Sushi Confidential: Curry

Sushi Confidential

One thing that might surprise you.

Yes I have developed my palate for sushi but the one thing that I struggle with is Japanese curry.

I get those little blocks that they sell at the Asian grocery store, and they’re a solid starter kit. I usually add gochujang to it and who knows what. It’s actually nice.

Ando has kinda messed up curry for me. It’s pretty damn good and I have a hard time with subpar curry now.

It’s funny because Japanese curry was the last one I really got hip to. I still think Thai is my favorite but I deeply love Japanese curry.

One of the chef’s name is Jordan. He’s a doofy looking, jacked, bald, nutsack Jew with Jewish sense of humor. So meeting him was a real hoot and we became fast friends.

We both love George Carlin since forever, and thus, oodles of just self deprecating jokes.

He’s also so damn argumentative and always wants to prove his 1% of a point. When I quit smoking, I said “nothing good comes from smoking. Expensive, bad for health, waste of time”, XYZ whole nine.

And this nutsack chimes in from the other side of the kitchen, “wellllllll”. Trying to tell me about the very minute benefits of smoking cigarettes.

I know they make the curry in house. I don’t know the recipe or even the method. I do know they grate carrots. I think there’s pork in there? Or beef?

I asked Jordan once how to make it just so I could give it a try at home. I asked him if it is difficult to make. He replied:

“Is it difficult putting things in a pot?”

Schmuck.

Love that man. A good friend and one example of the brilliant people you meet in kitchens that could level a mountain if he were so inclined, both by his relentless fortitude and also by his immense competence in just about anything he does inside and outside of the kitchen.

I say all this to say, yes when you go to the sushiya (sushi joint), you get the sushi. When you go to a Japanese restaurant, don’t sleep on the kitchen food. It’s often an indicator of how good the sushi is.

And if you find yourself in a Thai or Korean joint that also sells sushi, for the love of god get the Thai or Korean food. That’s some suspect sushi.

Best,
E
#ARTiculate