Living & Working in Ishikawa, Japan
Once a dish found only in fine dining, curry has now become the common folk’s comfort food in Japan. Japanese curry is completely different from any Southeast Asian curry. Its flavors are more akin to those of a thickened beef stew. You can have it for lunch, dinner, heck, some even eat it for breakfast with natto. It is typically served over rice and accompanied by a panko-breaded fried cutlet topping known as katsu. Various preparations of this dish have spawned across this island nation, but today we’ll focus on Kanazawa curry.
Kanazawa curry was invented by Yoshikazu Tanaka, the founder of Champion’s Curry in the 1960′s. It is characterized by the following:
Let’s explore 4 of Kanazawa’s top destinations for this stick-to-your ribs dish.
Champion’s Curry (カレーのチャンピオン)
The original Kanazawa curry is one of the “lighter” versions. This curry is a pale brown with just the tiniest hint of spice. Although thicker than traditional curry, it is still pretty saucy. The standard here is the L katsukare (Lカツカレー). The medium thick pork cutlet has a finely ground crispy panko crust. The cutlet is quite juicy and surprisingly easy to cut with your fork considering its thickness. At 780円, this is the priciest of the four.
Go!Go! Curry – (ゴーゴーカレー)
This is Champion’s biggest competitor in the area. Their intimidating gorilla mascot is fitting as this the boldest, thickest, and darkest curry of them all. Go!Go! claims that their curry is cooked for 55 hours until all meat and vegetables have disintegrated into this thick black caramelized curry. Yum. Here, you go with the rosukatsukare (ロースカツ). You get a very thin pork cutlet covered in flaky crispy panko. The meat is very soft. The caramelization of the meats make this curry one of the sweeter ones for 750円.
Turban Curry – (ターバンカレー)
Turban is your mom-and-pop lunch spot – closed by 7pm during the week and by 5pm on the weekend. Their curry is very similar to Go!Go!’s albeit not as thick or bold. Unfortunately, this shop’s staple rosukatsu, is a bit carelessly prepared. The cutlet is not as crispy and is heavily doused in tonkatsu sauce. Its saved by the surprising juiciness carried by this thin cut of meat. The tonkatsu sauce makes the dish a bit sweet, but the curry itself is quite nice and beefy. At 650円, it is the cheapest of the quartet.
Gold Curry – (ゴールドカレー)
Finally, you have Gold Curry. As you approach the shop, you are greeted by a Ganesha-like character hinting at the flavor profile of this curry. It is definitely the thickest of the four curries – those ice cold water jugs really come in handy to wash this baby down. It is heavy on the curry powder imparting strong Indian flavors. Their signature G katsukare (Gカツカレー) includes a thick cut pork cutlet that’s a bit on the chewy-side, but with a pleasant crunchy breading for 750円. On the 5th, 15th, and 25th of the month, you get up to 200円 off of your G katsukare order!
Personally, I prefer Curry House CoCo ICHIBANYA which you can find all throughout Japan (I get to bump up the spice level here), BUT Kanazawa curry has definitely grown on me. I think I’m even beginning to crave it.
This link will take you to a Google map pinpointing the location of these shops. There are dozens of Champion’s Curry and Go!Go! Curry, so I’ve only listed a few of them.
Mauricio is a 2nd year ALT who eats close to the Japanese average of 84 servings of curry a year.
As a foreigner living in Ishikawa, no matter how much you love Japanese food, there comes a point when you have had enough pickled vegetables, curry, and cod sperm. Want to whip-up something from home, but can’t find certain ingredients? Well, here is a collection of shops in Kanazawa where you can find food items from back home.
