Mizu

When I was young, there were no go-to comfort foods. There was nothing that was easily identifiable as a “family” food. Some people talk about their mom’s cooking, and the soul-soothing comfort it provides, how a single bit melts their worries away. That was something I never had, food was simply a necessity and frankly one that made my head spin and stomach churn.

That’s not to say I didn’t want that soul-soothing comfort food, it’s just that it did not exist. It was only after I got married that I truly started learning to cook, and I did so together with my spouse. We tried different meal boxes to learn skills, and watched cooking shows and videos together to see techniques in action. Now, we regularly cook and host for friends, and many say we’re the best cook of our social circles.

When we started our cooking journey, we easily discovered a preference for Asian-inspired dishes, we’d always preferred the food, but cooking it was new. So we sought out creators online teaching their family recipes to learn more about the foods we already found we enjoyed. It was only after a few years that we finally came across katsukarē, or Katsu Curry.

We both recalled Katsu Curry being mentioned in many an anime, which we both enjoyed, but neither of us recalled ever tasting it before. So we set to learning how to do it right. We combined new information about the dish with what we had learned already and made our own Katsu Curry at home.

That night, our table was set with our favorite bowls, chopsticks, and rests (they’re bunny themed) and a small dish of miso soup, as no meal can go without it.

So we sat, and we each took our first bites. I was overwhelmed by the ache in my heart subsiding, and the overwhelming feeling of home that washed over me, and I cried. I cried because I had never felt the comfort of food before, I cried because I suddenly knew I was home. And so, Katsu Curry with Miso Soup became the food of our home.