We recently dug into a plate of bright blue curry inspired by Dragon Quest’s mascot monster (and almost motor vehicle), slime. It tasted surprisingly great, but what if blue’s not your color or you’re in the mood to dine on something with a more traditionally feminine hue?
If that’s the case, how about some pink curry instead?
Shortly after the aforementioned slime curry appeared in our offices, we also received shipment of our Pink Kirei (“Pink Beautiful”) curry, which had come all the way from Tottori Prefecture. The eye-catching roux comes courtesy of the equally flamboyantly named tourism promotion company Brilliant Associates and local café Oenoki-an.
Tottori City is also home to Jinpukaku, a French Renaissance-style manor house that was built in 1907. Like any proper sightseeing attraction in Japan, Jinpukaku has spokescharacters, in this case the Four Regal Sisters.
Such elegant ladies deserve fittingly feminine fare, and thus the pink curry was born. It owes its unique color to the beets used in making the roux, so at first we were expecting a deep, borscht-like shade.
What we got inside was a bright pink which would be perfect for painting the walls of your newborn daughter’s nursery, with a few noticeable grains of pepper mixed in. As a matter of fact, it’s so dainty that we seriously doubted the curry would have any kick…at least until we took a bite. It’s genuinely spicy without being harsh, and it tastes great.
While you can order a pack of pink curry online here for 880 yen (US$8), you can also try it at Oenoki-an if you happen to be in Tottori. Brilliant Associates even operates a shuttle bus, also called Pink Kirei, decorated with the Four Regal Sisters that’ll take you there from the airport.
Eating at home might be the best choice, though, since that way you won’t have to feel embarrassed about other diners watching you timidly nibbling away at your fiery yet innocuous-looking lunch.
Related: Oenoki-an
Top image: RocketNews24
Insert images: Brilliant Associates, RocketNews24, YouTube
[ Read in Japanese ]
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