Evening all. Tonight I had a hankering for a taste of home. I had made some Japanese style Curry - Ka Re Risu - a while back and had frozen portions of it. I defrosted a container of it, made a pot of rice, and yanked out the little sides that go with it - Fukujin Zuke (14 veg pickle) which is traditional, pickled ginger, and sliced banana (it's how my Mom served it).
It heated up fine and tasted great. Just enough heat for a slow burn and a smooth finish from the butter and flour roux that is the base of it. I used potatoes, onions, and carrots in the recipe as well. Japanese style curry is one of the most popular dishes in Japan where it's known as "Kaigun" Kare or "Navy Curry" because the dish was introduced to Japan by way of the British Royal Navy and adopted by the Japanese Navy in the 19th century as a way to combat a serious outbreak of Beri Beri caused by a lack of vitamins among its ship's crews.
Their young recruits from the poor country regions mostly, wanted to eat just the white rice served by the navy and not anything else (white rice was a huge luxury for them). Plain white rice simply doesn't have the needed vitamins to sustain you and the Navy had some ships with half the crew laid up with Beri Beri.
A history of this interesting dish is here:
https://www.defencetalk.com/kaigun-kare-japanese-navy-curry-66417/
It's also very popular in Hawaii in both it's original form (there are actually restaurants serving only various kinds of it) and in one version that was adapted to the local cuisine that uses only curry powder and omits the thickening roux (think CHEAPER to make
) that's know as "Curry Beef Stew" and it's a plate lunch staple across the islands. Both are very tasty and for me, its the flavor of home!
My Dill has really taken this year and it's already time to harvest some, so I also made a small batch of fresh dill pickles today as well. It's lacto fermenting in a brine of K salt, pickling spice, pepper corns, and fresh dill sprigs. First of the year. I'm eager to see how it turns out.
Hope everyone is safe and sound out in Nomad land, snug and happy with something good to eat. Be careful out there!
Cheers.
