Two Popular Japanese dishes : Curry and Hayashi rice
The comfort food
As a child, I grew up on curry. It brings back memories of time when I would come home from late night marching band practice, and I enter the kitchen for dinner, to smell the aroma of spices, hear the bubbling soup that had been on the stove for some time.
The English introduced their version of the Indian curry to Japan during the Meiji era as part of the foreign culture influx that entered the country after ending their isolationism. From there, the curry has evolved further to fit the Japanese taste buds. Most commonly eaten with rice, curry consists of the soupy roux , vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, onions and some form of meat or seafood.
The many faces of curry (カレー)
Curry’s popularity has grown to the point that it has become one of the most beloved dishes in Japan as well as, it has become incorporated with traditional Japanese dishes such as in curry udon (noodles with curry soup), used as a filling for bread (curry pan) or sometimes one could put a fried cutlet or shrimp on top (pork katsu curry).
Udon is a noodle dish made from wheat noodles that uses kelp or tuna flakes to get the soup stock (dashi). In curry udon like here, one can add curry to the udon to enjoy the curry more like a soup.
The ever popular curry does not stop there. Nowadays there are even restaurants dedicated to curry where one has the choice of how spicy they want their curry to be. Usually, it starts at mild, then comes medium and after that there is ‘hot,’ which can be from a little bit spicy to so spicy that it feels like ‘volcano!’ or ‘fire!’ (to quote my friend).
Curry's cousin, Hayashi rice
There is another brown soupy dish that one can put over rice to eat. Welcome the hayashi rice! In appearance, hayashi rice looks like a deeper brown version of curry, but the taste could not be more different. The roux used for this dish is based on the demi glace sauce giving it a more beef stew-like flavor. (Demi-glace comes from French cuisine where they combine veal and Espaganole sauce).
I don’t know about you but all this talk of food is making me hungry. I think I’ll go finish eating my curry now. Thanks for reading!
Two Popular Japanese dishes : Curry and Hayashi rice by StellaSee is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Comments
StellaSee (author) from California on November 22, 2013:
Hi vespa, I know right? The curry pan photo always makes my mouth water :D
Vespa Woolf from Peru, South America on November 11, 2013:
I also love curry. I enjoyed reading about the history of it. What beautiful photos. Thanks!
StellaSee (author) from California on June 16, 2013:
Hi aud99, I like both kinds too. I like Indian curry because it feels more authentic to what curry is supposed to taste like. But I can't help love Japanese curry, it's what I grew up with. Thanks!
Audrey on June 10, 2013:
I like curry too. But I prefer Indian curry though. It is probably richer in taste and spices but it is yummy when eaten with rice.
StellaSee (author) from California on May 14, 2013:
Hi summerberrie, aww I'm jealous of your nephews, I'd love to live in Japan! Thanks for stopping by :)
summerberrie on May 04, 2013:
I love Japanese food. I have two nephews in Japan now and love it when they post dishes of Japanese food on Facebook. Would love to give some of your recipes a try. Nice hub.
StellaSee (author) from California on December 21, 2012:
Hi Christy, thanks so much for stopping by and thanks for your comments too! That means a lot coming from an experienced writer like you :)
Christy Birmingham from British Columbia, Canada on December 01, 2012:
I am learning, I am learning! Well put-together hub here :)
