KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 -- The first thing that strikes you about the newly opened 100 Hours Curry is how different their Japanese curry looks; it's mahogany brown versus the usual golden brown colour.

Their special recipe combines an assortment of 20 spices, selected for their medicinal effects together with a roux (oil or butter with flour) that is added with beef stock and a jumble of sauteed onions, carrots, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, apples, bananas. mangoes and other vegetables and fruits.

Once the curry simmers until it thickens, it's kept chilled to mature for a few days, achieving its rich and deep flavour, hence the reference to 100 hours.

This special care and prolonged time with their recipe earned them the Grand Champion titl...