Chili con Carne (Elementary School Portion)
【小学校】チリコンカン
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese elementary school lunch menu
Chili con carne shows up regularly on Japanese school lunch menus, and this is the elementary-school version. Instead of kidney beans it uses plain boiled soybeans, which are a pantry staple in Japan and soft enough for children to eat easily, and the sauce leans on ketchup and chuno sauce for a gentle sweet-savory flavor rather than heat. The chili powder goes in at the very end and only if you want it, so you can keep it completely mild for younger children. It is just as good spooned over rice as it is scooped up with bread.
Added. Open the recipe helper (bottom right) → ☰ Menu → 🛒 Shopping list to see the ingredients for your family size.
Printing uses the number of adults and children set under Ingredients, so set those first.
Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese elementary school, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 44.4 gground pork
- 52.1 gboiled soybeans (canned or vacuum-packed)Plain cooked whole soybeans sold in cans or pouches, ready to use. Substitute: Canned chickpeas or white beans.
- 58.8 gonion
- 22.2 gcarrot
- 103.2 gwater
- 74.3 gcanned diced tomatoes
Seasonings
- 1 ggarlic paste (tube)Grated garlic sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh garlic for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated garlic in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- 1.4 gvegetable oil
- 0.8 gconsommé bouillon (granules or cube)Japanese-style Western soup stock powder or cubes, similar to chicken or vegetable bouillon. Substitute: Chicken or vegetable bouillon granules or a bouillon cube.
- 13.2 gketchup
- 4.4 gchuno sauce (Japanese medium-thick brown sauce)A sweet, tangy, fruit-and-vegetable-based brown sauce that sits between thin Worcestershire and thick tonkatsu sauce. Substitute: Tonkatsu sauce, or Worcestershire sauce mixed with a little ketchup.
- 1.7 gsoy sauce
- 0.3 gsalt
- to tastepepper
- to tastechili powder
- 1 gflour
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- boiled soybeans (canned or vacuum-packed) (大豆水煮)
- Plain cooked whole soybeans sold in cans or pouches, ready to use. Substitute: Canned chickpeas or white beans.
- garlic paste (tube) (にんにくチューブ)
- Grated garlic sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh garlic for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated garlic in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- consommé bouillon (granules or cube) (コンソメ)
- Japanese-style Western soup stock powder or cubes, similar to chicken or vegetable bouillon. Substitute: Chicken or vegetable bouillon granules or a bouillon cube.
- chuno sauce (Japanese medium-thick brown sauce) (中濃ソース)
- A sweet, tangy, fruit-and-vegetable-based brown sauce that sits between thin Worcestershire and thick tonkatsu sauce. Substitute: Tonkatsu sauce, or Worcestershire sauce mixed with a little ketchup.
Directions
- 1
Roughly chop the onion and carrot. Put them in a microwave-safe container with 1 tbsp of water (not included in the ingredient amounts), cover with plastic wrap, and microwave at 1200W for about 4 minutes.
- 2
Heat the vegetable oil in a pot, add the onion and carrot, and sauté over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add the ground pork and garlic paste and sauté over medium heat until the pork is cooked through.
- 3
Add the water and canned diced tomatoes and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes.
- 4
Add the boiled soybeans, consommé, ketchup, chuno sauce, soy sauce, salt, and pepper, and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. (Simmering until almost all the liquid has cooked off gives a richer, more concentrated flavor.)
- 5
To finish, add the flour and chili powder if you like, and cook over low heat, stirring.
- 6
Let it cool so the flavors settle in.
* Add the chili powder a little at a time, tasting as you go, to adjust the heat. For elementary-school-age children and younger, we make it without chili powder.
* If you plan to serve it over rice, we recommend leaving out the flour. If you plan to eat it with bread, thickening it with the flour holds it together and makes it easier to eat.
* Microwave times vary depending on how much you are making. Keep an eye on it and adjust as needed.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 261.9 kcal | 523.8 kcal | 261.9 kcal |
| Protein | 17.4 g | 34.8 g | 17.4 g |
| Fat | 14.4 g | 28.8 g | 14.4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 21.3 g | 42.6 g | 21.3 g |
| Fiber | 7.2 g | 14.4 g | 7.2 g |
| Salt equivalent | 1.7 g | 3.3 g | 1.7 g |
| Calcium | 70.9 mg | 141.9 mg | 70.9 mg |
| Iron | 2.3 mg | 4.5 mg | 2.3 mg |
| Potassium | 812.4 mg | 1624.8 mg | 812.4 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 261.9 kcal | 17.4 g | 14.4 g | 21.3 g | 7.2 g | 1.7 g | 70.9 mg | 2.3 mg | 812.4 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 523.8 kcal | 34.8 g | 28.8 g | 42.6 g | 14.4 g | 3.3 g | 141.9 mg | 4.5 mg | 1624.8 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese elementary-school portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
This is the elementary-school portion of Chili con Carne (larger quantities, same method).
