Japanese Curry
Curry & rice … a great weekday meal
This is a quick, easy and fail-safe meal to make. It is a great choice for busy weekday nights, when I want to cook something but do not want to think too hard about how/what to cook. For those who do not take spicy foods, this curry is perfect for you because it is not spicy at all, in fact it is totally sweet. You can add a little spicy chilli powder (I use R.S.T’s Queen of Chilli) if you like that added fiery kick. Making Japanese curry at home is fun to me because authentic Japanese curry that are served in Japanese eateries is sweet and I like that I can make it spicier at home to suit my own preference. I was inspired to make this after seeing how Mochachocolatarita whip up hers so effortlessly in her kitchen. So nowadays I always have the curry spice in my pantry for emergencies. This version I whipped up is with chicken, carrots, potatoes and onions, you can be creative and experiment with all kinds of ingredients.
Like Noob Cook on Facebook | Recipe Updates via Email |
Japanese curry sauce mix
Ingredients
(Serves 3)- 100g of Japanese curry cubes (I use S&B brand, 4 cubes which is half box, as shown in the photo above)
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut to small chunks
- 1 potato, peeled and cut to small chunks
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 200 to 300g boneless chicken fillet, cut to large chunks
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 700ml waterDirections
1. Heat pot with oil. Add onions and cook till they are soft. Set aside on a plate and return the onions at step 4 (I am using a wok so I just push them to one side of the wok).
2. Place chicken pieces (you should cut them bigger than mine because mine is too small) in a single layer in the wok. Let the chicken pieces brown on one side (do not toss and turn or stir fry it). This will allow extra flavours to be released.
3. After one side of the chicken is browned, turn them to the other side using a pair of kitchen tongs and again, cooked till the pieces are browned. Add potato and carrot chunks, mix everything evenly.
4. Add water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes (with lid partially closed; mine is fully closed because it has an air vent) or till potatoes are cooked.
5. Add the Japanese curry cubes and stir through till dissolved. Because both the curry mix and the potatoes are starchy, at this point in time you probably need to add more water to achieve the consistency you like. Season it to taste if desired (example adding sauces or chilli powder). Warm through the curry before serving.
Final product – easy Japanese curry meal, served with rice
| If you enjoy this article, please share, tks! |     |
{ 97 comments… read them below or add one }
It is also nice to serve with white bread. ^^
yes, it’s nice to dip the bread in gravy :D
Lovely curry! The curry cubes look like a chocolate.
That’s exactly what I thought when I first see them :)
Oooooooooh that does look finger licking good!
Mmmm….delicious. Curry ….. my favourite any time.
Curry ad Rice.Perfect!
I’m going to get a packet of japanese curry today!
hehe hope it was delicious :)
Thanks for the demo, I never knew Jap curry was so easy to make! :-)
I like instant Japanese curry :)
I actually make this without meat, & then serve it over tonkatsu.
ps: I like the way you take photos of your food. Do you have a lightbox?
Hi Ippo I didn’t use a lightbox for my food photos. I take photos in the day, beside the window and used an external flash :)
It’s quite common for Japanese cooks to add chocolate to the curry. It gives that gorgeous glaze. Also I have seen some recipes call for bananas. It adds a sweetness to the curry. I love how you browned the chicken pieces. Beautiful curry, Wiffy!
Thanks Ju. I didn’t add chocolate to mine though… I have seen Chef at Home add chocolate to his beef stew and the end result is gorgeous. :-)
just my two cents worth, chocolate gives it great colour and further depth in flavour. I’m hooked to adding it to beef/veal stews now. totally scrummy.
Sounds like I totally have to try it out next time I make beef stew :)
Hi there! I just tried this recipe – I’m surprised that it’s pretty easy to make and the taste is good. I dont think I’ll ever hv Japanese curry at restaurants anymore!
This discussion abt adding chocolate to stews and curries is interesting. I’ve never heard abt this. What type of choc to use and how much to add?
Hi Wiffy,
How are you? I left blogging for a month :)
Btw, I love Japanese Curry as well, of course I used the instant just like the way you made.
Hey Pepy, good to see you back! It’s nice to take a break once in a while :)
I love japanese curry. Those little cubes make it so easy, and tasty!
Yummilicious! I just bought Japanese curry on my last trip to Chinatown. I mgith just make it for dinner! Thank you, winter is coming and this is so suitable!
curry is definitely comfort food especially during the cold weather :)
I have never heard of this Japanese curry. Your dish is called “comfort food”.
wow I can smell those curry through my monitor, hurry me some please! :)
Love Japanese curry though I’ve never tried making it myself. This looks really, really delish.
Delicious! I loved Japanese curry!
Yum Wiffy! So simple yet delicious looking too. I wonder if I could get those Japanese curry cubes here???
I’m sure you can find it if your supermarket has a Japanese import section ;)
Looks so delicious and pardon my ignorance, I did not know Japanese curry was so good!
Where did you get this S&B cube-form curry from? *excited*
You can find at NTUC and Cold Storage (Japanese section) hehe
Japanese curry … love it! I usually use S&B brand too but different packs from yours. We have the mild and spicy one in different packs :)
I’ve tried mild before … really not much difference from “hot” I think coz “hot” is not spicy at all lol
Besides our good old Malaysian/Singaporean curry, I heart Japanese curry, too, for their unique sweetness! Good with tonkatsu!
yes! tonkatsu and Japanese curry = match made in heaven.
