Curry is one of those foods that is very popular outside Japan but virtually unknown outside the country. Recently, I was in a Korean supermarket and they had a small Japanese food section in which they sold Japanese curry mix. I practically did a happy dance in the aisle and then ran home to make this recipe. Japanese curry tastes quite different from Indian curries, it is a lot milder and slightly sweet, but quite delicious.
To start off with you brown onions and carrots in a pot.
Followed by mushrooms.
And potatoes and garlic at the last moment.
Most curries I have had are made with pork, but honestly, since I don’t really like meat I ended up using chicken.
At this point you add in your curry mix. It might say hot on the package but it is incredibly mild. I would have to spike it liberally with chillies to come anywhere near hot.
The curry basically looks like a gigantic chocolate bar and has the consistency of a boullion cube.
Now you add water to your veggie and meat mixture, and the curry. It will sort of melt into the water and form a stew.
At this point in time it will be very soupy but if you let it cook for a while it will thicken up.
Like this.
Usually curry is eaten with pickled vegetables and rice. I love pickled lotus roots but all they had at the store was pickled radish. They look a bit like lemon candies when sliced up, no? I wasn’t a big fan as they were too sweet for my tastes.
I also made some quick pickled green onions on the side.
I hadn’t eaten this in years so I was really happy to finally have found the mix to make it. I usually don’t cook from pre-made mixes but I wasn’t able to find a Japanese curry recipe and since everyone in Japan uses the mix, that’s good enough for me. It’s not the most photogenic picture but it sure is tasty.
