世論 What Japan Thinks

I think it might just be Scottish slang, but “I could fair murder a curry/Chinese/Mick Jagger” indicates a not inconsiderable desire to consume said item, and of course the second slang meaning fairly describes how people feel on first tasting Japanese curry. This survey from DIMSDRIVE Research looked at how the Japanese consume curry rice.

Demographics

Between the 23rd of July and the 7th of August 2008 9,921 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 52.7% of the sample were female, 1.3% in their teens, 13.7% in their twenties, 34.0% in their thirties, 29.6% in their forties, 15.1% in their fifties, and 6.3% aged sixty or older. In addition, 14.0% lived alone, 64.1% were married, and 51.9% had children.

The name “curry rice” helps differentiate from “proper” curry; this Japanese invention, served at countless restaurants up and down the country, is usually half a plate of standard Japanese short-grain sticky white rice and half a plate of spicy stew. At home the stew is usually prepared from dehydrated blocks of sauce.

My wife cooks lovely curry with lots of potatos, but what most of the prepared mixes lack is a complexity of flavour. I was over in the USA last week and had a curry at a cheap food court, but just to get long-grain Basmati rice and a complex blend of spices that had soaked through the ingredients over many hours was heaven!

Research results

Q1: Usually, about how often do you eat curry rice? (Including naan or other rice substitutes) (Sample size=9,921)

Almost every day	0.3%
Three or five times a week	1.0%
Once or twice a week	13.6%
Two or three times a month	44.4%
Once a month	28.5%
Once every two or three months	8.6%
Less than that	3.0%
Don’t eat curry	0.6%

Larger family sizes tended to eat curry once a fortnight or more slightly more than smaller families.

Q2: Usually, about how often do you yourself make curry rice? (Sample size=9,921)

Almost every day	0.5%
Three or five times a week	0.3%
Once or twice a week	4.7%
Two or three times a month	19.7%
Once a month	23.1%
Once every two or three months	12.2%
Less than that	13.0%
Don’t make curry myself	26.5%

The majority (55.3%) of people with children made curry at least once a month, versus 40.9% of those without children.

Q3: Do you like curry rice? (Sample size=9,921)

Love it	44.1%
Like it	47.8%
Can’t say either way	5.1%
Don’t really like it	2.6%
Hate it	0.4%

Q4: Usually, what kinds of curry rice do you make, prepare? (Sample size=9,858, curry eaters, multiple answer)

Make it myself from purchased sauce	59.2%
Family make it from purchased sauce	41.5%
Heat up boil-in-the-bag sauce	35.4%
Eat out	25.4%
Buy pre-made, order take-out	9.6%
Make it myself from curry powder, spices	7.8%
Family make it from curry powder, spices	5.9%
Heat up microwave curry	4.6%
Other	0.6%
Don’t know	1.3%

52.8% of those living alone boiled in the bag, versus just about a third for all other family sizes.

Q5: When do you make curry rice? (Sample size=7,288, curry makers, multiple answer)

When I want to eat curry rice	78.8%
When family want to	36.5%
When I want a simple meal	32.5%
When I can’t be bothered with much preparation	27.5%
When I want something spicy	19.3%
When I have no appetite, when I want some energy	13.5%
When I little time to prepare food	12.7%
On a hot day	10.3%
When I want some vegetables	9.4%
When I’m camping, having a barbeque, etc	7.0%
When a lot of people are present	6.9%
When I’m watching TV, etc	3.8%
When I want to sweat	3.7%
Other	4.7%
Don’t know	2.0%

Q6: When using purchased sauce, do you blend different types together? (Sample size=5,832, purchased sauce users)

Often blend	35.3%
Sometimes blend	32.5%
Almost never blend	31.6%
Don’t know	0.6%

Q7: Which is your most favourite purchased sauce? (Sample size=5,832, purchased sauce users)

Kokumaro Curry (House Foods)	20.3%
Vermont Curry (House Foods)	18.6%
Java Curry (House Foods)	14.2%
Golden Curry (S&B Foods)	8.9%
Two-Layer Juku Curry (Glico)	7.7%
Dinner Curry (S&B Foods)	3.8%
Torokeru Curry (S&B Foods)	3.3%
The Curry (House Foods)	2.4%
ZEPPIN (Glico)	2.0%
Premium Java Curry (House Foods)	1.9%
Indo Curry (House Foods)	1.5%
Premium Vermont Curry (House Foods)	1.2%
LEE (Glico)	0.4%
Hokkaido White Curry (House Foods)	0.3%
Demi Curry (S&B Foods)	0.1%
Prince of Curry (S&B Foods)	0.1%
Other	1.9%
None in particular	11.4%

Note that Vermont curry contains apples, thus the name.

Q8: When purchasing sauce, which points are important to you? (Sample size=5,832, purchased sauce users, multiple answer)

Hotness	62.3%
Body	50.9%
Price	47.1%
Mildness	33.7%
Aroma	26.5%
Ease of control of amount used	19.6%
Maker, brand	19.4%
Amount of contents	17.8%
Ease of dissolving	16.8%
Thickness of sauce	16.0%
Ease of storage	15.4%
Sweetness	14.9%
Spices used	11.0%
Colour of sauce	5.6%
Western curry, India curry, or other kind	4.9%
Recipie	2.8%
Other	2.4%
Nothing in particular	3.8%

For the following two questions, only the top fifteen answers are reported.

Q9: What one ingredient would you recommend to add to make curry delicious? (Sample size=9,858, curry eaters)

Rank		Votes
1	Garlic	486
2	Aubergine (Eggplant)	462
3	Chocolate	392
4	Coffee	382
5	Soy sauce	368
6	Apple	320
7	Fresh tomato, tomato sauce, puree, tin tomato	295
8	Potato	259
9	Brown sauce	244
10	Cheese	239
11	Milk	223
12	Onion	264
13	Yoghurt	205
14	Beef	161
15	Raw egg	159

Q10: Other than curry rice, what is your most favourite curry-based food? (Sample size=9,858, curry eaters)

Rank		Votes
1	Curry udon noodles	3147
2	Curry bread roll	1795
3	Dry curry, curry pilaf, curry chahan	1164
4	Croquette	192
5=	Curry pasta	183
5=	Curry soup	183
7=	Curry naan	180
7=	Curry doria (rice gratin)	180
9	Curry stir-fry	101
10	Curry ramen	86
11=	Curry-man (Chinese dumpling)	54
11=	Chicken boiled, grilled with curry	54
13	Tandoori chicken	52
14	Curry chicken nuggets	46
15	Curry flavour cup noodle	40