Japanese curry

[melonpan]

I've never seen the Java box - does it involve coconut milk in some way?

among the 100 odd items in the ingredients list, there is "coconut paste"... i like it though.

i really look forward to trying these other ones.

we tried a couple korean ones last year, but i still really didnt like them. my tastes have been japanified for good it seems.

[prasantrin]

our library for 2011

Your pictures reminds me of a story, which might be funny were it not a little sad.

My friend's mother was suffering from dementia, and one day my friend's sister came home to find their mother had eaten an entire box of curry roux, thinking it was chocolate. She didn't even realize it wasn't chocolate as she was eating it.

So be careful of the box of Baker's chocolates; you might confuse it for a box of curry one day!

(I know you won't, it just reminded me of my friend when I saw the curry and chocolate side-by-side.)

[AAQuesada]

I finally developed a recipe I like. There's nothing wrong with the boxed stuff, but I like to do things the hard way.

Japanese Curry

Yield: 10

Ingredients: Amount: Notes:

Beef Chuck 1 lb Cubed

Onions 6 ea Julienned

Garlic cloves 3 ea minced

Ginger 1T Minced

Chicken Stock 1 gal Hot

Curry Pwdr 3 T Pref Japanese (S&B)

Apple, red 2 ea

Carrots 4 ea 1/2" Mire Poix

Potato, AP 4 ea 1/2" Mire Poix

Peas, frozen 6 oz

sachet 1ea 1 star anise, 1 bay leaf

Brown Roux 6 oz Add 2T curry pwdr to roux

Methods:

1) Sear meat, remove and reserve Key Points:

1) Do not over crowd pan

2) Caramelize Onions 2) Slow, med heat

3) Add Ginger + Garlic 3) .

4) Add hot stock and Sachet; Add meat 4) .

5) Peel and grate Apples into pot 5) .

6) Simmer until soft 6) .

7) Add Carrots, Potatoes, curry powder 7) .

8) Simmer until just cooked 8) .

9) Add curry roux and simmer until thick 9) .

10) Add frozen peas & serve 10) .

[melonpan]

6 oz of roux: how much butter/flour do you start with to end up with 6 oz? maybe roughly 6 tbsp butter, 3/4 c flour?

thanks

[AAQuesada]

I usually do equal parts 3oz butter + 3oz flour by weight. If you use butter, if you don't clarify it at least try to cook out the water.

[melonpan]

thanks. i just realized probably for the first time ever that ounces can be weight or volume. maybe not the first time, but 3 oz + 3 oz = 6 oz makes simple sense. i just didnt think of it as a weight

thank you again for sharing the rec

[AAQuesada]

If you try it let me know what you think.

[fendi_pilot]

If anyone has the chance to visit Camp in the yoyogi section of Tokyo, (fairly close to the yamanote line if I remember correctly) in an unassuming storefront which you must walk down a few steps to enter - then please do.

Camp offers a style of curry that is perhaps similar in taste to what I see as fast food style that's so prominent but really makes a huge effort to focus on fresh seasonal vegetables, cooked to order and presented in a tiny cast iron skillet. I think overall the flavors, and focus on ingredients, are just a little more sophisticated. The forks, drinking cups and overall aesthetic all echo what you might use while camping - that is tools designed that are both efficient and portable.

Anyway this place really stuck out for me among the other more katsu type curry places. I can't remember whether they even served a meat option or not. Our lack of communication skills in the japanese language might have prevented us for ascertaining one way or the other. I think we ended up going at least twice b/c we loved it so much. I hope it's still doing well.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Forgive me if this is a naïve question:  is Western style rice traditionally served with curry or is Japanese style rice?  I have made curry by the umamimart recipe a couple of times now and I find I much prefer Western long grain rice with this than Japanese.

 

[helenjp]

Absolutely and utterly Japanese rice. Doesn't mean you can't have whatever rice you prefer, of course.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, helenjp said:

Absolutely and utterly Japanese rice. Doesn't mean you can't have whatever rice you prefer, of course.

 

Thanks!

 

[Lisa Shock]

14 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Forgive me if this is a naïve question:  is Western style rice traditionally served with curry or is Japanese style rice?  I have made curry by the umamimart recipe a couple of times now and I find I much prefer Western long grain rice with this than Japanese.

 

 

When I was in Japan, every curry place and every Indian, Sri Lankan, and Tibetan restaurant we visited had Japanese style, short grain rice. We asked one Sri Lankan restaurant owner why he didn't serve basmati or something and he told us that he had tried but the Japanese customers did not like it.

[adey73]

On 1/15/2018 at 9:14 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Forgive me if this is a naïve question:  is Western style rice traditionally served with curry or is Japanese style rice?  I have made curry by the umamimart recipe a couple of times now and I find I much prefer Western long grain rice with this than Japanese.

 

 

how you rating the curry though?  

 

Instant coffee isn't exactly Desi, but looks interesting ingredient list?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, adey73 said:

 

how you rating the curry though?  

 

Instant coffee isn't exactly Desi, but looks interesting ingredient list?

 

I've made the curry a couple of times and I like it.  It is however a lot of work.

 

I wouldn't mine considering other curry recipes but I can't say I've found any others that are not based on a mix.

 

[heidih]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I wouldn't mine considering other curry recipes but I can't say I've found any others that are not based on a mix.

 

 

This recent scratch one from Serious Eats looks promising. I like how he analyzed the spice blend. Not as labor and time intentive as yours.  http://www.seriouseats.com/2018/01/how-to-make-from-scratch-japanese-curry-thats.html

[JoNorvelleWalker]

19 hours ago, heidih said:

 

This recent scratch one from Serious Eats looks promising. I like how he analyzed the spice blend. Not as labor and time intentive as yours.  http://www.seriouseats.com/2018/01/how-to-make-from-scratch-japanese-curry-thats.html

 

Much of the time savings come from not roasting bones for the bone broth and from not having to source koji from Japan.