I was reminded by one of Facebook’s time stamped photos (you know the ones that say 4 years ago, 1 year ago etc) that it had been a whole year since I took my man to see Japan for the first time. A whole year. Since this bittersweet reminder, I have been craving Japan, Japanese food and the time and place stamps from growing up in Tokyo. If you have studied abroad, lived overseas or are lucky enough to travel frequently, then you are familiar with these. Think about the most perfect gelato you ate walking toward the Pantheon while the sun kissed your cheeks and shouts of “Bella!” filled the air. This is what I mean when I say time and place stamps. Nothing will ever recreate this feeling exactly but with every gelato shop you pass, you fondly remember that moment and wish for a dozen more like it. My memories of Japan are filled with these. As time passes, we build up the story with each remembrance. For me, it should be no surprise that many of these are food related (but not all of them, I promise!). The best fish soup I ever ate was in Vienna, Austria after walking through one of the flea markets and buying a gorgeous black and blue beaded necklace. The first part of a strenuous bike ride through the region of Umbria ended at a Hostel and was quickly followed by a bottle of red wine and frutti di mare pasta from what seemed to be the best restaurant in the whole of Italy. Do you have any of these? When and where were you when you had the salad, pasta or ice cream that you haven’t come close to finding anywhere else?
In an attempt to dull the ache that I have to be back in Japan, on a cold, rainy day in Seattle, I made カレーうどん. I actually started getting into vinyl and collecting records while living in Japan, so I paired this classic udon with my first ever vinyl record. I have to admit that I initially started collecting so that I could cover the walls of my teenage room with vinyl covers. Fortunately that didn’t pan out and I fell in love with the vinyl sound as well. Please join me in my recreation of a time and place stamp from Japan while listening to the first vinyl album I ever owned.
Vinyl: Loverboy – Loverboy
カレーうどん
(Curry Udon)
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 6 cups of water
- 1 oz of kombu (dried kelp)*
- 1 cup of katsuo bushi (dried bonito flakes)*
- 1 Tbsp of canola oil
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced
- 4 pieces of curry roux*
- 1 Tbsp of soy sauce
- 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 2-3 packages of udon noodles*
- 1 cooked chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- Nanami Togarashi* (optional)
Instructions
- Bring cold water and kombu to a boil in a large pot over medium high heat. Once it starts to boil, remove the kombu and take the pan off the heat. Add in the katsuo bushi and stir. Let sit for 5 minutes. Pour liquid through a fine mesh strainer to remove the katsuo bushi. Reserve this liquid, called dashi, for the curry udon.
- Add the canola oil to a large saucepan and warm over medium high heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute until the onions start to become slightly translucent.
- Add the dashi to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the curry roux and stir occasionally to help the roux blocks distribute evenly. The curry roux blocks should be dissolved in the dashi completely. Boil for 10 minutes to ensure the dashi and roux thicken slightly.
- Meanwhile, boil a large pot of water to cook the udon in. Follow the instructions on your udon noodles (it will most likely be to boil the noodles for 2-3 minutes). Some udon noodle packages come with flavoring packets, discard these or save for another use.
- Add the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar to the curry broth. Stir well.
- Divide the drained udon noodles into individual bowls. Pour the curry broth over the udon noodles. Top with the sliced chicken breast, green onions and Nanami Togarashi to taste. Enjoy!
Notes
Enjoy with a cold Kirin, Asahi or Sapporo beer.
All of the * food items may be found at your nearest Asian market or grocery store. Some stores also sell premade dashi (broth) if you wanted to eliminate the first step. Here is a picture of the curry roux that I used:
