Earlier this month our reporter Mr. Sato paid a visit to the northern land of Hokkaido and their Adashiri Prison Museum. There he sampled of their pickles and prison beer but also found a bevy of other souvenirs for the region.

One item in particular stood out among those various trinkets and snacks. Its name is Drift Ice Curry and it was inspired by the tranquil beauty of ice that flows through the Okhotsk Sea from mid-February to early March. It’s a phenomenon that’s you’d probably least expect be depicted in a curry, which is exactly why Mr. Sato had to try it.

The curry is sold by Bell Foods and developed by the restaurant Krishna in Kitami City. Krishna is also known as the India of the Okhotsk Sea, and it was perhaps this honor that inspired the head chef to create this unique curry.

▼ Package: “[Krishna’s head chef] set out to somehow express the sea in a curry. And so after trial and error he managed to create Drift Ice Curry.”

Judging by the image on the box he passed with flying colors.

■ Blue and white instant curry
Mr. Sato held in his hands the fruit of Krishna’s labor. Unlike regular instant curry pouches, this one contained two separate ones which were to be combined only at the moment of serving. One pouch had “Marine Blue Curry” which played the role of the sea. The other bag contained “White Curry” which would be the ice floating on top.

■ As deep blue and dangerous as the sea
Mr. Sato got his plate of rice ready and proceeded to pour the Marine Blue Curry on top. This wasn’t our first azure curry rodeo, since we tackled the bright blue Dragon Quest Slime curry a while back. Still, this particular shade of blue was different. The slime curry was bright and had a festive feeling about it, while this blue curry was rather dark and foreboding.

But that all changed once Mr. Sato added the chicken-filled White Curry on top. His dish began to look like a spicy arctic wonderland!

■ Pleasing to the tongue, bad for the brain
The taste was quite delicious. The texture was velvety smooth and the pure sweetness of the vegetables and chicken was delectable. Mr. Sato had to constantly remind himself of that though. For some reason the anti-freeze-colored curry kept triggering an innate alarm in his brain that it was something he shouldn’t be putting in his mouth. All in all, it’s truly unique in that it’s a delicious dish that you may also feel compelled to throw up while eating.

Original article by Mr. Sato
Images: RocketNews24

▼ India of Okhotsk: Krishna

The actual Okhotsk Sea, for comparison

[ Read in Japanese ]