The biggest curry chain in Japan.
As many of you know, Japan has imported “curry” from other countries and created original recipe to meet the palate of Japanese. It is the one of the dishes that people coming to Japan want to try, because there are so many unique recipes, and the spice and aroma of the curry is so appetizing. However, for Muslims, it is one of the most difficult meals to find a Halal one, because they always contain animal ingredients, including pork.
CoCoICHIBANYA (CoCo壱番屋), as known as CoCoICHI, is the largest curry chain in Japan. Great news for Muslims is that now they have a Muslim-friendly menu, regardless of the region! By reading this article, you may have no trouble making a Muslim-friednly Japanese curry, no matter where you are!
Know more about CoCoICHI, how to order a curry?
CoCoICHI has started as a small cafe that offered a tasty curry in Aichi in 1974. Thanks to the great reputation, now the restaurant became the Japan’s largest curry restaurant, with branches available in overseas, even in India. Although there are restaurants throughout Japan, prices and menu are not always the same, so check the information at their official website before going.
What makes CoCoICHI so interesting is that you can make your curry to your liking.
(1) Take a seat and decide a menu. Ring the bell to make an order.
(2) Choose which curry sauce you want.
(3) Select the amount of rice.
(4) Tell the hotness and sweetness of your curry. You can add sweetness by asking for sweet sauce at the later stage, too.
(5) Add topping and side dish that you want.
It will be a very fun experience to try to find a perfect recipe!
So, how can we make CoCoICHI curry Halal?
CoCoICHI has a list of allergen, with which we can tell which product has animal derived product.
First, please make sure that you order Vegetarian Curry sauce (ココイチべジカレーソース) or Allergen Free Curry (特定原材料を使用していないカレー). These curry sauces are made as vegan, so there is no pork or animal derived ingredients. You can choose hotness and sweetness at this point.
You can then add some Halal or Muslim-friendly toppings and side dishes as you wish. According to our research, side dishes and toppings that have no animal-derived ingredients are as follows:
- Spinach (ほうれん草)
- Cheese (チーズ)
- Squid (イカ)
- Fried shrimp (エビフライ)
- Fried squail egg skewer (うずら串)
- Fried fish (フィッシュフライ)*
- Shrimp cutlet (エビカツ)*
- Green Salad (野菜サラダ)
- Caesar Salad, including sauce (シーザーサラダ)
- Egg Salad (卵サラダ)
- Corn Salad (コーンサラダ)
- Tuna Salad (ツナサラダ)
- Potato Salad (ポテトサラダ)
- Squid Salad (イカサラダ)
Please be careful, that Soy meat hamburger (大豆ミートのハンバーグ) is made by the machinery that handles pork and chicken. Also, it is important to know that there is no information about the usage of alcoholic seasonings and fried dish which are indicated with * should be avoided if you want to avoid the possibility of contamination. Fukujinzuke, a pickle available on the table, contains alcohol, so please don’t eat them.
The most updated information is available at CoCoICHI Allergy Information.
What about the CoCoICHI that had Halal menus in Tokyo?
CoCoICHI had been offering Halal curry in Akihabara and Shinjuku, Tokyo, but both of them are permanently closed because of pandemic. As of July 2023, there is no more Halal CoCoICHI restaurant.
There were Chicken Cutlet, beef Shabu Shabu, Chicken sausage and so on! The situation after pandemic is getting better, so what we can do is to hope they will be back soon! They had already obtained a Halal certificate, so it would not take long before they come back. If there is any update, we will let you know.
CoCoICHI is available throughout Japan, and they have a Take-away service, too. Try to look for CoCoICHI when you cannot find anything Halal to eat.
Please understand, that the product we have introduced to you is not made as Halal or Muslim-friendly, so there is a small risk of contamination, which we cannot be responsible of. Please use your own discretion and decide if you consume the product or not.