A good recipe taught to me by my friends Ryuta and Mayu. Many happy hours eating this, drinking beer, and playing mahjong.

Kanpai !

Ingredients

1 Tbls garlic, minced
1 Tbls butter
1 to 2 pounds meat (pork and beef are our favorites)
Salt and Pepper

1 cup onion, half-rings
2 potatoes, thick cubed
1 cup carrots, thick chopped
S&B golden curry, HOT, half-package

Extra Spices

2 Tbls Marsala
1/4 cup wine (red)
1 cube chicken boiluon (or add some liquid in place of the water)
5-6 Bay Leaves (laurel)
2-3 cups water
2-3 Tbls Tonkatsu sauce (catsup is ok)
Soy sauce (optional)

Directions

Heat a large pot on high heat.

Saute the butter and garlic for a minute, until the butter starts to brown. Add the meat, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally until the outside of the meat is browned.

Add the carrots and potatoes, and saute them for 2 or 3 minutes.

Add the onion and half-package of curry paste. Break up the paste with your spoon.

Add the "extra spices", and mix well.

Note: these extra spices are all optional. For a quick curry, use only the curry paste and it will turn out ok. I have learned that you can use just about anything in this section of extras, and the combinations are endless.

Let simmer for as long as you like. A short simmer will result in a slightly shallower flavor, but firmer vegetables. A longer simmer will result in a deeper flavor, but softer vegetables.

Note: I will experiment with pre-sauteing the vegetables to a semi-firm state, reserving them to the side, then simmering the meat and sauce separately for a longer time. Adding the vegetables back at the end ought to produce the best of both worlds.

Drink Recommendation

Crisp beer (Kirin, Sapporo, or American light beers)
A semi-sweet (Riesling) or semi-sparkling wine.