Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Versatile Japanese curry
Homemade creation a treat with tonkatsu
While packing up our house of nearly 20 years, I found the bin with all my travel journals. For every vacation, I record our journeys in a small notebook. Actually, they mostly contain detailed notes on every food market we visit and the meal and snacks sampled there.
Wow. The documents prove incriminating. We eat a lot. I star all the dishes I want to re-create at home. I hope I live that long.
Tonkatsu, crispy fried pork cutlets, first enjoyed on a family trip to Japan, regularly graces our table. All of us now embrace the three-step breading process that yields the perfect results.
I encountered a variation, known as katsu curry, on my second trip to Osaka with my sister. Our brother Ken took us to the Umeda Sky Building to see the floating garden on the 39th floor, the world’s highest escalator and fantastic city views.
Truthfully, I went for the food. The building’s lower level boasts a restaurant floor designed as a replica of a typical Japanese town during the early Showa Period.
The charming and inviting restaurant choices specialized in traditional Japanese food ranging from sushi to okonomiyaki, hot pots, teppanyaki and curry.
We ultimately chose Katsudon, a tiny place filled with artwork. We sat on stools at the counter to watch the cooks build bowls of rice served with their renowned crispy pork tontaksu. We ordered ours with curry. The contrast of the crunchy pork and the savory, slightly sweet curry sauce proved absolutely memorable.
Turns out, curry is nearly as popular in Japan for everyday eating as ramen. Eaten with rice or noodles or tucked into bread, the savory sauce contains vegetables and a bit of sweetness from mirin (rice wine) and fruit.
Japanese curry differs from Indian curries primarily because it is based on mild curry powder — not the complex mixtures of toasted spices and chile heat used in traditional Indian dishes.
That’s good news in my kitchen. I’m fond of the flavor of curry powder and always have a jar or two on hand.
Like all ground spices, the trick is freshness. The powder should have a rich color and deep aroma — if not, replace it before using. I like McCormick curry powder just fine, but for a real treat I order Madras curry powder online from spicewallabrand.com for its warm flavors of cinnamon, fenugreek, turmeric and cumin.
For convenience, Japanese markets sell boxes of concentrated golden curry mix in mild, medium and hot.
The S&B brand is popular; the squares of dense paste (made from flour, oils, curry spices and additives) are meant to be dissolved in broth for the base of the dish. I much prefer to make a simple roux, then season it with curry powder for a fresh start to a dish.
Now, that curry regularly factors into dinner at home. I make the curry sauce, packed with vegetables, in advance. For speedy weeknight cooking, the sauce gets reheated to serve over rice or noodles or a topping of firm tofu cubes. For Sunday dinner, I serve it with crisp cutlets for dunking in the sauce.
Serve this hearty, thick curry simply with rice or cooked noodles. A fried egg on top works well. Or, make a tofu bowl with it. For special occasions, serve the curry with rice and crispy pork — fried on the stovetop or baked in the oven. Accompany the meal with chilled sake or beer.