CFAY’s Club Alliance Serves Up Yokosuka’s Local Cuisine "Kaigun Curry"

Photo By James Kimber | YOKOSUKA, Japan -- An employee from Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka's Club Alliance serves Kizuna 111 Curry during a tasting event July 21, 2023. Kizuna 111 Curry is a dish inspired by the JMSDF's tradition of curry and represents the friendship and partnership the U.S. Navy and JMSDF have developed.  

YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JAPAN

07.28.2023

Story by James Kimber 

Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka

Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY) kicked off a celebration of its long-standing friendship with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, or JMSDF, by dishing out a version of the city’s famous local cuisine, Kaigun karē.

The installation’s Club Alliance, served Kizuna 111 Curry Friday, July 28 to Yokosuka base community members. Kizuna 111 is a recipe inspired by an actual recipe used by aboard a local JMSDF ship, JS Onami (DDG 111).

“We decided on the word Kizuna, which in Japanese means, a bond that connects us,” said Capt. Les Sobol, commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka. “It’s really the perfect word to describe our relationship with the JMSDF. Our alliance is an amazingly strong bond of friendship, partnership and professionalism.”

Each ship in the JMSDF famously has their own curry recipe for each crew. No two curry recipes are the same. Kizuna 111 recreates that tradition of exclusivity through it’s preparation techniques using equipment typically seen in JMSDF shipboard galleys.

Every JMSDF ship’s curry recipe “is a point of pride,” Sobol said. “Each chef is extremely proud to perfect – and safeguard – their ship’s recipe.”

JMSDF curry recipes are a closely guarded secret and final products are generally only shared with the public at special events. The City of Yokosuka, never shy to self-proclaim itself as Japan’s curry town, traditionally hosts an annual curry festival often highlighted by several Kaigun karē varieties inspired by JMSDF ships based in Yokosuka. In the City of Kure, an important JMSDF port city in Hiroshima Prefecture, festivals occasionally invite local ship crews there for friendly cooking competitions and local establishments serve festival attendees Kaiji karē, the very closely related naval dish that is so faithful in it’s reproduction of real JMSDF curries, that they’re worthy of being awarded the force’s certification of authenticity.

Club Alliance’s head chef, Takashi Watanabe, follows cooking techniques used in actual JMSDF galleys as instructed by JMSDF culinary specialists from the Onami to make his Kizuna 111 Curry. He also only uses ingredients JMSDF food service officers are able to procure.

“I was only able to practice once with the Onami chefs,” Watanabe said after searing a small batch of beef to begin an hour-long braising in red wine. His kitchen, located in the back of Italian Gardens has some of the most high-end equipment available to restaurant staffs. But Watanabe and his team limited themselves to equipment available on JMSDF ships. “It was very interesting and fun working with Onami chefs because I learned why their process works.”

Kaigun karē literally translates to Navy curry, though most Americans here simply use the English spelling of curry. It is Yokosuka City’s signature dish and a nod to its rich naval history. Kaigun curry traces it’s origins back to the late 19th Century. Japanese sailors’ poor nutrition combined with the navy’s improving technology that allowed ships to stay at sea for longer periods of time unintentionally created deteriorating health conditions from a lack of protein. These issues were not previously documented when sailors weren’t able to be at sea for longer durations. Through trial and error, it was discovered that adding meat to standard rice rations would nearly instantaneously improve sailors’ health.

Another 30 minutes passed. Watanabe then added carrots, restarted the pressure cooker and prepared some caramelized onions to stir in once the carrots softened.

That’s pretty much all there is to Kizuna 111, although, like any great soup or curry, “it’ll taste better tomorrow morning,” Watanabe said.

When the customer orders the curry, Watanabe will fry some potatoes, put them on top of a serving of garlic rice and a serving of coffee rice, then pour the curry on top.

“If we add the potatoes now, they’ll be too soft later,” Watanabe said.

JMSDF crews traditionally eat curry every Friday. The routine gives sailors something to look forward to after a hard week’s worth of work and helps sailors at sea keep track of time. The routine adds to the legend of Kaigun curry and makes it very special when the JMSDF invites the community to share a piece of their culture.

“When you get to break bread with somebody and you get to eat something that they’re very proud of and they’re proud of making, it’s really something magical,” Sobol said.

Club Alliance intends to model this tradition by also serving curry on Fridays, though it might be a last Friday of the month menu item rather than a weekly special. The club also hopes to work with crews from other JMSDF ships in Yokosuka to create new varieties inspired by each ship's history.

Watanabe expects to see CFA Yokosuka Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) expand the curry menus to all of the installation's clubs including the Chief’s Club, the Officer’s Club, Club Takemiya in Ikego Housing Area in addition to Club Alliance.

For more information, please contact Club Alliance at 243-3786.

• Date Taken: 07.28.2023
• Date Posted: 11.07.2023 00:29
• Story ID: 457337
• Location: YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP