Host Mother's Chilli Con Carne

I walked diagonally across the garden, which was unimaginably large in Japan, and opened the door, which was about twice as large horizontally as my Japanese house's door. I found my host mother, Jeena, in the dining room.

"Minori, I hear you are leaving next week?" Jeena, who was sitting on the sofa watching The Parent Trap, smiled but was a little sad to say when she found me returning.

"Oh yes, Jeena. It has been almost a year since I came here," I replied to her and looked at Jeena's face. I felt kind of lonely too, so I sat down next to her, placed my backpack beside me, and leaned against her soft, warm body. She sighed softly, placed her hands on my shoulders, and gave me a hug.

"When you first came to my house, I didn't expect your English to improve so much."

"Ah, I was worried too. But thanks to you, Jeena, I did. You make the most delicious food, and that's what kept me going."

"I remember the first weekend, Minori. You were crying over dinner." Jeena and I ate popcorn and talked about when I first came to this house.

"I remember it well. I think I was nervous because I had been working hard all week in English, but that wasn't all. I wanted you to tell me how to make the nachos you had made for me because they were so amazingly delicious, but I didn't know how to ask you in English! I was like, why can't I ask this? I tried hard all day in English... So I started to cry."

"I am so happy that you like my cooking so much." Jeena's food was always delicious. So on the days she cooked for me, I would even turn down an invitation to go out with Louis, a French guy I had a crush on, and go home as soon as school was over.

"I wish I could be a good cook like you. Oh, that's right! Could you teach me how to make that nachos? I've never had nachos that good before."

"Sure, why don't you make it together, after watching this?"

"Really? Thanks! I'm going to put my backpack in my room and get changed!"

......

Three months after returning to Japan, I had been feeling a bit down, and I remembered the last time I had been able to spend some quality time with Jeena. The result of the TOEIC test I took one month after returning to Japan was not encouraging. I put the score sheet back in the envelope, thinking that I had been better at reading, writing, and listening when I was in Australia. I had spent a whole year in Australia immersed in English, and I could speak English well enough to talk to Jeena about my favorite recipes! Why did I get a 675? I thought I would get over 700... The more I think about it, the sadder I become.

In times like this, I know. I have no choice but to eat something delicious. I decided to follow my rules and have something delicious to eat. I was just thinking about Jeena, and I chose the nachos recipe from my recipe book. The ingredients for nachos are canned tomatoes, ground beef, onions, garlic, red beans, Maggi's Chilli Con Carne seasoning packet, sour cream, cheese, salsa sauce, and of course, tortilla chips. With my shopping list in my hand, I headed to the largest grocery store in the neighborhood and became even more depressed. Maggi's chilli con carne seasoning packets were not sold in Japan...

"Oh no... now there is nothing to comfort me but Jeena's nachos..." My stomach was craving nachos. It would not accept anything else. I had no choice. I had to make this myself from scratch. I hopped on my phone and visited the Australian Maggi's website, looked up spices in the ingredients section, and ran to the spice section of the grocery store. I bought cumin, paprika powder, chili pepper, coriander, and other spices that are not so familiar with Japanese cuisine at the store. And stood in the kitchen, relying on my memory.

And voila! It tastes just like Jeena's nachos! It took four hours, but finally, I had managed to make nachos that tasted like hers, even though the results of Maggi's corporate efforts could not be completely replicated by an individual. But people say that the secret ingredient is the love of the person who made it, so even if I had used Maggi's seasoning, I would have thought it tasted a little different. Jeena's nachos are the best in the world to me. I ate a lot of nachos, tears streaming down my face, reminiscing about the times I missed so much. I also ate some salsa sauce I bought at the grocery store because eating nachos all the time makes my mouth thirsty.

"...Hey, this salsa sauce tastes different too."

Since then, I have been making salsa sauce every weekend. However, I have not been able to recreate the salsa sauce that Jeena made for me. I think I will have to go back and see Jeena. I closed my recipe book with all the salsa sauce recipes I've tried and opened my laptop to access the plane booking site.

Recipe (for a full pot of 30 cm in diameter and 15 cm deep)

Ingredients:

1 or 2 cloves of garlic

1 medium onion

500 g ground beef

1 can of chopped tomatoes

2 Maggi bouillon cubes

400 g cooked red kidney beans

Spices:

About 1 teaspoon of chili powder

About 1 teaspoon of cumin

About 1 teaspoon of paprika

About 1 teaspoon of coriander

A pinch of oregano

A pinch of salt

A pinch of pepper

Tortilla chips, as desired

Pizza cheese, as much as you like

Sour cream, as much as you like

Directions:

Step 1: Mince the garlic and onion.

Step 2: Heat a pan over medium heat and fry the garlic with oil (not included in the recipe). Once the garlic is fragrant, add the onions to the pan and sauté until translucent.

Step 3: Add the ground beef to the pan and cook until browned.

Step 4: Stir in the canned tomatoes and red kidney beans. Heat through, then add the Maggi bouillon cubes.

Step 5: Once the bouillon cubes have dissolved, add all the spices to the pot. Season to taste. The amounts listed in the recipe are guidelines, so adjust to achieve the desired flavor.

Step 6: Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Step 7: Arrange tortilla chips on plates and top with cheese and sour cream.

Step 8: Enjoy your chilli con carne!

This story and the recipes for the dishes therein have already been published on Medium, Note, and other sites. I have modified the wording and language of this story to comply with the terms and conditions of each site on which I have published it.