Yamaya – やまや
This is THE foreign import store of mass-produced goods. Here you will find ingredients for Italian, Southeast Asian, Tex Mex, and Indian meals. You’ll also find imported potato chips and snacks, matzo ball soup, pancake mix, maple syrup, peanut butter, garbanzo beans, flour tortillas, hot sauce, and tons more. My listings are biased, so check this place out for yourself. Personally, I think their strength lies in their assortment of alcohol. They have a decent selection of imported beers that you won’t find in any Japanese market or conbini and an impressive selection of spirits for very decent prices; I’ve found the spirits here to be 10-30% cheaper than in the US. There are many branches spread across Japan, including one in Nanao, three in Kanazawa, one in Nonoichi, and one in Komatsu. Click here for a complete listing and hours of operation. http://www.yamaya.co.jp
Diamond - ダイヤモンド
Ah, the elusive Diamond market. Often described as the foreign goods store on the second floor of Omicho Market – beware! Many never find it, so let me guide you. From the fancy entrance facing M’za (see picture), go into the actual market, turn left, then turn right, and finally turn right once more. It will be on your left hand side. Go into the shop and THEN go upstairs to the second floor. If you try taking any other stairs to “the second floor,” you’ll never get there. This shop has a plethora of foreign goods similar to Yamaya, but more selective and on a much smaller scale. They include hundreds of spices, ghee, dry pastas, sun dried tomatoes, baking goods, shredded coconut, agave syrup, Cherry Cola, and cooking oils (avocado, grapeseed, walnut, almond). Hours of operation follow Omicho market’s schedule. http://www.daiya-net.co.jp/index.html
Fu-do – 風土
For the health-conscience, Fu-do offers a variety of brown rice (玄米) harvested exclusively by a dozen farmers across Ishikawa prefecture. A kilo of rice averages around 500-600円. They will gladly offer you rice bran (ヌカ) free of charge. You can use the rice bran to cook bamboo shoots in the spring! If you are not familiar with cooking brown rice in your rice cooker, wash it and then let it soak in water for 5 hours prior to turning on the cooker. The shop is located in the basement of Omicho market near the escalators. Hours of operation are 10am-6pm and follow Omicho’s holiday schedule. http://fu-do.agri-ishikawa.jp
Yaoya -八百屋
This shop is owned by Yamada-san, a friendly fellow who lived in Canada for a while and speaks some English. He carries an assortment of seasonal produce from Ishikawa as well as some goods from overseas. Shop highlights include: passion fruit, fresh coriander (cilantro), jalapeños, zebra tomatoes, purple cauliflower, round squash, and cherimoyas. He receives new stock on Tuesdays and Saturdays, but if you are coming from out of town, he recommends giving him a call to check what produce is available that day. Produce subject to change with the seasons. Yaomatsu is located near the top of Shintatemachi. He is open from 8am-6pm and closed on Sundays. http://www.yaomatsu.jp
Cheese Oukoku – チーズ王国
This shop, in the basement (デパ地下) of Daiwa, opened less than a year ago. It carries a nice variety of cheeses (ricotta, gouda, cheddar, blue, parmessan, mozzarela, brie, camambert, and more). Word to the wise, if you are looking for pure crumbly feta, check out the cheese section in M’za’s basement market. These shops are not cheap, but the quality and selection is 10 times better than anything you’ll find at the supermarket. As an added bonus, if you are looking to make pesto from scratch, you can find pine nuts in the Daiwa basement market right around the cheese shop. Hours are from 10am-7pm. http://www.cheese-oukoku.co.jp/
The Meat Guy
The Meat Guy is an online meat provider based in Nagoya. Not exactly in the neighborhood, but if you are looking for meat, this is your guy. You can find anything on there: lamb chops, turkey, alligator sausage, rib eye steaks, suckling pig, Australian beef and more. Shipping is a reasonable 650円 and occasionally he offers free shipping deals. Check him out at http://www.themeatguy.jp.
This listing is Kanazawa-centric as this is where I live, but it should cover many of your bases. I invite those who live outside Kanazawa and everyone else to chime in with your recommendations in the comments section!
Here is a map I’ve put together of all of the shops listed.
Mauricio is a 2nd year ALT in Kanazawa who very much loves Japanese food.
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