Japanese Meal Time: Curry Rice

Today's curry rice day! My whole family is a big fan of curry rice. It's also going to be the last one in a long time, because we've finally run out of curry roux :(

For those who are unfamiliar with this dish, kare raisu (カレーライス) is the Japanese take on India's traditional spicy curry. It's mostly sweet and very thick. The Japanese curry comes in a variety of spiciness levels and flavours (I have heard of cherry-based curry, and it's pink!). You can buy them in the form of curry roux blocks but there are also instant pre-cooked, already-in-liquid-form ones in a package, ready for consumption (just heat it beforehand).You could probably find a 'library' of instant curry packages if you go to a supermarket in Japan. 

Curry rice (kare raisu, カレーライス) is one of Japan's most popular 'comfort food'. One of the reasons being its long storage period (hooray for refrigerators and microwaves!). It's definitely not the fastest food to prepare, but the method itself is pretty easy. You can just follow the descriptions on your curry roux box and bam! You're got yourself a Japanese comfort meal :D

The ingredients for curry! Carrots, onions and potatoes are the basic ingredients of most Japanese curry recipes. You may still omit any that you don't like. FYI, my mom did all the cutting. Then she proceeded to talk to her friend (who's my former classmate's mother) while I take over the kitchen. I made it sound so cool but no, it wasn't anything to brag about. Ha.

Add in about two tablespoons of cooking oil to your pan and heat. I put in the onions first and shortly after, the chicken meat. When the meat was half to almost completely cooked, I put in the carrots and then potatoes last (because soggy potatoes turn curry into mush). Saute until slightly browned.



Cover and simmer for 15~20 minutes or until tender over medium heat. I passed the time by practicing piano for my lesson that afternoon. Playing all the songs repeatedly in all octaves and all the sounds my piano had wasn't enough, so I walked back and forth across my living room in contemplation.

After all the veggies and meat are tender, add in the curry roux. It dissolves really fast, which is great :) Stir to make sure it's all mixed in well. You don't want lumps of roux to interfere with your eating later on. That won't be pretty.

Cook for another 15~20 minutes. I know, it's pretty long :P Stir occasionally, like really occasionally. My mom told me I'd stirred too much and made the veggies look crushed.

That red jelly-like spoonful of flavour is our family's secret ingredient. Its use was inspired by my dad's steak marination recipe. One day, I decided to add it in and my family ended up enjoying it a lot more. I guess it adds a certain fragrance to the curry. Many families in Japan have their own established recipes for curry rice, and some of the secret ingredients that I've heard of are yoghurt, honey, tomato ketchup and even a slightly rotten banana could supposedly do wonders to the flavour. I'm skeptical about the last one though, hehe. Share yours and I'll share mine! :D

(unless you can already tell what it is. I guess it is pretty obvious, isn't it?)

Ta-da! Curry rice, still nice and warm. I've also heard that using a cold spoon for the first spoon feels great in the mouth in contrast with the hot curry and rice :) This one serves six, so we ate some for lunch and saved the rest for dinner. I smelled like curry for the rest of the day, and I have mixed feelings on that matter. One thing was for sure though - when we were done eating, the dishes were as clean as they could be ;D

アリシア

Now listening: Lemon Tree - Fool's Garden