Latest news with #Takashi
Japan Today
4 days ago
- General
- Japan Today
Trying a pouch of instant curry that costs as much as a full meal at a nice restaurant
By SoraNews24 The other day, our Japanese-language writer Takashi Harada walked into a high-end supermarket on a whim to see how the other half lived. Needless to say, the prices were so high that he started to develop altitude sickness, but even among all this, there was one product that really stood out. In Japan, you can find a wide range of pre-cooked curry in vinyl pouches that just need to be heated for a few minutes before serving. In addition to being very easy, they're also rather cheap, usually hovering around 200 yen or so. But the instant curry Takashi spotted on this day was a whopping 2,700 yen. ▼ Miyazaki Beef Curry A5 300 The first reason for the steep price is that this uses A5 grade Miyazaki wagyu beef, where 'A5' is the highest quality rating of beef in Japan and Miyazaki is said by many to be the best wagyu around. The second reason was that this curry was made under the supervision of Chef Tatsuya Kawagoe, a celebrity chef who has made several TV appearances and has his own YouTube channel Kawagoe Chef Dayo. That sealed the deal, and Takashi took the plunge on this premium pouch of pre-cooked curry. After taking it home, he opened up the box and found a message saying that the beef in this curry was the recipient of the prestigious Prime Minister's Award, making it essentially the best of the best beef in Japan. All this hype was clearly getting to Takashi because even the vinyl pouch began to take on a luxurious quality despite being almost identical to any other retort pouch. The contents were said to be 300 grams and on the ingredient list, the beef was first, meaning it was used in the largest amount. Our writer estimated that to mean there were around 100 to 200 grams of sautéed meat in there. According to the instructions, this can be heated either in the microwave or by letting it soak in hot water. Takashi opted for the water because it heats more evenly and after paying so much for this, he didn't want to leave anything to chance. Just a few minutes later, his feast was prepared. Its appearance did not disappoint and there were sizable chunks of top-grade beef which our writer could barely resist long enough to sample the roux first. The curry was amazingly rich because it was blended with a demi-glace sauce and didn't contain any other ingredients like potatoes, carrots, or onions to interfere. The taste was so elegant it was clear that this curry was very deliberately cooked to perfection. The thing that could be called a flaw was the presence of oil, possibly fat from the beef, pooling on the surface which bothered Takashi somewhat. Still, it didn't affect the taste and could be easily mixed into the roux. The beef was incredibly tender and the portions really made it the centerpiece of this curry rather than just another topping. It wasn't too spicy and its consistency allowed it to seep into the crevices of the rice grains just the right amount. All in all, it was a very filling and satisfying meal that was worth 2,700 yen. On the other hand, Takashi probably won't eat it again any time soon, because it's worth 2,700 yen. Still, if you're looking to treat yourself with some convenient fine dining at home, look no further than Miyazaki Beef Curry A5 300. Photos ©SoraNews24 Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- Osaka's ultra-expensive instant Kiwami Curry: Worth the price?【Taste test】 -- Crazy expensive 'phantom beef' instant curry — Dream come true or edible nightmare?【Taste test】 -- Curry Land: A Mecca in Tokyo for Japanese curry fans External Link © SoraNews24
SoraNews24
29-05-2025
- General
- SoraNews24
Trying a pouch of instant curry that costs as much as a full meal at a nice restaurant
Microwave-friendly fine dining! The other day, our Japanese-language writer Takashi Harada walked into a high-end supermarket on a whim to see how the other half lived. Needless to say, the prices were so high that he started to develop altitude sickness, but even among all this, there was one product that really stood out. In Japan, you can find a wide range of pre-cooked curry in vinyl pouches that just need to be heated for a few minutes before serving. In addition to being very easy, they're also rather cheap, usually hovering around 200 yen (US$1.40) or so. But the instant curry Takashi spotted on this day was a whopping 2,700 yen ($19). ▼ Miyazaki Beef Curry A5 300 The first reason for the steep price is that this uses A5 grade Miyazaki wagyu beef, where 'A5' is the highest quality rating of beef in Japan and Miyazaki is said by many to be the best wagyu around. The second reason was that this curry was made under the supervision of Chef Tatsuya Kawagoe, a celebrity chef who has made several TV appearances and has his own YouTube channel Kawagoe Chef Dayo. That sealed the deal, and Takashi took the plunge on this premium pouch of pre-cooked curry. After taking it home, he opened up the box and found a message saying that the beef in this curry was the recipient of the prestigious Prime Minister's Award, making it essentially the best of the best beef in Japan. All this hype was clearly getting to Takashi because even the vinyl pouch began to take on a luxurious quality despite being almost identical to any other retort pouch. The contents were said to be 300 grams (10.6 ounces) and on the ingredient list, the beef was first, meaning it was used in the largest amount. Our writer estimated that to mean there were around 100 to 200 grams of sautéed meat in there. According to the instructions, this can be heated either in the microwave or by letting it soak in hot water. Takashi opted for the water because it heats more evenly and after paying so much for this, he didn't want to leave