Fast, easy, delicious, economical and popular with just about everyone,
Japanese curry is 'comfort food'. The photo is of a block of curry roux, which looks a bit like yellow chocolate. In New Zealand most folks use curry powder to make curry. You are supposed to fry the curry powder with the onions and meat to bring out the best flavor. But in Japan you add the curry roux at the end of cooking, and it flavors and thickens the curry at the same time.
If you buy curry at a restaurant (there are lots of restaurants that just sell curry) you get served a plate half covered with white rice, and half covered with curry. You also get a spoon to eat it with, and that's because it's what New Zealanders would describe as curry flavored
sauce. On a lucky day you might get three or four small cubes of beef with your sauce, and maybe even a piece or two of carrot and potato. I know that sounds pretty lame, but even so it's really delicious and satisfying.
However when I make curry at home I make it chunky, with lots of onion, potato, and carrot, and instead of beef cubes I use thinly sliced pork. I make a big pot and the flavor gets better and better as it sits in the fridge.
Once I went to a friend's house in Japan and was served the most incredibly delicious curry I have ever had. We all pressed the cook for her secret. She told us it was because she used twleve onions!!!
