One of the best Japanese food is curry. It’s influenced by Indian curry but was created to suit Japanese taste. Therefore, you can’t really feel the spiciness even when you order spicy curry in Japan, while with real Indian curry you can feel the spiciness even if it is the sweet version.
Curry is one of the most important staple dishes that is a vital part of Japanese life. It is easy to cook but so tasty and nicely fills you up. I remember I have eaten curry on school trips, for school lunch, at my friend’s house, my grandparents’ house, and of course at home. Every house has slightly different curry but over all, curry is an amazing food and so memorable.
I love to eat curry with big chunks of vegetables and soft chicken. This is my favorite food!
What is Japanese Curry?
Curry came to Japan in the 1800s from British traders that brought it from India and had changed it to a western style curry. We changed the western style curry to the current Japanese curry rice in 1874.
It is extremely tasty and easy to eat, so lots of generations love this food in Japan.
Big difference between Indian curry and Japanese curry
The big differences between Indian and Japanese curries are taste and texture.
Indian curry uses a lot more spices so the taste is deeper and you can taste the spices. While Japanese curry also uses spices, they are powdered and the powder is often compressed into a solid roux. So some people say some of the flavor and aroma of the spices is lost compared to Indian curry.
For texture, Japanese curry is thick and rich while Indian curry is smooth like a soup.
Q : Which Curry Roux should I use?
I know you are wondering which curry roux you should use because when you go to an Asian grocery store, usually there are more varieties than you might expect.
First of all, I recommend house foods Vermont Curry, house foods Kokumaro Curry, and S&B Golden Curry. I know if you pick one of them, you won’t regret it! They are major curry brands and I see them at Asian grocery stores all the time. So they are easy to find.
Brand
Q : Which spiciness should I pick?
I use mild or medium hot roux because I am not good at with spicy food. The major spice types are mild, medium hot, hot, and extra hot. So it depends on how much spiciness you like but one thing I can say is even if you pick the extra hot curry roux it won’t be as spicy as you might think because you eat it with rice.
Q : What does Japanese Curry taste like?
As I mentioned, Japanese curry is created to be suitable for Japanese taste. It is sweeter and more savory than any other countries’ curry so some people who are not good with spiciness like Japanese curry. We also eat it with rice which makes the curry dish perfect and balanced while other countries eat their curry by itself or with naan.
Q : Can I eat curry the next day?
Yes! I actually recommend next day curry. Next day curry gives you a deeper and richer taste and it is the best way to eat Japanese curry. So if you have time, make curry the day before you eat it or having leftover curry is the best too!
Mom’s best homemade curry recipe
There are so many people who already know that the curry roux box explains the recipe and each brand offers a different recipe or steps. But as a curry lover, I want to share the best recipe all the time not based on what roux you use. So I will introduce my mom’s secret curry recipe in this recipe 🙂
Some similar recipes
Here are recipes that you can enjoy after curry!
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Basic Japanese Curry
Ingredients
- 1050 g cooked rice HERE is how to make rice *1cup gives you about 350g after cooking rice
- 400 g chicken I recommend using chicken but you can also use beef, lamb, sausage, or none!
- 1 onion It is about 230-270g
- 1 potato It is about 170-220g
- 1 carrot It is about 140g
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 630 ml water
- 6 blocks Japanese curry roux 1 box usually has 12 roux.
Instructions
Preparation
- Cook rice first! HERE is how to make rice!
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Peel the potato and cut the potato into quarters. Soak them in water for 10 minutes to remove excess starch.
- Cut the onions into wedges.
- Peel the carrot and cut them into Rangiri ( rolling wedges )
- Cut the fat from the chicken and discard. Then cut the chicken into bite-size chunks that are easy to eat.
- Slice the curry roux. It doesn't need to be perfect. This way, the roux can melt quickly and completely.
Cook Curry
- Add vegetable oil into a large pot and turn the heat to medium. Then add the onion.
- After the onion gets clear and soft, add the meat. Cook until the meat color changes.
- Add water, potato, and carrot into the large pot and boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium low.Use a fine-mesh strainer to skim the scum and foam from the surface of the broth.
- Put a lid and cook for 15-18 minutes.
- Open the lid and turn the heat off once. Add the sliced curry roux and melt them well. Once all the roux melts, turn the heat back to low and cook for 5 minutes.
- Let's serve over rice or noodles!
Nutrition
I always throw away the instruction box so this is so helpful!
Thank you for the comment! I’m glad it is helpful!!
Japanese Curry is my favorite food! I like the tips that you slice the roux before adding. It makes total sense!
I am glad the tip is so helpful for you!! I love Japanese curry too!!
The calories is for curry and rice?
Yes! Rice(about 175g per person) + this curry recipe’s calories.
Simple and great recipe
Thank you for saying that!!
This was great! I love curry !
I love curry too! I am glad you enjoyed!