How curry spread across Asia, spawning local versions from Japan to Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand – and three Hong Kong chefs serving regional curries

Curry is a blanket term used for numerous dishes, and most Asian countries’ curries have their own styles and flavours; all are available in Hong Kong restaurants

We talk to chefs from Hotal Colombo, serving Sri Lankan dishes, Bibi & Baba, with Malaysian, Singaporean and nyonya food, and Samsen, home of Thai curries

Reading Time:5 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Ingredients for fish head curry, from Bibi & Baba in Wan Chai. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Kee Foong

Published: 12:15pm, 22 Oct 2021Updated: 3:06pm, 22 Oct 2021

Is “curry” a racist, colonialist term, and should it be cancelled?

In a social media post that was widely reported (including by this newspaper), an Indian-American food blogger stirred up fiery debate on the subject, saying that curry doesn’t exist in the South Asian lexicon, and is an offensive catch-all word that misrepresents the cuisine of an entire subcontinent.

Derived from the Tamil kari, which varies in meaning from “blackened” to “spiced sauce”, it was adapted to carel by Portuguese colonisers during the 1500s. The British, who followed them, changed it to “curry”, a word they used to describe all manner of Indian dishes – and a nebulous term that went on to conquer the world.

Today, local versions of curry are a staple of many Asian cuisines, some clearly influenced by the cooking of India, others bearing little resemblance.

Either way, curry has transcended cultures and cuisines, and Hong Kong is a great place to sample them, including the kari of Sri Lanka and Indonesia, the gaeng of Thailand, Japanese kare raisu, and the city’s own gaa lei fish balls, a beloved street snack.