You can get food from almost every corner of the planet in Tokyo.

But when I was in primary school, the first foreign food chains were just arriving in Japan.

I remember being thrilled to be able to eat the same kind of food that Linus from Snoopy, or Paddington‘s Brown family ate.

Back then, when even hamburgers were still rare in Japan, for some reason my father used to love chilli con carne.

I was making chilli con carne one day, thinking about my father, and I had the idea to add a spoonful of miso. And what a difference it made!

When it’s done, you would never imagine it has miso in it, but try it for yourself and you’ll see just how good it is!

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Ingredients

• 1 cup red kidney beans
• 200g minced pork (or pork and beef mix)
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• I can (400g) tomatoes
• 1 cup water (or the juice from the kidney beans)
• olive oil
• red wine
• consomme soup stock
• laurel
• chilli powder
• black pepper
• 1 tablespoons miso (red or brown)

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1. Drain the juice from the kidney beans if you use canned beans, or soak and boil dried beans until they are soft.

2. Finely chop the onion and garlic

3. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to a heavy pan, fry the garlic till you can smell the aroma, add the minced pork and keep frying until the colour changes then add the onions and fry gently until they soften, being careful not to burn them.

4. Add the tomatoes with their juice from the can, squashing them as you go, and then add the red wine, water, soup stock, laurel, black pepper and kidney beans, and continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes.

5. Stir in the miso and add chilli pepper to taste.

6. Server with grated cheddar, or your favourite cheese.