Dec 8

Traveling Tastebuds: The Ambassador of Japanese Food – by Devon Brown

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Devon Brown (Tokyo-to, 2002-04) is a freelance writer with a focus on food.  You can read more of her writing at TravelingTastebuds.blogspot.com.Is there anyone out there that doesn’t love Japanese curry rice?

Ok, it lacks the sophistication of sashimi and the artisanship of kaiseki, but of all the school lunches that were put in front of me those first few weeks living in Japan, curry rice was the only thing that made me feel like I might not wither away in a world of seaweed wrapped rice balls and soups brimming with tiny dried fish with tiny black eyes.

Even lukewarm (as almost every Japanese school lunch is served lukewarm) it still tasted good. As a matter of fact I have never in my life eaten as many cold meals as I did in Japan. Ice cold hamburger covered in gravy anyone? Maybe it’s best to save that rant for another post because this is about celebrating a dish that has crossed nations to bring warmth to the stomachs and minds of not only finicky expats, but Japanese natives as well.

I’m sure this will come as a shock, but curry is not native to Japan and didn’t even become popular until the 1960’s. We have British colonialism, that wonderful melder of cultures, to thank for its introduction from India.

The weather is getting colder and my stock pot is begging for a chance bubble and permeate the walls of my kitchen with the smell my mother once described as “ethnic”. For those of you who haven’t tried it, Japanese curry is only bested by instant ramen as the easiest Japanese meal to recreate here at home. You need only dissolve a few curry briquettes, found at your local Asian food store, into a pot of boiled veggies and meat before you are brought back to the days of multi-coursed school meals accompanied by profane rap music (that only you can understand) blasting over the PA system.