For a while I’ve had a box of [Vermont Curry](http://importfood.com/rtvc4401.html) sitting on the shelf. “I thought it was a decoration,” said Laurie.
What is Vermont Curry? It’s Japanese curry in a box. I assume they call it Vermont Curry because Phish and Ben & Jerry’s are really big in Japan. (Okay, it probably predates that.)
I’ve been fond of Japanese curry ever since I was a kid and my mom used to buy S&B Golden Curry and serve it with chicken and noodles. Sometimes I go to [Hana Sushi](http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/1/1305/restaurant/Capitol-Hill/Hana-Restaurant-Seattle) on Broadway and get the katsu curry rice, which consists of a bowl of rice topped with a sliced fried pork cutlet and a sea of spicy brown curry sauce.
Anyway, this week I finally cracked the box open and used it to make curry udon from the new book [Takashi’s Noodles](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1580089658/?tag=mamstesgrubshack), a spectacular Japanese noodle cookbook by a Chicago chef whose restaurant I’d never heard of but which I’m now dying to try. His curry udon recipe calls for boxed curry, plus a bit of curry powder, dashi, soy sauce, beef, onions, and, uh, salsify.
For some reason I didn’t have a pound of salsify lying around, so I substituted carrots. And I went with pork instead of beef because it was on sale (I used Takashi’s braised pork belly recipe, streamlined and with pork shoulder instead of belly.) Despite my tinkering, this was a fabulously warming and slippery bowl of noodles, especially nice since spring is not really interested in Seattle this year.
Now I’m looking forward to making Takashi’s soba, his ramen, his rice noodles with corned beef (really!).
Oh, one other thing you should know about Vermont Curry: the spiciness scale ranges from mild to hot, but “hot” by Japanese standards is the same as, well, Vermont standards. I used the Hot, and Laurie and I could not detect the slightest hint of chile heat. Really, nada.
*I got my copy of Takashi’s Noodles free from Ten Speed Press.*
I’m waiting for a copy to come available at the library. I like S&B more than Vermont still though.
I tried the Vermont Curry recently, but I think I will be switching back to Golden Curry. Also, I’ve found that one of the best meats for curry is chicken and apple sausage.
I need to do a side-by-side.
I love curry, but cant say I’ve ever found a love for the Japanese version. Am cooking my way thru Madhur Jaffrey’s Curries and Kabobs book whch gives some fascinating history on how curry migrated out of India as indentured servants from there were shipped around the world, then incorporated local ingredients and techniques. Not clear on how making a roux is a Japanese technique, but, there you are.
I think it’s called Vermont because it has some apple in it. For the truly lazy they now make pouches of curry sauce with vegetables (carrots and potatoes) ready to microwave and pour over rice.
$0.99/lb. pork roast – we have one for dinner tonight!
I think the apple in the Vermont curry is correct – at least that’s what my SO told me.
As a long-time Vermonter who’s asked his Japanese wife why it’s called Vermont Curry, I can give you this definitive answer: I don’t know.
(Having made many trips to Japan, much is unexplainable there.)
Funny: One day I spent a long time making her some Japanese curry, and when she got home, she just started laughing, explaining that basically no one in Japanese makes curry from scratch anymore.