It’s impossible to make a fancy version of Japanese curry. Unlike Thai curry, there’s no patient pounding of ingredients with a mortar and pestle. That’s because preparing Japanese curry is a simple matter of dissolving curry flakes, paste, or, most commonly, square tablets in the cooking liquid.
As such, it’s excellent as a quick meal and for repurposing leftovers. Nevertheless, Japanese curry is a dish full of meaning for those who grew up on it. For those of us who didn’t, it’s a touchstone we can tap into, one that gives us a glimpse of a community’s continuity and provides something delicious at the same time.