Japanese Curry - Local Curries

Local Curries

In the late 1990s, a number of regional specialty curries emerged, popularised as vacuum-sealed curry sauces. These include:

• Hokkaido Sika Deer curry (えぞ鹿カレー, ezoshika karē?) from Hokkaido
• Scallop curry (ほたてカレー, hotate karē?) from Aomori Prefecture
• Mackerel curry (サバカレー, saba karē?) from Chiba Prefecture
• Apple curry (リンゴカレー, ringo karē?) from Nagano Prefecture and Aomori Prefecture
• Nattō curry (納豆カレー, nattō karē?) from from Mito,_Ibaraki
• Nagoya Kōchin Chicken curry (名古屋コーチンチキンカレー, Nagoya kōchin chikin karē?) from Aichi Prefecture
• Matsusaka beef curry (松阪牛カレー, Matsusaka gyū karē?) from Mie Prefecture
• Whale curry (クジラカレー, kujira karē?) from Wakayama Prefecture
• Oyster curry (牡蠣カレー, kaki karē?) from Hiroshima Prefecture
• Nashi pear curry (梨カレー, nashi karē?) from Shimane Prefecture
• Black pork curry (黒豚カレー, kurobuta karē?) from Kagoshima Prefecture
• Bitter melon curry (ゴーヤーカレー, gōyā karē?) from Okinawa

The number of varieties continues to grow, each made from a certain region's particular specialty ingredients. It is thought that the wide availability online of information on each new variety has helped fuel this boom.

Local curries are also being marketed to help boost tourism. Some varieties of this include Yokusuka navy curry (よこすか海軍カレー, Yokosuka kaigun karē?), sold in Yokusuka to promote its heritage as a naval base; Zeppelin Curry (ツェッペリンカレー, Tsepperin Karē?) in Tsuchiura to promote the Zeppelin landing in 1929.