[Japanese Curry]

Curry and rice is now considered to be Japan's national dish. Curry is always ranked high on popular school lunch menus at elementary and junior high schools. Curry is a dish that originated in Indian cuisine introduced to England, which was eventually brought to Japan from England and developed in its own unique way. Recently, the popularity of Indian and Nepalese cuisine has made it easier to enjoy Indian curry. A typical Indian curry is a soup-like, silky curry with plenty of spices, and is generally served with chapati (roti) or naan in the northern part of the country, and with rice in the southern part. How did this Indian curry evolve into today's Japanese curry and rice?

The Japanese first encountered curry in the late Edo period (1603-1868), when Perry arrived in Uraga, Japan opened its borders to the West. In 1860, Yukichi Fukuzawa traveled to the United States as part of a mission to exchange documents of ratification for the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan. He came across a Chinese-English dictionary called "Kaei Tugo" and purchased it before returning to Japan. Based on the dictionary, he published the English readings in katakana and the Japanese meanings in katakana. There, “curry” was introduced with the reading "koruri." Eventually, by around 1870, there were several records of Japanese people seeing and eating curry on ships bound for Europe and America, but curry, a food that had never been seen before, did not seem to have made such a favorable impression on the Japanese people of that time.

Curry was brought to Japan as part of the “civilization and enlightenment” during the Meiji period (1868-1912), and was introduced from India to England through the colonial rule of India by the British, and became the basis of British curry arranged in a Western style. Curry was first introduced to England around 1772. Warren Hastings of the British East India Company, who later became the first Governor of Bengal, brought the ingredients for curry and rice back to England. The form of curry changed dramatically with the commercialization of “curry powder” by the British company Crosse & Blackwell, which made it easy to prepare curry anywhere, as opposed to the many spices that had been prepared in India by crushing and mixing them using a mortar and pestle. What spurred this change was the utilization of flour to thicken the curry.

“Beeton's Book of Household Management” a book published in England in 1861 on cooking and household chores for running a household in the Victorian era of the time, introduced a number of methods for making curry powder and cooking curry using flour to thicken it. It is clear that curry, which was popular in England during this period, was changing to a Western-style stewed dish, in which flour was fried in oil and fat, and a “roux” was used. In Japan, the cooking method for curry rice was first introduced in “Seiyo Ryori Shinan” (Western Cooking Guide) by Keigakudo Shujin, published in 1872 (5th year of Meiji). Ingredients used in the book included "leeks, ginger, garlic, butter, shrimp, Thai fish, oysters, chicken, red frogs, flour, and curry powder.” The inclusion of frog meat in the ingredients is thought to be an element of French cuisine, but the recipe did not spread as widely, and the green onions were mostly replaced by onions by the Taisho era. Potatoes and onions, now the main ingredients in curry, were still rare Western vegetables in the Meiji era, but their production gradually spread, especially in the pioneer region of Hokkaido. In the dormitory cafeteria of the Sapporo Agricultural College (now Hokkaido University), which opened in 1876, curry rice was served every other day at the suggestion of Dr. Clark in order to improve the physique of the students. With the advent of domestically produced, inexpensive curry powder, the prototype of Japanese curry rice is believed to have been completed by the Taisho period (1912-1926).

In recent years, Japanese curry rice has landed back in its home country of India, and some Japanese restaurants in large Indian cities serve Japanese-style curry. Although this style of curry is completely different from Indian cuisine, it can be served with various toppings such as omelets and cheese, and may soon become popular as one of the coolest Japanese dishes.

Seiryugama's Plate
https://www.shokunin.com/en/seiryu/hirazara.html
Yoshita Handi-Design Studio's Tablespoon
https://www.shokunin.com/en/yoshita/cutlery.html

References
https://www.sbcurry.com/dictionary/japan/
https://housefoods.jp/data/curryhouse/know/j_history02.html
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO77749350Q4A930C1000000/
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B9