced bell pepper, two diced celery stalks, two tablespoons of beef broth base, two cups of black coffee, two cups of apple juice, half a cup of flour, four smashed or grated garlic cloves, bacon grease, paprika, cumin, chives, tumeric, seasoned salt, pepper, chili powder, cinnamon and ginger. 

Spray down a large pot, and brown the outside of the pork chops in bacon grease. Remove the chops, then sauté the onions, celery and peppers until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic, and stir in until aromatic, then season the sautéed veggies with the spices to taste. Put the chops back in the pot, and add the coffee, apple juice and two cups of water with the broth base.

Bring the stew to a boil, and then turn down the heat. Stew for at least two hours or until the pork falls off the bone. The longer the curry cooks, the deeper your flavors will be.

Serve with seasoned rice and katsu pork, or eat on it on its own.

(Contributed/japan.recipetineats.com)

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