Japanese Curry Redux!

Blog I apologize again...I was planning to write up several entries during the summer but I ditched. The good thing though is I'm trying my best to update...

So let's get to the curry! So I've always been fascinated with Japanese curry rice, right? I've made a recipe for it like two years ago and it's quite tasty, but something I've never been able to pull off as an element of curry rice is the colour.

Traditional curry rice has a rich reddish brown colour. In a restaurant or in an anime, that's how I've always seen it.

I realized that you can't really obtain this colour with just the curry block. Whenever I made my curry it had an almost dull gold colour, so I tried adjusting and adding drops of soy sauce to obtain the reddish brown.

Anyway, I'm no genius, but the solution for this are caramelized onions. I've looked it up and read that that's how you make the killer Japanese curry: put lots of sweet, mild caramel onions. It builds up the curry's character and just gives me the colour I've been looking for!

So I'll just write down how I did it. It's relatively simple, but it does take up some time. The recipe also has easier clean-up than the prior one.

I used stewing beef cubes (not necessary to cut), about half a kilo, 4 whole onions, 2 medium potatoes, 3 small carrots, 6 mushrooms, a bit of garlic, bit of ginger, hint of soy sauce, 2 pieces off the curry roux block, and water and oil.

This is a recipe where you have to be well prepared...so you need to:

- Have the onions sliced thinly, the potatoes and carrots cut roughly, garlic minced and mushrooms quartered.

- In a pot or a pan, caramelize your thinly sliced onions. I followed this 15-minute recipe of it where you sautee the onions in butter on high heat and just add a couple spoons of water every time it builds up a fond. When you take it out you should have about 1 and 1/2 cup of the good, caramelized stuff.

- Wash and pat the beef dry and season it with salt and pepper. Brown in the same pot/pan as the onions. They don't need to be cooked thoroughly just yet so take em out when the sides have browned.

Now we make the curry!

- In medium-high heat, sauteé the garlic and then add in the mushrooms. Stir-fry this for a few minutes.

- Then toss in the potatoes and carrots. Toss to coat in the oil and brown it just a little bit.

- After, pour in water, more than 2 cups, cover the lid and simmer for 20 minutes.

- When 20 minutes have passed, check the vegetable's softness. Put the beef, caramelized onions and some grated ginger. Simmer for 15 minutes then turn  down the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 more minutes.

- Roughly chop the curry block for easier distribution. Lower the heat to a minimum and mix the curry roux in. Adjust to desired consistency.

-Done.

So follow this more as a guideline. Adjust the water amount during the simmering I'd you'd like. Use the soy sauce for adjusting taste as well.

Because of the onion's and potatoes' starches you wouldn't need a lot of roux to bind up the consistency. The finished result should have melt in your mouth vegetables, tender beef and a sauce with integrity. 

I'd like to think that if I went to a restaurant in Japan that serves curry rice that this is how it would taste like. Tasty and tender components encased in a sauce (perfect consistency) that's sweet and mild but contains a boldness, with a kiss of spice at the end of each bite.

This is absolutely ridiculous...

Can you believe I made my first post of the year on July? More than halfway through 2015? Ridiculous. I keep telling myself that, because it's true!

Well, in the past 7 months, I wasn't being a lazy bum. I mean, sometimes I do...But the point is, I've been pretty productive! Aside  from school, I have improved art-wise traditionally and digitally. I've broken a personal record of actually making the most YouTube videos in a year. Usually in the past years I make less than 5 videos...but at the end of July I'll have 10! Pretty pleased with that.

I actually made a tumblr around the time of my last post (late November/early December), so that might just be a reason I ended up abandoning this blog. Regardless, I'll do my best.

A couple weeks ago I decided to start up an art blog too! It's www.thehypertuna.tumblr.com

I reblog sometimes here, but mostly I post some of my art! :)

I've also began to sew for fun too again. I bought felt in 2013 for 1D plushies but I decided that 2 years later, now, in 2015, that it might just have to wait! Hah! I decided that I should practice on sewing projects with prepared templates. It's quite fun! The stuff I've sewed will be used as Christmas ornaments. 

Hey!

So I haven't been on here in 7 months! Ridiculous!

Is that? I have time for my anime and food blog?

I had to fend off school work and other things before finally landing here, back to my blog.

I'd really like to write and catch up with what's up in anime for me. I guess I'll write a summary of the recent months of anime now!

In the spring season,

I picked up Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku, Ore Monogatari!, Nisekoi:. Along with that was Sailor Moon Crystal and Assasination Classroom.

