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@maxcriden: I don't have the energy to find it now, but I think someone in the New York Times made his own curry powder for this. It differs from an Indian curry, I believe. Just google around for it. I think it was Sam Sifton who did it.

i think most of their stuff is yucky. i'm a big fan of the cupcakes from yura and crumbs.

Magnolias cupcakes are good. The frosting is a little odd. But good. If you want an amazing cupcake go to Sugar Sweet Sunshine on Rivington
(get a cupcake and a cup of banana pudding)

Magnolia Bakery is overrated, as are most of the wellknown cupcake specialists(Billy's Bakery, Cupcake Cafe, etc.) I actually think Buttercup Bakery cupcakes are a little better than Magnolias. I make a better white cake, and chocolate cake in my own cupcakes.

I remember the best tasting major brands just a few years ago had pork lard AND beef lard in the ingredients. And yes, MSG, like almost everything good does. But now I can't find any Japanese or Korean brand curry with lard in it. I wonder why? It really does miss a certain richness without it, and doesn't taste like the curry I grew up with.

The scary calories are not in the beef (although why use ground beef? YUCK! All the Japanese curry I've had or seen is made with slices or little chunks of beef).

The serious calories are in the curry block! It's called curry ROUX for a reason, it's mostly fat.

As for all your "MSG is Evil people" ... So you think you don't eat MSG? Think again...

Some of the names MSG goes under

monopotassium glutamate
glutavene
glutacyl
glutamic acid
autolyzed yeast extract
calcium caseinate
sodium caseinate
E621 (E620-625 are all glutamates)
Ajinomoto, Ac'cent
Gourmet Powder

The following may also contain MSG natural flavours or seasonings
natural beef or chicken flavouring
hydrolyzed milk or plant protein
textured protein
seasonings
soy sauce
bouillon
broth
spices

Free glutamate content of foods (mg per 100g)
roquefort cheese 1280
parmesan cheese 1200
soy sauce 1090
walnuts 658
fresh tomato juice 260
grape juice 258
peas 200
mushrooms 180
broccoli 176
tomatoes 140
mushrooms 140
oysters 137
corn 130
potatoes 102
chicken 44
mackerel 36
beef 33
eggs 23
human milk 22

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,,1522368,00.html

I agree with jperlow. Its scary how much MSG ALL of the Japanese curries have. S&B, House, etc... They are tasty, but they all give me a headache. If you can make them from scratch, do so.
You have been warned...

@Pauper: I've used chicken and pork before, too. Sometimes I do tofu. I did a sort of week-long taste test of all the boxed curries. There are differences. Some are just wretched, others are bland as air. The boil-in-bag stuff is horrible. Metallic aftertaste similar to boil-in-bag rices or what not.

@JBeach: I've never tackled curry from scratch. The S&B box mixes are about as close as I've gotten.

Usually I use chicken or some cubed beef instead of ground beef.

All the different brands of curry cubes in a box taste about the same to me though. They definitely vary in spiciness

As for the peeps concerned about MSG. Yea, I'm sure MSG is just droppin' those Asians left and right. What a health crisis! Oh man!

But hey, that's just me. Stuff could give me cancer for all I care. (All the more reasons to "kill" embryos and research stem cells). The difference between this and something like aspartame is that this is actually delicious and a huge timesaver for when you come home late and don't want to cook.
.

I'm Korean-American and my mom made this stuff for me and my siblings when she wanted to prepare something easy. She usually used chicken and added peas or mushrooms to the onions, potatoes and carrots. I recently learned about the corn syrup and msg, too, which has made me a little reluctant to open the package of "medium" that I have sitting in my pantry.