{"id":870,"date":"2018-07-24T11:36:34","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T11:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trialbyfryer.com\/?p=870"},"modified":"2018-07-24T17:36:51","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T17:36:51","slug":"chicken-katsu-curry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trialbyfryer.com\/2018\/07\/chicken-katsu-curry\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicken Katsu Curry"},"content":{"rendered":"

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James is obsessed with katsu curry. When we lived in Boston and he was a postdoc and I was a grad student, both with infinitely flexible schedules and excellent procrastination techniques, we would go for lunch all the time at his favorite place, Fin’s Sushi & Grill<\/a>. Despite the name, we would both invariably order a chicken or pork katsu curry bento box. Breaded and golden-fried crispy meat, lathered with a thick, sweet Japanese curry sauce, served with steaming white rice, petite California rolls, and crunchy salad, all in their appropriate bento containers, this meal put me right to sleep for the rest of the afternoon. But it was good, oh so very good.<\/p>\n

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Katsu<\/em><\/a> refers to a breaded, fried cutlet in Japanese cuisine, and is commonly\u00a0tori katsu<\/em> (chicken cutlet) or tonkatsu\u00a0<\/i>(pork cutlet). But the story of\u00a0Japanese\u00a0kar\u0113 raisu<\/em>, or curry rice, is a fascinating one of the globalization and adaptation of food – how curry made its way to Japan from India, via Britain.\u00a0Curry was thought to be introduced to Japan by the British in the Meiji era in the late 19th to early 20th centuries<\/a>. During this period<\/a>, Japan moved from a relatively isolated feudal society to a Westernized state, and underwent sudden and rapid modernization. Part of its foreign policy involved a close alliance with the UK<\/a>, which involved particularly close relations between the navies of the two countries. Consequently, Anglicized interpretations of Indian curry were taken to Japan by the\u00a0Anglo-Indian officers of the royal Navy and other British subjects<\/a>. Since this new dish came from the West,\u00a0it was actually classified as\u00a0y\u014dshoku<\/em>\u00a0(Western food), and subsequently became reinvented to something uniquely Japanese.\u00a0In 1872, the first\u00a0kar\u0113 raisu<\/em>\u00a0recipe was published in a Japanese cookbook<\/a>, and in 1877 a Tokyo restaurant first offered\u00a0kar\u0113 raisu<\/em>\u00a0on the menu. Just as in England, curry quickly became a staple of the Japanese diet.<\/p>\n

[Side Note – I did not know ANY OF THIS<\/em> until I researched the history of Japanese curry. Why my British husband also did not know the history and the globalized forces behind his love of katsu curry, I will never know]<\/p>\n

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In general, Japanese curry is sweeter, milder, and simpler than Indian curries, consisting of a broth of meat and vegetables thickened with a roux made of curry powder, flour and oil and sweetened with apples or other fruit. The popularity of\u00a0kar\u0113 raisu<\/em> spread even further nationwide when food manufacturers introduced\u00a0\u201cinstant\u201d curry mixes<\/a> – first, powdered mixes in the late 1920s, then the solid-block curry mixes popular today in 1954. These blocks contained roux thickener and various flavor enhancers such as vegetable or meat concentrate, and ensured that making a flavorful, warm pot of curry was an absolute breeze. Things got even easier when ready-to-eat curry sold in pressure-cooked and vacuum-sealed bags were introduced in 1969, with cooked meat, carrots, and potatoes already added, and requiring only hot water to heat.<\/p>\n

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My mom and I have been making Japanese curry with these curry cubes for forever. They pack such a flavor punch, and are DROP DEAD easy. We always stock up on these when we go to the Asian market, and we always have some in our home. But it wasn’t until James gave me a\u00a0little nudge-nudge puppy-eyed encouragement, that I discovered that katsu cutlets are also actually pretty easy to make! The breading is not that intimidating once you’ve done it a few times, Panko is very easy to work with and is available in any large American supermarket, and the frying is incredibly fast and can be done in a skillet with not too much oil.<\/p>\n

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And so, katsu curry has traveled from India, to Britain, to Japan, to Chicago, where it has become a staple in our household, and one of James and my top favorite meals. Isn’t food just so darn cool??!<\/p>\n

Some Notes:<\/p>\n