I haven't finished Nisekoi: just yet, but I think the stars of my spring season was definitely OreGairu and Ore Monogatari!. 

 OreGairu still has the same charm the first season did, but what I liked in particular was that it didn't result in stagnation. The second season explored characters in ways I haven't seen. It's a wonderful sequel, and I could really relate and feel its ingenuity. 

Ore Monogatari! is the cutest show ever! It's very sweet, and I recommend you pick this series up. It's a very charming anime.

Nisekoi: at the moment is a fun show, and although it's nothing mind-blowing, it's pretty decent. 

Assassination Classroom honestly was quite mediocre, maybe that's not the right word...The show's good but nothing too memorable... Although I'd say the art and animation were quite good.

 I gave up on hoping Sailor Moon Crystal was going to be something pivotal. I cannot believe I actually committed a full year to this show. Frankly, I am elated to finish this series next week (Last Episode! Finally!)...

So there's that, I had to put a lag in priority of school work, so I'm behind on anime a bit. I still need to pick a couple series for the summer.

I'm also currently half-way through Ouran, and I started watching Guren Lagann! Gotta watch the classics!

Anyway, here's to a good summer, and a good rest of the year! Let's hope I find a way to keep this blog alive!

Cann!

I just wanted to write briefly that if you fry pepperoni and onions and then add it to Campbell's Chunky Beef Soup, it tastes so much better.

2014 Fall Anime so far...

Yikes! It's been a month since I last wrote here, it makes me worry I might end up abandoning this blog since high school has come around. 

I didn't write an entry for Zankyou no Terror, but it's really great in the beginning though it does get weaker by the final episode.

We're two-thirds into the season already! Wow! Doesn't really matter when I write about it but I'll do it now.

No pictures...I'm quite lazy to take like 5 minutes and screencap some pictures so no pictures.

This season I only took up 4 series under my wing, this totals to 5 including the leftover of Sailor Moon Crystal.

Donten ni Warau - It seemed really interesting and I thought the character designs were pretty neat. I put it in my list since the original manga seems to be quite popular. The first few episodes were pretty enjoyable and fun, but right now I feel the show has lost some kind of glimmer because of its melodrama.

Reviewing Summer 2014 : Ao Haru Ride

When I was watching the second-last episode of Ao Haru Ride, I had my sister watch a part with me. She cried.

 This anime is cool. It doesn't take anything over-the-top, but it's one of those anime that hits you back home. See, there's nothing extraordinary in the surface, but if you dig through Ao Haru Ride, it warms your heart. 

It's lovely, and the emotions are on-point, so it won't set you off. I think there's more to explore with the characters, so I'm crossing my fingers for a second season.

Reviewing Summer 2014 : Haikyu!!

Well, I kept insisting that I was typing the anime's name right. But now it makes sense why people call it Haikyu!! instead of Haikyuu!! There's no repeating character in the logo (except the exclamation marks, of course).

Now on to less boring talk, I'd like to say the praise and fame this anime has gained is well-deserved.

 Sorry for the minor spoiler, but I couldn't help it. I tend to overlook sports anime when it's time for a new anime season, but this spring, I think I made an awesome decision! This is probably due to the fact that I had watched the first season of Free! previously, which is semi-sports anime, and also because the manga seemed really popular.

Haikyu!!is a fine adaptation of work. I love that you can distinguish the characters from each other, not just from their appearances but also their personality. The way the team interacts and converses with each other is believable and it adds to the exaggerated animation.

It is compelling and really fun to watch. I sometimes wish that I didn't need to wait a week for each episode. The Karasuno Volleyball Team fires me up, and I just get anxious rooting for this fictional yet plausible team! Haikyu!! also presents different kinds of perspectives and it doesn't just focus on the winners. There are teams that are much underdog than Karasuno is, and how their emotions and responses show is very moving, and it gives out thought-provoking ideas (not ones that are too deep, mind you).

The relationship between each of the opposing teams is portrayed without leaning on one side. What I mean is that, although Aoba Johsai is better than Karasuno, the coaches and players take each other seriously, and no signs of hostility was needed. Why? Doesn't it get old when the rival team is being always real cocky (exaggerated, too) to their opposing underdog theme? Uh-huh, me too.

This animated series is robust, and Production I.G.'s animation and direction is top-notch. The movement and fluidity of the characters rev up the in-series hype alone, and even though there are animation sequences that are re-used, it's not much of a problem. The great script and well-done story compensates, and it portrays ideas carefully. 
 
 A highly recommended series in my books, and it may change the way you see sports anime, too. I'm really hoping to see a second season come to works, and now I'm actually thinking of reading the manga.