Written by Haruko Kogiso san
Japanese curry is known as a very popular and common dish in the family tables in Japan.
Curry ranked as number one liked dish, second as Sushi and third as fried chicken according to Gurunavi on their favorite food ranking of elementary school students.
Japanese style curry was first introduced to Japan in the Meiji era and a recipe was introduced on the book “ Guide to Western cuisine 西洋料理指南” in 1872( 5th year of Meiji era). Curry was introduced as a western dish from Great Britain which originally was brought back to Great Britain around 1772 from India.
Many Indians say it is completely different from Indian curry. So what is so different? The main difference is Japanese curry uses flour where as Indian curry does not. Most of the mothers in Japanese families uses roux that is very easy to use as well as easy to store.
Most of the curry roux in the stores are not halal.
Let me introduce you some of the ones I use and are easy to use! Hope you enjoy!
Golden Curry Without any animal derived ingredients, 1kg, For 50 servingsゴールデンカレー動物性原材料不使用 (832yen) S&B Foods Inc.
This product is a curry roux which is available online and has no animal, fish, clam derived ingredients. The new packaging has been shipped from August 24th, 2015 with the recipe of how to make delicious Japanese style curry in Japanese, English, and Chinese on the back of the package. It also has icons which shows that this product does not contain cow, chicken and swine derived ingredients as well as eggs and milk. This product is sold only in Japan. You can order through supermarkets for retailers(gyoumuyou super) in Japan or from the website(Japanese) below.
http://www.sbotodoke.com/product/detail/14438
Akakan Curry Mix Medium hot, 200g, For 10 servings赤缶カレーミックス (422yen) S&B Foods Inc.
This product is a curry powdery mix, very easy to use, avaiable in some of the major supermarkets chain stores and also online(Japanese). This product is tested for no swine, cow, chicken derived ingredients.
http://www.sbotodoke.com/brand/list/00300/00100/00900
You can find various Curry recipes(English) on S&B as well.
http://www.sbfoods-worldwide.com/recipes/curry/
Indonoaji Butter chicken Curry Paste, 180g, For 3 servings 印度の味 バターチキン カレーペースト (702yen)
MASCOT FOODS CO. LTD answered that this product contains no animal derived ingredients except for cow milk. This product is available in some supermarkets and online(Japanese). Mouth watering curry in a short time, great for sudden guests.
http://shop.mascot.co.jp/shopdetail/001001000006/001/X/page1/brandname/