Cooking with Vermont Curry from House Foods Sauce Mix
March 06, 2018
What is curry? Where did it originate?
According to the dictionary, Curry is a dish of meat, vegetables, etc., cooked in an Indian-style sauce of strong spices and turmeric and typically served with rice.
Alan Davidson has stated in the Oxford Companion to Food that curry comes from the Tamil word kari, or spiced sauce, which originally a thin, soup-like, spiced dressing served in southern India, amongst many other stew-like dressings for meat and vegetables. It was also noted in an English cookbook published in 1390s, The Forme of Cury, that “cury” originated from the word cuire, meaning to cook. Chef Cyrus Todiwala from BBC Two's The Incredible Spice Men explained that even though Portuguese discovered India and was credited with popularizing Curry, the country Britain was the one that brought the spice to the world. There were evidences that traces of cooked ginger and turmeric were found in starch grains in human teeth and cooking pot seen in the town of Famana, west of Delhi. Anthropologists believed that they might have found the evidence of a 4,000-year old "proto-curry". (Taylor, 2013)
There are so many types of curries in the world and one of the most interesting is the Japanese’s Curry Roux Cube. Curry Roux Cubes have flavors similar to bouillon, concentrated hits of spices and "umami" that releases when mixed with a liquid. These cubes are milder in flavor and sweeter than other curry bases and tend to produce a thicker sauce due to the presence of thickeners like corn starch or flour. Dishes like kare raisu (rice with Japanese curry) and katsu kare (thin, fried pork or chicken with Japanese curry) are almost always made from a box of Japanese curry roux. (Delany, 2017)
Three weeks ago, Primer Media Inc. sent me three brands of curry roux cubes from House Foods Sauce Mix, Japan, a well-known company established in 1913 as a producer of herbal medicines. They are now the largest spice manufacturer in Japan, and one of the most prominent producers of Japanese food products.
Hubby and I were confused on what to try first since it was our very first time to use curry roux cubes. After listening to a friend’s recommendation that we should try Vermont Curry first, which she rated five stars, and following the cooking instructions, we enjoyed the flavor and seasoning of our delectable curry dish! It was so delicious! The dish had the right amount of sweetness and spiciness. Perfect! Super sarap with hot steamed rice! Mapapa-extra rice ka sa sobrang linamnam!
 |
| I admit that I wasn't familiar with Vermont, Java, and Kokumaro Curry Roux Cubes until I searched Instagram and saw thousands of posts of people from all over the world featuring their curry dishes using these three brands! That, my friends, made me more excited to try them! |
Let me share with you our very own version of Vermont Medium Hot Japanese Chicken Curry.
What you need to do is just do these three steps:
1. Cut ingredients.
2. Fry them up.
3. Simmer it with Vermont Curry roux.
To show you in detail, here is how we cooked our Japanese Chicken Curry using Vermont Curry- Medium Hot:
Ingredients
Chicken breast: 500 grams
Onion: 800 grams
Potato: 450 grams
Carrot: 200 grams
Cooking oil: 30 ml (2 tbsp)
Water: 6 cups (1,400 ml)
One package of Vermont Curry- Med. Hot 185 grams
Procedure
1. Drizzle cooking oil into a pot and heat it up.
2. Put chopped onion into and fry it.
3. After it’s cooked, put chopped chicken.
4. After chicken is cooked well, put chopped carrot and potato respectively.
5. After every ingredient is well cooked, put water.
6. Boil with medium heat and put the lid of the pot.
7. Remove scum with ladle.
8. Boil till every ingredient becomes tender.
9. Stop heating. Break curry roux into small blocks and put them into the pot.
10. Stir it till curry roux melts completely.
11. Heat the pot again with low heat until the sauce is thick enough.
12. Stir the sauce while heating to avoid burning it.
13. Serve curry with steamed rice.
VERMONT CURRY HOT (230 grams, Php189.50)
 |
| Tada! Our finished product may not look like your typical Chicken Curry that is bright yellow in color but this tastes really, really good! My food blogger friend, Joy Gurtiza, was the one who encouraged me to use Vermont Curry (Med. Hot) first which she rated five stars and she was right! I strongly agree! |
Like my family, I would like you to experience cooking using Vermont, Java, and Kokumaro Curry! Through the generosity of Prime Media Philippines, House Foods Sauce Mix, Japan, and One Stop Distribution, Inc., the official importer and distributor of the above-mentioned yummy curry roux cubes, I am giving away a CURRY ROUX PACK composed of the following:
VERMONT CURRY HOT (230 grams, Php189.50)
JAVA CURRY MED. HOT (185 grams, Php189.50)
JAVA CURRY HOT (185 grams, Php189.50)
KOKUMARO CURRY HOT (140 grams, Php133.50)
PLUS add-ons from other brands!
JAVA CURRY HOT (185 grams, Php189.50)
KOKUMARO CURRY HOT (140 grams, Php133.50)
PLUS add-ons from other brands!
Do the following steps to qualify for the raffle to be chosen by random.org. Don't forget to show your love and support by hitting LIKE when you visit Philippine Primer on Facebook!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This giveaway is open to AAPM readers residing in Philippines only. You don't have to be my social media follower to join. Just complete the mechanics and you're done!
The giveaway runs until March 31, 2018 at 12:00 AM. The announcement of the lucky winner will be on the same day through Facebook Private Message. I will be responsible in shipping the gift pack to the winner.
For more details and information about Vermont, Java, and Kokumaro Curry Roux Cubes, visit House Foods Sauce Mix, Japan's official website.
Have you tried cooking your favorite dish using Vermont, Java, or Kokumaro Curry? If yes, I will be glad to know your chika about it! Feel free to leave a comment! Salamat!
Have you tried cooking your favorite dish using Vermont, Java, or Kokumaro Curry? If yes, I will be glad to know your chika about it! Feel free to leave a comment! Salamat!
References:
Taylor, A. (2013). Curry: Where did it come from?. Retrieved http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/0/24432750
Taylor, A. (2013). Curry: Where did it come from?. Retrieved http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/0/24432750
Delany, A. (2017). What’s in a curry?. Retrieved from https://www.bonappetit.com/story/what-is-curry
