Try our easy Japanese curry recipe to spice up your weeknight dinners
Japanese curry is one of our favorite Asian comfort foods! But what is it exactly? Let us show you how to make this curry dinner at home.
Have you ever heard of Japanese curry before?
Don’t be mistaken here: this Japanese curry has nothing to see with an Indian or Thai curry.
Japanese curry tastes totally different, it tastes a bit like a spicy gravy.
Its texture and look are also close to a good gravy.
I bet that if you think of Japanese food you would sum up lots of classics. However you probably wouldn’t immediately think of a curry.
Yep, the Japanese make a bad ass curry!
I love a good and savory bowl of hot Japanese chicken curry for a quick weeknight dinner, no matter what season it is
Comfort food!
ANA
Japanese curry always makes us think of traveling.
It is a typical meal that you will get on a Japanese flight for instance.
A couple of years back we were relaxing in the ANA business lounge in the Osaka airport. Rumor has it All Nippon Airlines serves the one of the best Japanese curries ever.
So we had to try it out of course.
And yes, it was absolutely delicious!
What makes Japanese curry different?
Its spiced flavor!
That is what makes it so unique.
What is Japanese curry sauce made of?
The main spices that are used here are cardamom, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cloves and nutmeg.
That sounds like a pretty interesting mix if you ask us!
What do you put in Japanese curry?
A classic Japanese curry contains beef, carrots and potatoes.
However you can find different versions of it of course with other vegetables and meat. We often make a quick curry with chicken and frozen peas and carrots if we need a fast dinner during a busy week.
We love to make this curry at home, it is so easy to do.
But don’t you worry, we are not making this one from scratch.
There are a few recipes online that offer the perfect formula to make Japanese curry from scratch.
Since there are at least a couple of handfuls of spices in it that we don’t usually have in our spice rack, it is a better idea to find another way to prepare our Japanese curry: with ready to use Japanese curry cubes from our favorite Asian supermarket here in town.
What an easy shortcut!
S&B Golden Curry
You can find these cubes in almost every Asian supermarket.
We used Golden Curry from the S&B brand, that is the only one we can get here.
Is Japanese curry spicy?
This one comes in a mild and spicier version.
We used the spicy one and we have to admit that it is not extremely spicy.
What we like about these curry cubes is that you can easily break them up into pieces.
We always add 1 cube per person which is about ⅔ oz (20 g) each and that is always enough for us.
But feel free to use less or more to taste if you feel like it!
Something about this Japanese curry that is also good to know: the S&B curry that we used contains no meat products, that is what we read on the package. Which makes it also fit for a veggie meal as well.
If you replace the chicken for extra vegetables or plant based protein of course.
Which Japanese curry is the best?
Not only S&B sells these type of curry cubes.
Other brands do as well. However we have only used S&B before.
We love to serve with Japanese curry with the traditional bowl of steamed or boiled rice on the side.
Can you freeze leftover Japanese curry?
Yes, leftovers freeze beautifully.
This gooey golden curry freezes well and it makes another quick and easy dinner!
However if we have some leftover curry, we usually add a little extra water to it and add ramen noodles to turn it into a delicious lunch soup the next day!
Gorgeous with fresh herbs and a soft boiled egg.
What is katsu curry?
Katsu is a panko breaded and deep fried pork or chicken cutlet.
It is another popular Japanese meal.
Chicken or pork katsu is often served over rice, with Japanese curry as a sauce.
Delicious!
Recipe
Homemade Japanese Curry
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
servings: 2 persons
Ingredients
10,5 oz (300 g) chicken breast, diced
1 ½ cup (360 ml) chicken stock or water
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 ⅓ oz (40 g) Golden Curry
vegetable oil
pepper
salt
Instructions
- Pour a little splash of vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan or wok and place it over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the roughly chopped onion, carrots and potatoes.
- Stir fry the vegetables for about 4 to 5 minutes or until the onion starts to brown a little. Stir very regularly, don’t let the onion burn.
- Add the chicken stock (or water) to the pan.
- Stir and put a lid on the pan. Let the stock or water boil over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes are almost tender. Add extra if necessary.
- In the meantime break up the curry cubes you need. The Japanese curry we bought was divided into 5 portions of ⅔ oz (20 g). One portion per person was enough for us.
- Once the carrots and potatoes are almost tender, stir in the curry cubes. Also add the diced chicken.
- Stir well and let the curry cubes dissolve. Add a little extra water if the curry is too thick, but don’t add too much. Bring the curry to a light simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
- Check the seasoning of the curry and add extra salt or pepper if necessary. The curry was salty enough for us but we added an extra pinch of pepper to it.
- Scoop the hot Japanese chicken curry into bowls and serve with boiled or steamed rice.
How about you?
Have you ever tasted Japanese curry before?
Would you buy it next time you visit an Asian supermarket?
Let us know in the comments below!
We’d love to hear from you!
