Japanese Curry

You might not to expect to find curry on a Japanese menu, but it is quiet common and a very popular and relatively cheap dish throughout Japan.

It is said that the first Japanese person to try curry was a 16 year old member of the Aizu Byakkotai warriors called Kenjiro Yamakawa who was offered the spicy dish on board a ship bound for the United States in 1871. Curry was later introduced to the Japanese by the English who discovered the wonders of curry while they were administering India in the late 1800′s. The first Japanese style curries began to appear around 1912, then the first commercial curries came to market in the early 1920′s when Minejiro Yamazaki who founded the S&B brand produced curry for sale. The dish is not as exotic or as complex as the many Indian style curries and is usually not as hot, in many cases it is more of a gravy which accompanies rice and a small amounts of meats or vegetables.

The curry is very easy and quick to make and Japanese Curry in particular S&B and Golden Curry Brand curry can be found most oriental sections of supermarkets around the world. Meat and vegetables are cooked, water is added and then some curry blocks which look like waxy chocolate blocks are added. Once they break down and form a rich gravy the curry is ready for eating. It is cheap, easy and most of all delicious.

Many of the fast food and vending machine restaurants like Yoshinoya, Sukiya and Matsuya plus countless large and small restaurants sell curry, there are many variations. It is one of Japan’s most popular dishes and regarded as a comfort food. Usually the meat is beef but pork and chicken are also used. Vegetables include onions carrots and potatoes but depending on the restaurant there could be any number of other vegetables. In many cases the meat and vegetables are kept to a minimum and the curry is served as a rich gravy with a few small chunky pieces of meat and veg. The dish is mostly served with rice and is called Kare Raisu, and sometimes other items like a crumbed meat cutlet might be served on top of it with a few Fukujin zuki or rakkyo pickles. Another popular dish is curry covering a rice omelette and curry noodles called Kare Udon. Curry Pan is also a popular dish it is basically a hollowed out bread filled with the rich curry gravy.