A Trusty Meal: Karei Raisu (Japanese-Style Curry)

For Christmas, I received a cookbook that I was coveting, "Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking" by the famous Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. As I was reading it, I was transported back to my mother's kitchen as she was preparing each of these dishes.

One of my family's favorites (and there are many) is Karei Raisu, which is how the Japanese say "curry" ("karei") and "rice" ("raisu"). I never realized how simple it was to make this delicious dish until I moved out and had to make this myself! Morimoto confirmed this when I read his recipe. With a couple minor adjustments, his recipe is like mom's!

Morimoto describes this dish:

"Japanese curry is like the final whisper in an international game of telephone. It began in India, moved to and morphed in England, and settled in my home country, where today curry shops abound. Of course, once we adopted curry, we tweaked it endlessly to our tastes and a new dish was born. Every prefecture and every family has its own version... In some households, leftovers are served not with rice but with slick, chubby udon noodles. But I still love the classic combination of beef, potato, and carrot cooked in a saucy, slightly sweet curry and ladled next to white rice. You can use whatever meat and vegetables you want, but for me, curry has two unbreakable rules: First, make sure that meat is nice and fatty. Second, embrace the premade blocks of Japanese curry roux. Curry is not health food..."!

To make this dish, I've turned to my crockpot to do all of the work. (Morimoto makes it the traditional way in a pot on the stove.) Also, I've substituted daikon for potatoes. Daikon is a Japanese turnip that cooks like a potato but the taste of the curry is infused into it rather than on top of it so the curry is even tastier. It's sold everywhere - even Walmart! Also, as Morimoto attests, the medium-hot version of the Vermont Curry Sauce makes the best tasting roux. If the supermarket doesn't sell this brand, they likely sell other brands that can be found in the International Foods section.

The Recipe:

• 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped into chunks

• 1 pound stew meat (boneless beef such as chuck or short rib) or chicken thighs, cut into chunks

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped into 3/4-inch pieces

• 1 medium-size daikon (about 3" wide and 12" long) or 1 large russet potato, roughly chopped into 3/4-inch pieces

• 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped into 3/4-inch pieces (optional)

• 1 large package of Vermont Curry (Medium Hot)

• Cooked white rice

Place the meat on the bottom of the crockpot. Add all of the chopped vegetables on the meat. Add 7 cups of water (or pour water until it barely covers the meat and vegetables).

Turn the crockpot on the Low setting and wait 7 hours. Break the curry chunks into the cooked stew and stir until the curry is dissolved. Let it cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve it on cooked white rice. Add chopped pickles, if desired.