Most Japanese people today probably don’t even think of this “Cream stew” as a dish that originated in Japan. There are almost no elements of that look like Japanese food in this dish, as you can see, right? This is an original menu developed by one of Japan’s leading food manufacturers. We guess it’s often called “white stew”. It is made by simmering vegetables and meat (or seafood) in a base of white sauce or cream. It is a soup dish very similar to the French home-style dish known as “blanquette”.

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They developed this “cream stew” with the idea of eating it as a side dish with rice… Hmmm, “I” think this would probably go better with breads. This is a dish that has a pretty well “Western” taste to it, so much so that we can’t help but feel that way. We can feel that the people who developed this dish had a lot of respect for Western food culture. Many of the Western dishes that have been developed in Japan, such as “cream stew” and “curry & rice”, are made at home using so-called “roux,” which is a soup base. We heard that this method of stewing food by adding roux afterwards was rare in other countries at that time.

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The idea of making the soup base itself in advance and making it solid, like this “roux”, was quite advanced. Well, nowadays, this method of cooking with “roux” has become so entrenched in common family’s diet. That is why the Japanese themselves don’t know how great it is. If you use “Japanese” vegetables that have been eaten in Japan for a long time, you can make the dish a “very” Japanese taste dish. We highly recommend this dish!