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| Curry, minus Katsu |
| All photos l Felicia D'Ambrosio |
At a post-wedding brunch this summer, a cousin inquired if I liked to cook. "Oh yeah," I replied glibly. "Cooking is practically all I do. Then eating." He pressed on. "What do you like to cook?" What do I like to cook...
Grandmother food. My grandmother's, yours, everybody's. And everything from The New York Times. I am in a long-term relationship with the Times; we've been seeing each other since I was old enough to rummage Dad's discarded broadsheets in search of the Style and Dining In sections. Sunday's Magazine, in particular, has outlasted five boyfriends and three cars.
In the October 26, 2008 issue of the Magazine, the food page was lit by a floating, halo'd, panko-crusted pork cutlet. Tonkatsu Curry, it read; the bacon cheeseburger, the meatloaf and gravy, the fried-goodness, hangover-curing food of Japan. The writer, Sam Sifton, explored this magical mashup of European, Indian and Japanese cuisine and come out on the other end with a recipe that turns a lot of butter, a big lump of ground pork and Cuisinart full of fruit and vegetables into something that flies far beyond the definition of delicious.
Charmed by the photo and lured by the essay extolling the porky roux and "heroic in size" pork cutlet, boyfriend and I got busy assembly line-style on our first batch of katsu curry. The resultant bowl of fragrant sauce over sticky rice, crowned with a huge McPiggy nugget, was heavenly. And heavy.
This is a big meal. Hangover-killers are always comprised of grease, eggs, meat and hot sauce, not salad. In the second iteration of katsu curry, we simply left out the giant fried pork cutlet to focus on the aromatic curry and rice element. It's no less satisfying, and cuts about a thousand calories off the dish.
Drool over Sam Sifton's recipe for Tonkatsu Curry; make the call on keeping or chucking the pork cutlet depending on your personal weather. S&B Oriental Curry powder, which makes the dish, as well as tonkatsu sauce, are available at Hung Vuong Supermarket, Wing Phat Plaza, 1122-1138 Washington Ave., 215-336-2803.
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Lucky for me I live in Tokyo. After reading this I went and had some here in Roppongi. It was delicious. Still hungover, though....
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