Japanese Curry

This is an easy recipe for making Japanese curry with a mix of white rice and multi-grain rice. We will be using a box of roux by Golden Curry. This is a highly rated roux on Amazon, with more than 1500 positive reviews. Each box contains two mini containers of roux that is enough for eight servings. Since we’ll be making a meal for four, we will use half of a box in this article but if you want to make a meal for eight, you just need to double the ingredients and use the whole box. I will also use a Mild heat level since that is what I prefer to eat so I posted an Amazon link to that below. However, if you are adventurous and want some more spiciness to your dish, you can certainly choose a Medium or Hot heat levels. I have posted the link to those in the FAQ section on the bottom of the page too.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Here’s the list of ingredients to use half of a box or 4 servings. Double the ingredients shown here if you’re using the whole box to make 8 servings:

• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 3 medium sized potatoes
• 1/2 pack of white mushrooms
• 1/4 pound of meat (I would personally recommend chicken, but you can use beef or pork)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 box of Japanese curry roux
• Rice:
  • 3 cups of white or brown rice (use the measuring cup that comes with your rice cooker)
  • (optional) 1 tablespoon of multi-grain rice. We will be using 8-grain rice for this recipe

Cooking Directions

1. Wash and drain the 3 cups of white or brown rice about 3 times with cold water until the water becomes clear. Pour the appropriate amount of water in the rice cooker bowl. If you are adding multi-grain rice, add the 8-grain rice at the top. Press the start button on the rice cooker while preparing for the rest of the ingredients.
2. Chop and dice the onions, carrot, potatoes and white mushrooms
3. Mince the garlic into tiny pieces
4. Using a pot, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil in medium heat and cook the minced garlic until it becomes aromatic.
5. Place the diced onions, carrots and potatoes into the pot and cook until the onions become translucent
6. Add the mushrooms into the pot as well and stir until they become softer
7. Place the desired meat into the pot until it’s no longer pink
8. Pour the water into the pot and place a lid on it until it starts boiling. Check the instructions on the curry roux for the exact amount of water that’s recommended. If you’re cooking half of the box, remember to use half of the amount of water that is recommended.
9. Once the water starts to boil, you’ll notice some white or yellow foam at the top of the food. You can use a foam skimmer to remove it. I would recommend removing it to enhance the flavor of your dish. I’ll talk more about foam skimmers at the bottom of the article. If you don’t have a foam skimmer, you can use a large spoon, but try not to remove too much broth.
10. Place the lid on the pot and turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes
11. Open the lid, turn off the heat and place the curry roux into the pot and stir until the roux dissolves completely.
12. Place the lid back on and turn the heat to low and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
13. Open the lid, stir the curry and serve with rice.

FAQ

What is Multi-Grain Rice?

Multi-Grain Rice is an optional ingredient to this recipe, I personally like to add it to this dish to add some fiber. If you were wondering why there were multi-colored specs in the rice, this is the reason! If you want to learn more about it or if you’re interested in getting some for yourself, I wrote an article on this here: How to Add Some Fiber to Your Meal With Brown and 8-Grain Rice – by Aylah Mori (spicyramennoodle.com)

What type of Japanese curry roux should I use?

For this recipe, I used Golden Curry mild flavor (the orange box). If you want to make some curry with more of a kick, you can use a Medium or even a Spicy curry Roux (the green and black boxes).

Do I need a rice cooker for this recipe?

A rice cooker is certainly NOT a necessity to make any dish with rice in it. However, I would highly recommend getting it if you are planning on making rice dishes regularly at home, since it is very easy to use and all you really need to do after you set up the rice and the water is to press the Start button and it will do all of the hard work for you, allowing you to focus on the other parts of your meal preparation. I personally recommend Zojirushi’s rice cooker since they are a very reputable brand in Japan. I have used my Zojirushi rice cooker since 2007 and it still works! Their rice cookers are highly recommended on Amazon as well. This one below has more than 3,000 positive reviews:

What is a foam skimmer?

A foam skimmer is a tool that’s commonly used to remove foam for hot pots, curry or stew. When you boil meat and vegetables together, you can see some white or yellow foam at the top of the water. I would recommend that you remove that foam from it to enhance the flavor of your dish and to remove any unwanted bitterness that comes with it. You can get yourself a foam skimmer from the link below or you can give it to someone as a gift!