Japanese Curry "Roux" - anyone used it?

[rafletcher]

I've decided (for no good reason really) to tyr and make Japanese "Curry Rice" this evening. This involves 2 firsts - first time cooking sushi rice (though just plain steamed version) and first time using curry "roux". Should be entertaining! I got the "medium" hot version, which hopefully my wife will be able to tolerate.

[Bledlow]

What's the Japanese curry sauce? Is it a sort of thick paste in blocks? "Golden Curry" or similar? http://www.japanesekitchen.co.uk/sb-golden-curry-roux-sauce-blocks-hot-large-240g.html

If so, Mrs B loves the stuff (a taste of home), & we eat it quite often now she's found a local (Chinese) shop selling it. I quite like it, too. Very easy to use. We generally do the standard Japanese thing, which is to mix the sauce with veg & (if desired) meat or seafood, as described on the web page & the packet. Mrs B prefers to chuck the sauce in earlier than the recipe says. But why sushi rice? Mrs B uses any old rice for curry. Sushi rice is for sushi.

BTW, usual thing is curry beside the rice, not on top. See the picture on the packet.

[rafletcher]

That's the stuff  I'm going to do chicken, potatoe and carrot, which seems quite a common combination.

And sushi rice 'cos it's sticky so easier to eat with chopsticks. And because I've not tried it before.

[Bledlow]

Mrs B eats it with a spoon.   

[rafletcher]

Well a qualified sucess. Just like Chinese take-away curry sauce (not a complaint), but despite adding 500g of chicken, a large carrot, 2 large potatoes and 2 large onions there was too high (for me) a sauce to solids ratio, so will add more chicken to the leftovers tomorrow. And the rice was a nice change.

[geraldc]

Japanese curry is an English invention. The Japanese navy employed the British navy to train and modernise their fleet in the early 1900s. They noticed that British sailors were bigger and asked them what they ate. The UK gave them the recipe for the curry, butter, flour and curry powder.

[rafletcher]

Yep I'd read that - and I assume the same is true for Cantonese curry,

[Bledlow]

Quite a few Japanese dishes are a local take on something foreign. One of Mrs B's favourite seasonings is Bulldog brand brown sauce, for example. Originally imported from England (>100 years ago), then made under licence, & now wholly Japanese. Interestingly different from British brown sauce.  There are several Portuguese introductions from the 16th century, e.g. most of the variants of katsu, tempura (which the Portuguese may have got from India), & bread & anything derived from it, such as breadcrumbs.

Well a qualified sucess. Just like Chinese take-away curry sauce (not a complaint), but despite adding 500g of chicken, a large carrot, 2 large potatoes and 2 large onions there was too high (for me) a sauce to solids ratio, so will add more chicken to the leftovers tomorrow. And the rice was a nice change.

I think they're a bit generous with the water in the recipe, but Mrs B cooks it low & slow (apparently this is normal), so it thickens up.

[Tom B]

Mrs B eats it with a spoon

In 5+ years in Japan, I don't recall seeing anyone eat 'curry-rice' with chopsticks