Missed edit window.
ETA #2: At the end, she adds 1 tablespoon **each **of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, apricot jam, AND curry powder! Makes one wonder how flavorful the original sauce mix is to benefit from all those add-ons. However, now that the mystery has been removed, I will try this product. 
Ya know, good question. I guess it’s something I thought about when I first discovered Japanese curry, but either never looked up or just forgot the origin story. So I did a little digging:
From their website.
That story does not at all sound familiar to me, so I guess I just thought it was curious, and forgot to research it.
Here’s a Serious Eats taste test of various curry mixes. My local groceries are pretty 50-50 on whether they stock any Japanese curry blocks. If they do, it’s always Golden Curry, which is okay, but I doctor a good bit. I generally have to go to a Japanese or Korean grocery store to find a better selection (like all the ones listed in that Serious Eats article.) You can, of course, also buy online.
ETA:
It depends on the brand. Golden Curry is pretty neutral, so the additions do perk it up a bit. From the research I’ve done on it in the past, it seems to be one of those dishes that everybody wants to put their own spin on, like how, I don’t know, people like doctoring up a chili mix or something like that.
A local drive-inn adds a bit of coconut milk to their well known curry. IMO, works best with the hot curry as it helps counter the heat.
Oh, yeah. I’ve also seen people put (regular dairy) cream in it as well for similar reasons, as well as for, well, making the dish creamier, of course. 
Simple meal my mother would make us in a pinch:
White rice topped with a fried egg, over easy, and a spoonful of oyster sauce on top of that.
Or egg foo yong. Basically just a beaten egg with stuff mixed into it and fried. My mother usually put ham and peas in it, and my dad would just start going through the fridge and throwing in whatever he found like he did with the jook (I hated that), but you can add whatever you like.
Very informative! Thx!
find it benefits greatly form some heat - a good bit of Tabasco is my favorite.
They sell Golden Curry up to “Extra Hot” levels. Japanese “extra hot” isn’t as hot as other Asian countries, but it still has some pep to it. Even the regular “hot” is peppy if you’re not too used to spicy foods. I usually end up adding chili flakes to my curry to get it to a heat level I like (I tend to buy the mild Java brand curry so the wife & kids will eat it, but I do keep a few boxes of hot and extra hot around for myself.)
Toasted* pimento cheese sandwiches (2), cut diagonally.
*Preferably in a toaster oven, but under a broiler will do, it just takes longer.
Sorry. I meant the Vermont mild for the kids (as it’s the sweetest of the bunch) and the Java brand I have for hot (though it looks like I also have a box of Kokumaro I had forgotten about.)
Incidentally, there are a couple other similar roux-based Japanese stew cubes out there as well. There’s this Japanese Cream Stew, which is basically like a lightly flavored cream sauce – this is one that my kids especially seem to like, but is definitely on the blander side. And then there’s also this brown stew or Hayashi rice saucemix, which is probably what you expect it to taste like: kind of like a middle-of-the-road brown gravy, but not quite the same flavor as American gravy. Those, though, I’ve only seen at the Japanese and Korean markets here. But if you’re not a fan of curry flavor, worth a shot.
Well, I know what I’m having for dinner tonight!
Andrew Rea (aka Babish) is a YouTube sensation and has skyrocketed to the upper echelon of successful YouTube content creators. His videos are entertaining and (usually) informative.
I made his chocolate chip cookies and everyone except my BiL has raved about them. I even got a (joking) marriage proposal from one woman who swooned over them.
NOTE: I followed his recipe exactly. I did every step exactly as he did (including a bit of kosher salt sprinked on top which really makes them pop) and cooked a couple test cookies to dial-in the time to cook exactly. This recipe takes a lot longer to do than most recipes (things like browning and re-cooling the butter and letting the dough rest) add a lot of time to it but the end result is soooo worth it.
