Ladies and gentlemen, we now have more excuses to stuff ourselves with yummy curry.

Japan’s largest curry rice chain Coco Ichi serves hands down one of the best curries around, easily satisfying customers with a single dish. Although its mellow spiciness, fragrant aroma, and unique smooth mouthfeel are hard to beat, the rather hefty portion of carbohydrates in the form of rice isn’t exactly ideal for those watching their weight.

But not to worry, because Coco Ichi has just released a low-carb option that promises to be just as tasty as the usual stuff. The new dish replaces rice with diced cauliflower, but not in the manner they once did in the past.

▼ Back then, they went with a cautious
120 grams (4.2 ounces) of cauliflower and 30 grams of rice.

Despite converting 80 percent of carbohydrates into mostly dietary fiber, even that little 30-gram ball of rice proved too much for some people, and so Coco Ichi decided to leave rice out entirely for its newest dish: the Low Carb Curry (600 yen, US$5.50).

Normal Pork Curry Rice has a carbohydrate content of 86 grams, but the Low Carb Curry has five times less at a mere 16 grams. And as the franchise bumped up the cauliflower portion to a sizable 180 grams in total, that means that customers get to eat more but gain less!

Coco Ichi offers a wide degree of customization for their curries, and the Low Carb Curry is no different. Customers are free to choose any toppings from the menu: cheese, sausages, even fried pork cutlets. The choice is really up to you, and if you wish to go all strict with a simple low-calorie curry or enjoy a delicious chicken on the side, go for it!

▼ Adjusting the amount of diced cauliflower is also very possible.

Now it just so happened that our two Japanese-language reporters Takashi Harada and Hattori Go dropped by Coco Ichi recently for a quick lunch. Harada is the sort of person who loves food without all the fancy stuff, and so his choice of the original Low Carb Curry was a no-brainer. Go, however, is a person who prefers spicing things up, opting for a large serving of diced cauliflowers along with seafood, tomato, and asparagus toppings.

▼ Harada’s modest order on the top and Go’s below.

The first thing they noticed was the somewhat heavy aroma of cauliflower, but rather than turning the two hungry reporters off, it actually made them salivate almost immediately. Seconds later, they had spoons to mouths and stared at each other in astonishment.

▼ “Woah… it’s awesome!” they said in unison.

Eaten separately, it would have been an odd combination of curry and rice that wasn’t quite rice, but spoons of cauliflower swished through the flavorful liquid revealed that it tasted just like… vegetable curry! Peering at Go busily cramming curry into his mouth, Harada felt that a normal portion of cauliflower would easily satisfy even on days when he skipped breakfast.

▼ The dish was so delicious he could eat it as every meal for two days straight, maybe three.

20 minutes later, Harada walked out of Coco Ichi patting his tummy happily. Go had a glazed look in his eyes and wore a contented smile, a pleased expression that Harada was sure was on his own face as well. What a fantastic and healthy meal, maybe even better than the original curry and rice. Certainly good enough to make him forget the time they had to consume that monstrous curry with heaps of toppings.

Source: Coco Ichi
Top image: Coco Ichi
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