Fancy a Curry? – Try some Japanese Spice

When you think of eating curry, you think of India, Thailand, even Birmingham and Japanese isn’t the first world cuisine that springs to mind.

In fact, curry is a very popular dish in Japan though, as you would expect, they bring their own special twist to the dish. Curries in Japan are not as spicy as some of the Indian varieties but first came to Japan while the British ruled India because of Empirical trade.

Curry (kare) is a light curry sauce mixed with meat and vegetables and can be served with rice or noodles.  It grew steadily in popularity and is now found in restaurants and supermarkets across the country. The thick, delicious sauce is usually served in a bowl and is one of the few dishes to be eaten with a spoon rather than chopsticks.

The basic ingredients of Japanese curry are onions, potatoes and carrots with either beef, pork or chicken. One of the most popular dishes is Katsu curry when a chicken or pork escalope is covered in panko breadcrumbs (a lighter and crispier crumb than ours) and fried until golden and crispy. It is served smothered with the curry sauce and with a dollop of rice on the side. There are some great Katsu curry kits available with everything you need except the meat and veg, making it simple to rustle up a Japanese curry.

If you fancy having a go at cooking curry from scratch there are a range of delicious sauce rouxs that come in hot, medium and mild, depending on your preference. In about 20 minutes you can have a velvety-smooth, hearty curry for six people (or for less with delicious leftovers) and you can vary the recipe to use different meat and vegetable combinations every time you make it.

Japanese curry is not a complex dish to make in terms of technique or ingredients. It is all about powerful flavours and varied combinations that  will suit most people's taste and is fantastic served with noodles or rice or just eaten on it’s own.