Japense Curry - CURRY TREND IN JAPAN

		What is Japanese Style Curry? Current Look: Curry in Japan Goes Healthy & Ethnic Advent of New Fusion Curry The Sidekicks of Curry

What is Japanese Style Curry?
Current Look: Curry in Japan Goes Healthy & Ethnic
Advent of New Fusion Curry
The Sidekicks of Curry

WHAT IS JAPANESE STYLE CURRY?

It is one of the most craved comfort foods in Japan, but it was not until quite recently that Japanese-style curry gained fame in New York. Smoother and thicker than other Asian curry, it has completely different features from any other of the world’s spicy foods.

It was about 150 years ago when Japanese people were exposed to the dish called curry for the first time. This new cuisine originated in India, but it was actually brought to Japan by the British who had already arranged the Indian food to create their own style of curry. The Japanese developed it further according to their palates and food culture, thereby establishing the prototype for what we now call Japanese-style curry.

Compared to other curries, the most distinctive feature of Japanese-style curry is the sauce’s texture, which has a certain thickness with a rich and silky feel. This was a significant achievement during Japanese curry’s incubation period by chefs who searched for the best curry sauce for Japanese rice, as it is softer and more moist than other types. They employed European cuisine techniques for making “roux” and created a curry sauce that would not be absorbed by the rice quickly but would rather cover each grain in just the right way. When you try Japanese-style curry, please enjoy the harmony of the curry roux and the rice.

Although Japanese-style curry started out as a special meal that only professionals could make, it rapidly spread to normal households when instant curry roux was introduced to the market. This allowed housewives to make a tasty curry dish easily and with little cooking time. Also, cooking curry at home has an advantage in the sense that you can choose the ingredients and toppings you like: pork, beef, seafood, a variety of vegetables, etc. This helped curry become Japanese comfort food. However, at the same time the popularity of restaurant curry still grew even after the instant curry boom. Chefs kept trying new flavors and playing with various types of spice, herbs and cooking techniques, and this exploration has not changed as curry in Japan keeps evolving.

Curry stands are common in Japan. Look at this variety! People get a ticket from an automated machine and order what they want.

Authentic Japanese-style curry has a certain thickness that goes perfect with the soft and moist features of Japanese rice.

CURRENT LOOK: CURRY IN JAPAN GOES HEALTHY & ETHNIC

What are today’s curry trends in Japan? “In general people want to have health-oriented food, and this is reflected in curry as well. For example, it now includes lots of vegetables and less oil and flour to keep calories low without affecting the taste,” says Mr. Tadatsugu Shimazu who has introduced over 650 curry houses in his blog “Okiniiri No Curry-Ya San 600” (http://love-curry.seesaa.net). According to Shimazu, unlike the classic style of curry where vegetables are mixed into the curry roux, many of the new style curries are presented with vegetables, which are either fried, grilled or boiled, and served on the side or on top of the curries. Yakuzen (medicinal cuisine), macrobiotics, and the chisan chishou (slow food) movement are also influencing curry flavors. Interestingly, “anti-aging curry” which is abundant in collagen is popular among women.

What about the variety of curries? “Ethnic curries are becoming more and more popular, and the ethnicities are getting more diversified. For example, the food cultures in the northern and southern parts of India are completely different. Instead of serving general Indian food, we have curry houses that focus on specific regions in India and reproduce their local flavors,” explains Shimazu. Just like in New York, in Japan people are now enjoying curry from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Africa, etc.

“Healthy” is the key concept of the curry trend these days. An abundance of fried vegetables are atop this curry served with multi-grain rice.

ADVENT OF NEW FUSION CURRY

As stated before, the Japanese created their original style curry by arranging what had been imported from England. Even in the 21st century, they are still eager to incorporate new flavors to their palates. So ethnic curry in Japan does not always replicate authentic local flavor but might rather be called “new fusion curry” (as compared to the old style fusion curry created 150 years ago), whose flavor has already been adjusted for Japanese taste. Not only that, but there are certain types of curry that have multiple ethnic influences and appeal to curry lovers in this way.

While Japanese mix traits of global cuisine to create “intercultural fusion,” they make “intra-cultural fusion” as well by mixing different Japanese cuisines with curry. The most classic example is “curry udon.” As you slurp the udon noodles, you can enjoy the unique flavor of the soup made from rich curry sauce and dashi base soup. Every udon noodle house has curry udon on the menu, and even curry udon specialty restaurants exist in Japan. Also, it’s a relatively new creation compared to curry udon, but “curry ramen” is a current boom. Another one is called “soup curry.” “This type of curry has been enjoyed in Hokkaido for a long time, but recently its influence spread to other areas. The taste itself is somewhat like the combination of ramen soup and curry,” says Shimazu. It’s soupy but it keeps the body that curry carries.

The most recent hit of intra-fusion curry menu is “curry nabe.” It’s a type of nabe (hot pot dish) whose soup has curry flavor and texture. It’s extremely popular during winter because it has three qualities that make you warm; it’s hot and spicy and hearty.

This looks like authentic ethnic curry but the flavor has been tweaked for the Japanese.

Originating in Hokkaido, soup curry is now getting nationwide attention.

THE SIDEKICKS OF CURRY

Chutney was a regular relish in the earliest period of Japanese-style curry history. However, once fukujinzuke (a type of pickle) was introduced about 100 years ago, it swept chutney and became the most common relish to date. Rakkyo (pickled shallots) is also popular along with fukujinzuke. Other examples of relishes include raisins, cheese, fried onions, roasted sliced almonds and coconuts.

As for what you drink with curry, water is the most common. Milk is also favored to relieve the heat from curry’s spices. As the popularity of Indian curry grows, lassie (yogurt drink) has become popular these days. How about alcoholic drinks? Shimazu says, “In my humble opinion, imo shochu (shochu made from sweet potato) would be the best for curry. When we eat spicy food, our senses become more susceptible so I think the aroma wafting up from imo shochu can be appreciated more at this time. Also, since curry has a strong flavor the bodied flavor of imo shochu goes well with it.”

It seems that the variety of relishes and drinks is not as diversified as the curry itself. However, this implies that there is room to discover new flavors of relish and drink to go along with the diversified flavors of curry.

Fukujinzuke is the main sidekick to Japanese-style curry.

Starting “tabe-aruki” (eating tours) 12 years ago, Tadatsugu Shimazu has tried over 700 curry houses. About four and a half years ago he began introducing curry houses located mainly in Tokyo in his blog
(http://love-curry.seesaa.net).

Curry Pan (Deep Fried Bread with Curry Stuffing)

One of the most creative spinoffs of Japanese-style curry is curry pan. This is deep fried bread with curry stuffing and it has been loved ever since its birth in 1927 downtown Tokyo. All bakeries carry curry pan, and most of the time it is their top selling item. Each bakery creates its own original style by adjusting the bread’s ingredients, size, dough thickness, degree of frying as well as curry stuffing flavor.

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