Wikipedia seems to indicate that curry pan (kare pan) is Japanese in origin
Yes, and yet the potato “curry” stuffed inside is indian in origin and the whole setup is suspiciously similar to a samosa. So… “origin” is a loose term.
It’s funny you posted this because I ate it for the first time two weeks ago, at a Korean bakery chain in NYC. It’s common at similar outlets here.
TLDR: not my thing. The outside was greasy (I didn’t realize it was deep fried, that’s on me), and I don’t love the Japanese version of curried potato-carrot filling. The same place makes gorgeous pastries, so the “opportunity cost” of having picked this over one of them is probably what bothered me most.
Color me impressed about 6 months of cooking school… however you then know that there is nothing formulaic like “adding water three times… is standard” in any kind of indian cooking - in Hyderabad or anywhere else
Indeed so. Until I read Madhur Jaffrey’s “Curry Bible”, I didnt realise how much the “curry diaspora” had spread and evolved. I mean I knew that, say, chicken tikka masala was created in Britain, although probably based on murgh makhani but not that “curry” had found its way to the likes of Japan.
It’s amazing how many things made their way to Japan and became iconic parts of japanese cuisine.
Ramen is lo mein… Then there are entire reworked sub-cuisines - “Tokyo italian,” Yoshuku ie “western” food, and so on.
What has been fascinating to me over many years is how the global fascination with Japan and japanese food culture elevates all such bastardizations, where in other cuisines they would be looked down upon as exactly that.
Thanks for that interesting read, Saregama. I sort of thought we’d be at the root of it somewhere.
Not to mention it’s basically a pizza pocket stuffed with curry…
on the water.
Ya know, over here they stuff them with pretty much every kind of curry you can imagine. There are festivals where people from around the country show off their regional versions. Trust me, Japanese beef curry (with proper wa-gyu) is amazing. Any there are baked versions, too.
Where is that?
That was a great read! Loved the rice submarine too.
I was first introduced to Japanese curry/stew as a young adult and thought there was a remarkable resemblance to Indian curries in terms of the spice profile, although my own experiences with Indian curries were that they were more chunks in sauce and Japanese were sauce with chunks. I’ve had a good amount of luck replicating the Japanese version at home with curry cubes from an Asian grocer.
Thanks also for the insight about why water is added multiple times in the process. I have a few Ethiopian stewed veggie recipes that employ the same method of adding 1/4 or 1/3 cup water several times, and I could never figure out why. Now I have possible explanations!
Oh, Yokohama, Japan.
I find the use of the word “curry” interesting indeed! Growing up I always thought of it as West Indian, and husband still does. Of course, he thinks of almost everything is Jamaican in origin, and pronunciations other than is are just wrong. He gets apoplectic about how others pronounce plantain.
This is so interesting to me
You might find this thread of interest.
Gotta love it. Gotta love ( first gen ) “immigrants”. At least I do.
And then there’s Steph Curry!
I need to get this book. I love reading this kind of paths-of-food stuff.
Hmm, I can’t seem to edit the original post. Anyway, I made these again over the weekend and wanted to show you what they look like on the inside.
You can only edit for an hour or so.
Looks good