JAPANESE CULTURE, EXPLAINED
カレーライス
Japanese curry encompasses dishes shaped by modern Western-style cooking and the development of household food products. Curry rice is a familiar example, but there is no single recipe. Spice powder, cooking roux and a pouch of cooked curry perform different jobs.
Curry’s South Asian origins connect here with a British culinary route. An NDL study identifies the curry recipes in two Japanese cookbooks of 1872 as translations from British books. Flour-and-fat thickening helped establish a combination of sauce, meat or vegetables and rice. Japanese cooks adapted the British recipes to their own kitchens.
Naval cooking texts of 1889 and 1908 included curry. Schools, urban eating places and households also belong to its development. A 1903 cooking diary and a 1908 household contribution provide domestic examples in the NDL study. Household curry therefore predates the postwar sale of convenient blocks.
S&B records household curry powder in 1930 and a solid curry product in 1954; an Oriental company case describes powdered instant roux in 1945. Spice powder supplies a blend of spices. Curry roux incorporates a prepared thickening and seasoning base, to be cooked with other ingredients. Powder and blocks are forms of preparation, rather than necessarily complete meals.
Otsuka dates Bon Curry’s regional launch to 1968 and national expansion to 1969. A portion of cooked curry with ingredients could be supplied in sealed packaging. The manufacturers’ association separates cooked curry from spice powder and roux, with several preservation and distribution forms. Retort processing applies pressurised heat treatment to sealed food pouches in industrial equipment, with suitable packaging materials. It is different from bagging dry spice powder. Cooking and reheating instructions depend on the product.
| Form | Preparation supplied | Next use |
|---|---|---|
| Spice powder | Blended spices | Cook with other recipe ingredients |
| Curry roux | Thickening and seasoning base | Cook with ingredients and liquid |
| Cooked curry pouch | Cooked sauce and ingredients | Prepare according to product directions |
The Maritime Self-Defense Force describes its move from Saturday to Friday curry after adoption of a two-day weekend. The explanation about remembering the day of the week came after a regular weekend custom. Curry also accompanies noodles and bread. Today curry appears in institutional meals, home cooking and individual portions.
Illustrated examples of curry udon and curry bread; fillings and methods vary.
Curry udon can combine curry seasoning with dashi broth, as in Ajinomoto’s recipe. Curry bread encloses or carries curry in bread and may be baked or fried. Broth, carrier and eating format change; neither dish is simply another plate of curry rice.
No. They provide spices, a cooking base and an already prepared dish respectively.
No. Domestic examples survive from the late Meiji period.
The MSDF places the change from Saturday to Friday in the postwar period.