Hajime no Ippou

Autumn in Japan is usually so nice, but this year seemed to give it a miss. It's cold. I just tried to heat water in my ofuro (hair-washin' time- no running hot water) for the first time since March, only to find it's somehow damaged and won't hold water. We'll, I've been cold-hose showering it for this long, and it really does boost the immune system and increase cold-tolerance.. now to test how much. Just gotta hold out until I have a free weekend to call a repairman over.. shooting for late November. Heh.

Like any gecko in sub-balmy temperatures, I'm feeling sluggish. This leads to me not wanting to go outside, which leads to creative shirking. Some spicy curry to warm the innards sounded good, but I had no meat- and then inspiration struck! Fall back on that Hawaiian comfort food, SPAM!

My basic keema sauce is made by browning minced onions, garlic and ginger. Add a pat of butter and fry some cumin seeds in it. Some turmeric, a pinch of garam masala, a bunch of ground coriander with a clove or three finish the base. Then goes the heat- in my case flakes of togarashi, a red pepper. An element of tomato is needed, fresh is best but lazy people can use spaghetti sauce. Then the meat. Grating SPAM is as appetizing as it sounds, so I just kinda chopped it up and threw it in. Poured in some water, and let it simmer.

Judgment- SPAM, as educated folk know, is a contraction of "spiced ham" and thus has it's own distinctive flavor. The juxtaposition of a powerful keema base and SPAM was well.. almost alarming. However! It was an excellent second-day curry (as most are) as the saltiness of the SPAM diffused into the sauce, and the spices mellowed out the 'meat' somewhat. So, if you're ever so lazy you don't want to eat on the first night, well..

Currently on the third day of.. SPurry? And it's really quite good. I figure, with all the cooking time i'm saving, I should do something constructive. And so- inaugural post! I hope to one day contribute something of worth. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu.