A Japanese style curry that’s slightly sweet with plenty of warm spices and aromatics!
Japanese curry is one of my all time favourites dishes and when I made a batch the other day I thought that I would take the opportunity to update my recipe. The star of this curry is the roux, a mixture of butter, flour, and curry powder, that’s cooked until the the butter and flour turn golden brown and the spices are toasted, bringing out their flavour. When you add the roux to a liquid, such as broth, it thickens it, turning it into a nice thick gravy! You can use a store bought roux, which comes in a solid brick that melts into the liquid, or you can make your own roux with butter and flour and either a store bought curry powder or a homemade curry powder.
Other than the curry roux, this is a pretty basic curry with beef (or other meat), carrots and potatoes. Japanese style curries are often slightly on the sweet side and the sweetness in this curry comes from honey and a grated apple or pear. The combination of the curry spices flavours and aromatics with the sweetness is simply amazing! Japanese style curry is usually served over rice and it’s also great served over tonkatsu (pork cutlets)!
The leftovers are even better the next day, so I like to make a double batch! You can also use the leftovers in kare pan (curry bread) or kare udon (curry udon soup)!
Japanese Curry (Kare)
Prep Time:15 minutes Cook Time:30 minutes Total Time:45 minutes Servings: 6
A Japanese style curry that’s slightly sweet with plenty of warm spices and aromatics!
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound beef (such as chuck), trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, grated/minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated/minced
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
- 4 cups beef broth (and/or dashi)
- 1 apple (or pear), grated (optional)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon ketchup (optional)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2-4 tablespoons curry powder
For the stew:
For the curry roux:
directions
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat, add the beef and brown on all sides before setting aside.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the beef, carrots, potatoes, broth, apple, honey, soy sauce, ketchup, curry roux (see below), bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the carrots and potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and simmer until it just starts to turn a light golden brown.
- Sprinkle in the flour and curry powder, and simmer, whisking, until it turns a golden brown and smells nutty, before turning off the heat.
For the stew:
For the curry roux:
Option: Replace the beef with chicken or pork.
Option: Add 1/2 cup frozen peas near the end.
Tip: Serve over rice garnished with pickled ginger!
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