NOTE2: You also really need a stand mixer for this recipe. Perhaps you could manage it by hand but it would not be easy at all and I would not want to try.
Wow, those are huge cookies!
I prefer smaller cookies, and I like my cookies crisp. I really don’t enjoy a gooey cookie. (I like raw dough okay, but I want the cookie to snap.) So I think I would not follow the last parts of his instructions.
But I’m going to try browning the butter. I did that recently for rice crispy treats, and it made an enormous difference.
Where do you find these? Mitsuwa?
Mitsuwa if you want the maximum selection. H-Mart has a lot of these brands, too, and they now have a location in the West Loop at Jackson, just east of the expressway. They have the Golden, Java, and Vermont brands of curry at that location. For the cream stew and brown stew I think that was only at Mitsuwa, but I’m not sure. Mitsuwa is where I found the Kokumaro brand of curry roux. The H-Mart also stocks some Korean-style curry mixes, too, which are similar to Japanese, but the ones I’ve had were more turmerick-y. The one I bought came in a dry bag as a powder with the thickening agents mixed in, not like the Japanese curry cubes, but I think they may have had some wet versions there, as well. I didn’t like it as much as the Japanese curry, though.
Ah, there is a pouched, paste version of the Korean curry as well. Here’s a link to it. But that’s more like a sauce you pour over your finished dish at the end. The powdered Korean curry I bought you cook it all together with the vegetables, protein, and liquid.
My comfort food has to be easy to prepare. English muffin with a hard-fried egg, some salsa, maybe some cheddar cheese. … Or a packet of Lipton’s noodle soup mix, maybe with some extra noodles (fine egg noodles) thrown in to boil. With crackers, that’s good eats.
Puttanesca sauce with rigatoni.
Sauce is simple, takes only 30 minutes or less.
Olive oil
Garlic, minced ( or sliced ‘Goodfellas’ style )
Anchovies
Tablespoon of capers
Sliced olives
Diced tomatoes ( canned but not pureeed )
Add them all in that order. Very bold strong taste and satisfying, if you’re into that.
Tamale pie
2# ground beef
One medium onion, chopped
One Tbsp minced/chopped garlic
One Tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 Cups yellow cornmeal
2 Cups milk
One can (14 ounce) whole kernel corn, undrained
One can (14 ounce) cut tomatoes
One can (14 ounce) black olives, DRAINED
2 Cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Mix the milk and cornmeal. Set it aside while you’re putting everything else together.
Brown the burger meat. Cool the onion and garlic with the meat, and drain off excess fat. Add chili powder (also salt and pepper if you like). Add in the tomatoes, corn and olives, and heat it all through.
Add the cornmeal/milk mixture, cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Put it all into a large casserole dish, cover it with the cheese, and bake for an hour at 350[sup]o[/sup] F.
You should be able to get five generous servings out of that.
Yes! S&B curry blocks are great! And you can add any veggies or protein you want to change it up. My sister spent over a year in Japan and used to make scratch curry based on what she learned there. But once she tried S&B she said why go to all that bother? It tastes just as good.
My B-i-L called creamed salmon on toast Salmon Wiggle. He grew up in Maine, so I’m assuming that was a local term. Does anyone else know that name?
Most of the foods listed here are things I grew up eating and never ate again once I left home (and never wanted to). But one thing my mom made from a recipe she found in the paper back in the late 50s/early 60s we still eat. My older sister had made some before Thanksgiving this year, but because she’s the only one in her family who likes it, I got to take the leftovers home. Yum!
We called it wieners and spaghetti. Slice hot dogs and brown in oil with LOTS of diced onion. As it browns, add LOTS* of clove, allspice and some salt. Add a large can of tomato juice. Cook long enough to blend the flavors and pour over spaghetti.
*We eyeball it. The spices should turn the sauce to an almost brown color. If it’s still obviously red it’s not spiced enough.
Sounds weird, but for a cheap family meal, it serves. And I get cravings for it several times a year.