Making japanese-style curry at home. Alternative to House Brand?

[Low Blood Sugar]

I've started making japanese curry at home and want to try something different than the House Brand(though i'm a big fan of the Curry House and Hurry Curry). Are there any brands you can recommend? I saw some stuff in a bag in the curry section of Mitsuwa that looked like grains of Sanka coffee but the entire bag was written in japanese. Looked intriguing though.. Any advice? Thanks!

[Scrapironchef]

I learned to make it using S&B bricks, but I was taught to carmelize a lot of finely chopped onions and garlic to start and brown all the other ingredients before adding it all together in one pot. Adding additional curry powder at all steps makes a huge difference in the depth of flavor in the final product. It seems like a lot but the flavor cooks through nicely.

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

Yes, I think carmelizing the onions is key.

[coney with everything]

check out today's NYTimes--there is a recipe for Japanese curry made from scratch.

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

Thanks for the heads up! It's an unusual recipe with the ground pork, but it's always interesting to see different points of views. I think I need to dig up my recipe and use parts of both and E Eto's recipe too.

[ricepad]

Around the ricepad pad, we use S&B. In fact, when I worked in a Japanese restaurant, we used S&B, too. We didn't have curry on the menu, but the staff wanted it from time to time, so we had a ready supply on hand for staff meals.

[bitsubeats]

I hear it's easy to make it from scratch, but if not I use s&b or java curry with apples.

However don't get Ottogi brand, I hear that's pretty gross.

[ricepad]

If Eric Eto's recipe is typical, it's anything but easy...
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/275003

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

I've made Japanese curry from scratch, but it wasn't as intense as Eric Eto's recipe, but it also wasn't the easiest...it takes time, mostly the carmelizing of the onions. After eating the "homemade" curry, I decided, flavorwise, it's not much different than using House or S&B roux. I make most meals from scratch, but my conclusion is it's not worth the effort to make Japanese style curry from scratch. Japanese curry is basically a comfort food that people remember from their childhood, not too gourmet.

Maybe if I made Eric Eto's recipe it would be delicious and worth it, just time consuming.

Also, what I made I basically made up my own recipe while watching the Japanese cooking show called "Dotchi" (translation, which one, two chefs make their own version of whatever item and a panel votes on which one looks the best then the winning panelists get to eat it). They don't show the actual recipes, they just show them cooking, but not all of it and I pieced together the recipe.

To answer the OP, I like House & S&B, but the granule version from Mitsuwa sounds intriguing. I'll have to look for it next time I'm at a Japanese market. Hurry Curry may make their own "homemade" version.

[E Eto]

I'd have to disagree with you on the assessment of curry as "just" being a comfort food. I guess pizza or hamburgers would be in the same category in the US as "basically a comfort food that people remember from their childhood, not too gourmet". But that's just not the case, is it? Same with curry. It might "just" be a comfort food for you, but it's certainly gone beyond that in Japan in the last couple decades, as you can see watching shows that have showcased curry preparations, like on Dotchi.

You should look for Cosmo (コスモ直火焼　カレールー) curry roux at places like Mitsuwa. This is the best packaged brand that I've found. But it costs a bit more than the curry roux bricks (like S&B, House, etc.).
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2246/2243891892_d22a0cdcc2_o.jpg
http://shop.e-cosmo.co.jp/i-shop/category_l.pasp?cm_large_cd=1&to=cl

Also very good is Ebara brand Hakuraitei (横濱舶来亭)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2221/2243891812_9f62e0c26c_o.jpg
http://www.ebarafoods.com/f/200706/ha...

I use this stuff to balance out my scratch curry when needed. Another quick trick I've learned is to pressure cook chunks of meat after browning it (I use a little bit of the curry and stock for the steaming liquid, and add the meaty juice into the curry when the meat is nice and tender). This way, you won't have to wait forever for the meat to braise in the curry.

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

I agree with you that there are places in Japan that have gone gourmet with curry, but I think to most people it still is "comfort food" or something easy to make at home for a quick meal. I was just talking to my sister-in-law in Tokyo the other day and she had just made curry at home with the boxed roux since she didn't feel like taking a lot of time to cook.

Thanks for the suggestions on the curry besides House & S&B. I will have to look for them and try them out. Maybe I will try making the scratch curry again since your posts have piqued my interest again,

Are you familiar with the curry that the OP mentioned, the one that looks like Sanka granules?

[OCAnn]

Thank you for the shashin. Is Cosmo found in the refrigerated section? And how the heck do I translate the instructions? Or do I use it like the S&B roux?

Ebara, I'm guessing, can be found alongside S&B?

[BombayUpWithaTwist]

I couldn't find Cosmo brand in Los Angeles, but I didn't think of looking in the refrigerated section. I found Ebara at Mitsuwa alongside S&B like you suggested, but they didn't have it at Marukai. I'll have to have my Mom translate the instructions for me.

I did make curry from scratch combining E Eto's recipe, Saveur's and the NY Times. It seemed to turn out better than my previous experience. Maybe roasting the roux helped.

[Miss Needle]

I grew up with S&B's Golden Curry. It's also pretty popular as House, perhaps even more.. But ever since I learned how to make it from scratch, I don't go back to the mix.

[OCAnn]

I also use S&B's Golden Curry.