So, I’ve been playing Persona 5 for the last few weeks and there is something I can’t stop thinking about. Curry and… coffee? As a person from Scotland, this is just baffling to me. Is this a normal combination of foods or some crazy anime bullshit?
I really like the coffee / capsaicin (or piperine) interaction. I think it adds a lot to coffee and really brings out those flavours. I definitely go out of my way to make a cup when I’m eating anything spicy like a curry.
I’ll occasionally add a pinch of cayenne pepper (powder) to the grind to make a coffee with a bit more bite (when not drinking with a meal). In small quantities it doesn’t seem to suffocate the flavours and so is a really good enhancer (bit like salt or sugar additions in cooking).
If you’ve never tried it, you really should give it a try.
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Japanese curry is very sweet rather than spicy (even the ‘spicy’ varieties are usually sweeter than they are spicy) so it probably goes pretty well with coffee.
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In China I was served a mocha coffee alongside a spicy steak in a Starbucks knock-off. Nobody thought that was weird. I think treating coffee as something not taken with an entrée is a Western thing.
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This sounds super interesting. Might go make a coffee with pinch of chili powder right now.
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There are a lot of restaurants in Japan that pair coffee with curry. Just from memory there is a small chain “Cafe Haiti” (カフェハイチ) around Tokyo that specializes in a dry curry and sells it in lunch sets with a black coffee. It’s very good.
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this is fuckin wild to me. For me, the heat of coffee and the heat of spicy food works to make the flavors of both harder to taste. I go out of my way to have them separately if I’m gonna have a spicy breakfast.
also big shoutout to spicy breakfasts!!!
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I bet that Turkish Coffee would go great with some curry.
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Not a huge fan of curry. Sauce on rice is cool and stuff but…once you have been to the southwest and had genuine green chile sauce or red chile sauce on rice or tamales or enchiladas–you’ll never even consider eating curry regularly again. I don’t think I’ve ever had a top of the line Master Chef quality curry, but even then…it’s just not spicy. It’s about as spicy as a mild mannered pepperoni most of the time.
But I am totally down for spicy foods with coffee. The other day I ate a green chile burrito with iced coffee and it was refreshing as hell. Seemed like the ice and coffee was cooling off my mouth much more than lukewarm water from the tap would have.
Have you ever had a phall or a vindaloo?
Sounds…exotic.
They are some of the hottest curries you can get. Phall is Bangladeshi and Vindaloo is Indian.
Yeah to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever had authentic, “good” Indian food. Mostly Mexican, Asian, and Italian food that people specialize in here.
Assuming your American that makes a lot of sense. All the best food in the UK is of Indian and Southeast Asian origin. Your Jalfrezis, Kormas, Tikka Masalas and Rogen Joshs.
One of my favorite rubs for pork is coffee & chipotle, so I could see this.
Japanese-style curry is very different from Indian (or British) curry. The basic dish looks similar, but the flavor, texture, and serving style are quite different.
Japanese curry tends to be very sweet. The sauce is thicker and less acidic. The meat and veggies are cut into small pieces, and are quite soft. The amount of meat is usually quite modest, and outnumbered by potatoes, carrots, and onions. It’s not very spicy, but it can have other strong flavors of garlic, coriander, cumin, etc. It is almost always served with a large helping of Japanese rice (not basmati or jasmine). You eat it with a wide spoon, like a stew (no fork, chopsticks, or naan).
If you’re curious, you can find Japanese instant curry mix in most Japanese grocery stores. You can also buy boxes of the stuff from Amazon. Pretty simple to prepare, just follow the instructions on the back of the box.
Also, curry ramen is great.
I like spicy food, and vindaloo is probably my favorite. I’ve never tried curry with coffee, but tea goes great with curry, so I could see it. Next time I make curry, I’ll try it with a glass of iced coffee and report back.
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Coffee and curry is not a combination I’ve ever tried, but I’ll willingly drink coffee alongside anything and not think very hard about it. As far as spicy food and coffee goes, I frequently have breakfast tacos doused with hot salsa or jalapeno kolaches with coffee. The inextinguishable burn lets me know I’m still alive.
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I only drink coffee when I’m at work and am miserable and tired and constantly am reminded how wrong my life has gone. When I’m out eating curry I’m usually enjoying myself, so I’d probably have a beer or something nice.
Coffee basically goes with nothing for me.
I can see how it would be perceived as weird, but as a part-Indian dude I’m used to having spicy breakfast foods with coffee, to the point that it’s almost weird for me not to have a coffee with certain dishes (idlis, vadas and dosas in particular, for those wondering).
Guess I’d never really thought about it before ^^
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