Making Japanese Curry (カレーライス)

The cold weather continues, but so does the hot comfort food. Tonight’s dinner is classic Japanese curry over steamed rice (カレーライス)!

Each pot of curry is made a little differently, depending on ingredients we have on-hand, as well as how spicy we want it. Instead of just showing the finished product, here’s a general overview of the preparation… we don’t have exact measurements – we pretty much eyeball everything for this curry.

First, cook the veggies. This time, we started with garlic, then added onions, carrots, and a diced tomato.

After the veggies are softened, add warm/hot water to a “good” level. We had some potatoes in the pantry, so we added some potato chunks. See, you gotta just go with the flow on this recipe. 😄 Cover and cook until the potatoes are just about done.

While it was simmering, we cooked some sliced pork in a pan. It’s pretty greasy, so cooking it before adding to the pot is important.

Next, we added the meat to the veggie stew, then covered and let it simmer for a little while longer until the potatoes were done.

After all that simmering the meat and veggies’ flavor has really come out. 😛

Now it’s time for the curry. Tonight, we used a mix of three different types. The total was about 9 pieces.

The final step is to spice it up (if desired). We used some Scotch Bonnet hot sauce (about a tablespoon) and dried chili powder (about a teaspoon).

Once all the curry is dissolved into the stew, it’s ready to eat! We like it over steamed rice, with boiled egg, and picked radish. Koa added cheese a la Coco Ichibanya.

If you make Japanese curry, I’d love to know your technique! 🍛

またね～