A brief history of Japanese Curry
Following the lift on the trade ban with Christian countries in the late 1800’s, European cuisine spread across to Japanese kitchens. At that time, a large troop of British Marines settled in Yokosuka (near Yokohama) and were often served curry soup infused by Indian spices. There was no milk available in Japan which was often used in soup recipes so the curry spices added a good flavour, as well as to help preserve the soup longer in a hot climate.
A Japanese medical doctor working for the Japanese Marines, K. Takagi, was committed to improve the health condition of crews. He researched the catering of the British Marines and came across the curry soup. He suggested a recipe of ‘curry rice’ (pronounced Ka-reh rei-su) using well balanced ingredients like meat, vegetables and soup thickened with flour (easier to eat with rice) and served to more than 45.000 Marines across Japan. In 1908 this recipe is introduced in an official edition of the ‘Marine Cooking Reference Book’.
The dish found its way into home kitchens and became one of first “European foods”, (not an Indian food!) spread among the common people.
Information source:
www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/4415/curry/profile/profile2.html
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Translated by Akiko Hashimoto.
