When I asked Mui—a good friend and my favorite DP to work with—what she considered to be the best food in Japan, she—who’s visited Japan more times than she can count—said “Japanese Curry”.
When the great (and I mean GREAT) Bob Darden—stepfather to my brother-in-law, which makes him not really related but I still say “related” because he’s that great—commented on a photo that Japanese Curry was the thing that he and his wife—who lived in Japan for quite some time—missed the most, I begin taking note.
But was still perplexed.
How, in the land of sushi and ramen can something seemingly so alien stand out?
I mean… curry?
The dish doesn’t even seem to match up with the image.
India? Sure.
Thailand? Absolutely.
But Japan…
I don’t know.
Maybe it was because of its lack of aesthetics.
Maybe because it was messy and Japan is not.
Or because Japan doesn’t really do spice?
I don’t know.
But it’s worth, at least, a quick introduction so you—if you haven’t already—will know a bit before you try.
The story goes (and there are a few, so take this as it is) that the British brought curry powder over to Japan during the Meji restoration in the late 1800s. Numerous splinter stories have shipwrecks and trading and other delicious details that are probably untrue. But we know it arrived around then and we know that Japan took it and soon made it their own.
So—and we’re passing up a lot of stuff to get to this—what makes Japanese Curry… well, Japanese?
In a sense, it’s more of a stew with curry flavoring. Carrots and potatoes are ubiquitous, as is the dark gravy it’s cooked into—a gravy heavily relying on garam masala, bay leaves and beef broth.
It’s also commonly seen with a pork cutlet, as well as a side of pickled ginger.
What it’s not is spicy, floral or tropical, as seen in many SE Asian versions.
But it’s huge.
In fact, in a 2001 survey, Japanese said they ate curry more often than sushi.
So go forth.
Have you some Japanese Curry.
(And let me know what you think, because it’s fine. Even good. But better than the two biggest dishes we know? Doubtful.)
