PrintKatsu Curry via Sam Sifton: What a Treat
I'm probably never going to make the katsu curry recipe Sam Sifton devised in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, but I sure did eat up and appreciate many of Sifton's hilarious and spot-on lines in the column. Sifton is the Times' cultural editor, but before that he edited the paper's food section when I was a regular contributor there. The only shame of Sam's new gig is that it leaves him precious little time to write. And, oh, how the boy can write.
After the jump, a bit of Sifton's culinary wisdom from yesterday's column.
The first two paragraphs are sheer genius:
"It is Japan’s chili, its bacon cheeseburger, its meatloaf and gravy all in one, a hangover-killing man meal found in bars and restaurants up and down the country narrow, never as good as Mom’s. It is katsu curry: a thick, fragrant, porky roux glopped across delicate short-grain rice and topped — gilded, really — with a deep-fried pork cutlet, served beside a tangle of shredded cabbage. It’s great."
"As an American weekend meal cooked for friends and family and served before an evening of televised football or after an afternoon of the real thing, katsu curry reaches heights to which stews and soups can only aspire as they sit warm and bubbling in their enameled pots. Katsu curry defines rib-sticking. Fiery, rich and deep with smoky flavor, it towers above delicious."
"It towers above delicious." I'm afraid I am going to borrow that expression, Sam.
Sifton's closing line: "This is British Indian food as imagined by excited Japanese and cooked in the United States a hundred years later, a small triumph of postcolonial cuisine, a culture mashup of the most delicious sort. Go, go!"
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8 Comments:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was writing about Japanese curry in early 2007 and nobody called me a genius.
Adam Kuban at 11:09AM on 10/28/08
We acknowledge your genius every day, AK.
Ed Levine at 11:16AM on 10/28/08
I read the article. The dish sounds unique and delicious and doesn't appear too difficult to make-- I'm going to have a crack at it.
darly gross at 11:22AM on 10/28/08
@darly: If you can stand the thought of MSG, you can make the sauce from a premade S&B mix, and it makes things much easier. (See my link above.) I've found S&B's mix to be good. The Java Curry version is also one of my favorites. I'd avoid the kind in the boil-in bag, though.
Adam Kuban at 11:34AM on 10/28/08
The tonkatsu is the easy part, it's the [Japanese] curry that takes a long time, if made from scratch like my husband makes it. It usually takes him at least 4 hours.
Growing up, I used to dump the tonkatsu on my parents and very happy friends as I never cared for most preparations of pork as a child and now.
It feels weird and refreshing at the same time reading about a dish explained with such enthusiasm that, for me, has been commonly around at restaurants and home "forever" -- at least in my nearly 40 years lifetime and my parents' lifetime. Thanks.
Cassaendra at 11:45AM on 10/28/08
After having tonkatsu in Japan, just thinking about eating it here in the US (even a homemade version) doesn't feel right. On the other hand, I'd love to find an authentic-ish recipe for ramen - it feels like something I could actually manage to capture the essence of at home.
kimz0519 at 12:08PM on 10/28/08
The S&B boil in a bag curry is quite good for what it is.
For quickie curry, hot Kokumaro curry blocks by House is pretty good too.
Don't forget the tsukemono (fukujinzuke) on the side when serving curry rice!! That's like forgetting the cherry on a banana split!
Cassaendra at 12:52PM on 10/28/08
OMG! OMG! OMG! ROBYN LEE HAS BEEN HOLDING OUT ON US! Chekk it: CHEESE-STUFFED KATSU
Adam Kuban at 11:12PM on 10/28/08