anything to chance. Just a few minutes later, his feast was prepared! Its appearance did not disappoint and there were sizable chunks of top-grade beef which our writer could barely resist long enough to sample the roux first. The curry was amazingly rich because it was blended with a demi-glace sauce and didn't contain any other ingredients like potatoes, carrots, or onions to interfere. The taste was so elegant it was clear that this curry was very deliberately cooked to perfection. The thing that could be called a flaw was the presence of oil, possibly fat from the beef, pooling on the surface which bothered Takashi somewhat. Still, it didn't affect the taste and could be easily mixed into the roux. The beef was incredibly tender and the portions really made it the centerpiece of this curry rather than just another topping. It wasn't too spicy and its consistency allowed it to seep into the crevices of the rice grains just the right amount. All in all, it was a very filling and satisfying meal that was worth 2,700 yen. On the other hand, Takashi probably won't eat it again any time soon, because it's worth 2,700 yen. Still, if you're looking to treat yourself with some convenient fine dining at home, look no further than Miyazaki Beef Curry A5 300. Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
Al Etihad
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Etihad
Experience other-worldly sci-fi reality as TeamLab museum opens in Abu Dhabi on April 18
18 Apr 2025 00:13 KHALED AL KHAWALDEH (ABU DHABI) Growing up in Abu Dhabi as a child, Takashi Kudo would sit in the dunes of the Arabian desert. Scooping sand and pouring it slowly out of his hands, Takashi remembers how he marvelled at the gentle refraction of light through the grains of sediment. Years later, as an employee of TeamLab — a Japanese art collective known for their mind-bending installations around the world — Takashi shared this childhood story with an Emirati man, who sat next to him at a cultural summit in Abu Dhabi. That moment, he recalled, inspired his light-bending work as an artist. That man turned out to be Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, now Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi, and that conversation had set in motion a series of events that culminated in the opening of a first-of-its-kind permanent installation on the shores of the Arabian Gulf. 'He was sitting right next to me, and he's a cool-looking dude, you know, so we started talking. He told me, 'I work at TeamLab; it's good to be back home',' Mubarak recalled during a media briefing ahead of the much-anticipated TeamLab's Phenomena opening in Abu Dhabi on Friday. 'I was confused, what do you mean 'when you're back home'? I thought you were from Japan. He then told me that he had lived in Abu Dhabi and his father had worked in an oil company here. He said much of his creative mindset had been inspired by his very early visits to the deserts in Al Dhafra.' Following the conversation, Mubarak ended up flying to Tokyo, where he met TeamLab's founder Toshiyuki Inoko, and toured the famed Japanese exhibitions. Blown away by the almost hallucinogenic experience, Mubarak and the team at DCT approached TeamLab to bring the concept to Abu Dhabi. 'I told them that here in Abu Dhabi we don't like to do things easy. The easy thing is to just move the exhibition here, temporarily or permanently,' he said. 'But that's an easy way out. So, we sat down with them and said let's do something different. Let's create something together from scratch. Let's do something where your ideas aren't basically held down because of space.' 'Their eyes sort opened up with excitement, and then we started working with them to create something that could ignite curiosity — and from there, it evolved and evolved and evolved, and we came to Phenomena.' Inside the Museum with Dozens of Rooms Nearly a decade in the making, the TeamLab's Phenomena exhibition is set to open to the public on April 18, joining a growing list of cultural institutions on Saadiyat Island, which is quickly becoming a cultural hub in the Middle East. The art museum has dozens of rooms, each containing expertly crafted installations that use light, water, space and even taste to transfer guests to an other-worldly, sci-fi reality. For Inoko, the space is all about creating a place that mimics, abstracts and explores nature in a way that is both awe-inspiring as well as provoking. He said the different exhibitions were all designed with interactive elements to instil a sense in the visitor that they were part of the artwork, rather than just passing through it. 'This concept is something that we call environmental phenomena. So, the environment produces various phenomena, and then those phenomena are the artworks themselves,' Inoko told Aletihad . 'We were interested in a different way of making from that of how people have created things so far, and transcending the conventional notions that people have towards objects. Whether that be by having ambiguous boundaries or this idea that even if people enter an artwork and break it apart, it repairs itself.' What's In Store for Visitors The rooms include a Blade Runner-esque black hole, known as 'the void'; a semi-submerged cloud room; and an interactive light garden where children can scan their drawings and watch them dart across the room moments later. Every space draws on elements from the natural world; using projectors, handcrafted sculptures and technology to create a space that is somehow simultaneously terrestrial but earthly. 'The artworks are all related. They're interconnected. So, they move into various rooms, they overlap, they intersect, they influence each other,' Inoko said. 'Truly, everything is connected and continuously changing. So, the space has a relation with yourself, but also other people in the space.'
