Culinary exercise number two

[tarigwaemir]

Haste Street, on the Feast of Ste. Ingrid

Tonight I made curry. By curry, I don't mean the authentic Indian or Thai or Malaysian kind. I mean the much simplified Japanese kind where you can buy a box with all the spices and flavoring packaged in handy chunks. But hey, it still counts as cooking in my book! Plus, it's really easy to make.

- Dice carrot, onion, pepper, potatoes, squash and some sort of meat into medium-sized chunks. I used a sausage (Bavarian bratwurst) for meat, but Spam will serve the purpose as well. Zucchini can be substituted for squash. Actually, you can add more vegetables according to your fancy, but it's probably good to include the ones I listed at the bare minimum. Edit: Oh, I think my mother occasionally uses imitation crab meat as well, if that suits your tastes.

- Heat up the pot and add some oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pot). Then put in some finely chopped garlic. Add your vegetables and meat, and stir-fry until meat is browned.

- Add water and let simmer. Again, the key is to not add too much water. I usually put just enough water to cover what's in the pot.

- Once the potatoes are cooked (you can test this by scooping out a chunk of potato and biting into it or testing it with your spoon--if it splits in half easily, then it's cooked), add the curry. Two chunks are usually enough for a small pot's worth. You can tell if you haven't added enough because the curry ends up runny instead of having a thick and creamy consistency. Stir the pot and let simmer until the curry has dissolved and been evenly mixed. (If you see dark brown specks coming up from the bottom of the pot, you need to stir more.)

- Serve mixed with rice! Reheating leftover curry also makes for a good lunch on the following day.

datenshi_blue asked for pictures last time, so here are some before and after photos.

Preparing the ingredients:



What the curry looks like before it goes into the pot:



(You can find curry at your local Asian supermarket. I personally like the Golden Curry brand. Most brands will sell several varieties at different levels of spiciness--from mild to medium to medium hot to hot--and you can choose the one that suits your tolerance for spice.)

What the curry looks like when it's finished cooking:



Curry on rice plus the rest of my meal:



Yours &c.

Comments

[angelyrique.livejournal.com]

LoL. What a feast. xD More than what I can make ~__~;;

[troisroyaumes]

It's ridiculously easy to make though other than the knifework (which I suck at, but luckily it doesn't show too much in the photo).

[thisresonance.livejournal.com]

John sent me some curry (Glico brand) and walked me through how to make it.

I must be weird or something because I seem to like my curry plain with only potatoes, onion and carrots. And with no rice (which seems to dilute the flavor, if you ask me). Your's looks pretty tasty, though. Maybe I should try adding a few more veggies to mine next time...

[troisroyaumes]

Hm, I find the curry too salty to be eaten without rice, but then again, that may be because I add more stuff and make the curry pretty thick. I think just having potatoes, onions and carrots should work as well, but I personally really like adding squash and meat because they add nice flavors. ^_^

I've never tried Glico actually; maybe I should look for it in the store next time.

[thisresonance.livejournal.com]

I didn't notice any saltiness in my curry. Actually, the first time I made it I was tempted to add more salt to it. Maybe it's the difference between brands? I'm using Glico since that's what John sent me, but once I run out I'll be using Golden Curry since that's all the local supermarket sells.

Just potatoes, onion and carrots are pretty good. I tried some beef the first time I made it, but the chunks were too big (I couldn't find anything smaller) and sort of tough and just not worth the hassle of washing my hands and everything a million times so I don't contaminate everything with raw beef juice.

Well, you're curry certainly looks yummy and has me considering adding more ingredients to mine. Maybe for the meat I'll add some chicken like one of the repliers below... I like chicken better anyway.

[troisroyaumes]

Oh yes, beef is really hard to cook well (which is probably why I try to avoid using it and resort to sausages instead). ^_^;; Well, let me know how it turns out! I've never used chicken before although I always eat chicken curry at Indian or Thai restaurants.

[datenshi-blue.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmmmm, looks tasty! My stomach is rumbling now (well, yeah, I just woke up and didn't have any breakfast yet, so that might be it, too ;)).

[troisroyaumes]

Hee, it's one of the few dishes that I can't mess up because it's so simple. ^_^

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

I use that brand of curry too! XD

I'm fond of chicken, potatoes & carrots curry but for treats, I use octopus for my meat sometimes. :3

[troisroyaumes]

XD I like it better than Vermont Curry, which is the other major brand of curry that I've tried.

Ooh, octopus! I've never tried putting seafood in before, but I should try that next time. ::is fond of octopus::

[dorrie6.livejournal.com]

Looks delicious!

[troisroyaumes]

Hee, thanks! (Not nearly as delicious-looking as your bento creations though! XD)

[emblem.livejournal.com]

It looks wonderful. ^^

[troisroyaumes]

Hee, thanks! ^_^

[ldmoonflower.livejournal.com]

Yay, curry!

[troisroyaumes]

Yay, a Tiffy! ^_^ How are you, by the way?

[ldmoonflower.livejournal.com]

:) I'm good. Going to Kansas to see my friend and the world's largest ball of string next week! Glad to read that Berkeley's treating you all right!

[tryogeru.livejournal.com]

Yum! Though I'm a pretty strict meat, potatoes, carrots, and onion kinda person.

[troisroyaumes]

Well, I only added pepper and squash, which are pretty essential to all Korean cooking. ^_^ You might want to try the squash sometime; it adds a nice flavor. Of course, that just may be because I'm a fan of cooked squash.

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

Ooh! That's just how my mum makes curry!

[tryogeru.livejournal.com]

Yay! Huzzah for the tried and true methods!

coincidence

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

There was an article on curry in the NYT Dining section today. It was a review of a Japanese curry place that's opened in the Flatiron district (I think).