I tried Japanese curry before, apple flavours. This is yummy!
On last Saturday, I cooked curry too to serve with white rice, and top with a hard-boiled egg. Will post about it later. :)
Look forward to your recipe :)
Thanks for the recipe Wiffy! I enjoy having Japanese curry but always wasn’t sure what brand to use for the curry flavour. Now I know! :)
This is a dish that I will not say no to myself. Oooops! Suddenly I feel hungry….Oh oh! Love your step-by-step photos! ;)
I feel hungry all the time when I look at your food ;) Thx!
Sounds like a great, quick meal! The veggies and chicken look delish.
Love the Japanese flavor curry, and sure the apple add some sweetness to it…nice pictures!
Adore your idea of adding some chili powder as the Japanese curry is least spicy even they classify it as hot.
Yes their definition of “hot” is really sweet to us who are used to really spicy foods :)
I like Japanese curry too! I haven’t eaten it for ages…
Wow it looks delicious but yet simple enough for me to want to try and cook. Gonna hunt for japanese curry cubes at ntuc extra soon. I will surely add more potatoes….
hehe, normal NTUC also has it I think, as long as they have a Japanese section :)
I cooked the japananese curry yesterday using house brand medium hot curry cubes. Used half a packet which is 6 cubes with 700ml water with 2 carrots, 2 potatoes, 1 onion and 400g meat. It was easy to cook and the result was good! will add more chicken meat next time. thanks so much for sharing! For a moment I feel I can cook well, at least for this dish.. lol
glad you like it! Baking is so difficult and yet you are so good at it, cooking is really comparatively easy peasy for you I feel :)
just had jap curry last week. looks good!
This dish looks so warming and comforting. Never tried curry before, but your post is now making me crave a bite (or two….or three……haha)
And already told you this before, but I looove your kitchen’s tiled background. :-)
I think this curry is definitely “safe” for you because it is sweet, there is no heat at all. You may like it ;) and oh hehe, you still remember my kitchen :D
and lol about the “chocolate bars” … I don’t blame you coz that’s what I thought too when I first see them :lol:
Forgot to add when I was first scrolling down, I thought those were chocolate bars on top of the vegetables. I was like, “Chocolate?……….on vegetables?……..really?” HAHA! :P
heheh…I like the “keeping some for emergencies” part. I definitely need to get more supply soon.
I love Japanese curry; it’s so easy to make with the premade cubes and it’s nice and sweet. :) Sadly I’ve given up cooking things like this because my finance and I have terrible reactions to MSG. :( I have yet to find a brand that doesn’t use it so I’ve been without my J-curry fix for a while. Any plans on doing a homemade version that will taste just as good without MSG?
Hello Rin, I’m sorry I’ve not made the curry paste from scratch before. If I’m not wrong, I think they sell the curry powder alone and you can use that to cook your own curry, but I’m not sure if the powder comes with MSG. you can check it out :)
I was wondering if a thicker & spicier version of this would be good stuffed in a pastry .. I kind of miss chicken curry puff from Old Chang Kee :-(
now you suddenly made me crave for Old Chang Kee :p yes I wonder what type of curry they use for their curry puffs.
karei raisu!! I love this! I used to live off this quite a bit last year when I didn’t really have time to cook. Looks yum. x
one of my quick favs as well. So quick esp with all the veges. But I am using it less because I discovered they use palm oil as a base. Darn! but a great treat.
Oh, our Japanese teacher made us this when I was a student! (we had a Japanese culture course at Uni) hehee how nostalgic :) I ate meat back then – that must have been quite a long ago! I think he used apple flavoured curry cubes, do you know these?
I’ve never heard of apple flavoured curry cubes but they sound really tasty! Must try to look for them. I imagine they will be nice with zucchinis and carrots :)
I LOVE Japanese curry! One of the few dishes my bf makes and he does it really well since he taught for a year in Japan. But with your recipe, I may have to make it for him and show him up hehe.
S&B is the best brand I’ve tried so far.
Hehe, I am making this tonight : ) I find too, cutting the chicken and onion in larger pieces taste nicer. Do you find the ones in Japanese restos have more sauce than other ingredients? I also like sautee with some garlic too : )
hope you enjoy your dinner tonight :) Yes I think cutting the chicken to bigger pieces is nicer, they shrunk considerably after cooking. Yes the curry at Japanese restaurants is usually more sauce than ingredients; at home, it’s the other way round ;)
I like ur step-by-step guide, unfortunately i don’t have jap curry paste where i am living :(
I just made this dish! It’s really so simple!
Got quite a bit of the curry left and im gonna buy some Udon and have Curry Udon tonight!!
Thanks for the great recepie!
what a great idea – curry udon! I’m gonna try your idea next time I have leftover curry. Thanks for your nice comment :)
This is my favourite dish too!
I’m a CMI chef, but this ‘recipe’ never fails me ^^
yes, agree this is a fail-proof curry recipe :)
Looks yummy!I’ve always craving for japanese curry but too lazy to cook.I heard that some people put chunked apples or bananas in japanese curry.I wonder how it taste like…..fruit+curry=??
I haven’t tried it before but I think red apples and japanese curry sounds quite yummy :)
Hey, me have been browsing your website recently.
I like your simple recipes for a cooking noob like me.
Very nice pictures for all other recipes & this yummy look japanese curry. *shiok*
Ever wounder how to cook this at home, but now i got the idea from here. Would like to try curry seafood with angel hair pasta….. what u think? hehehe
Wow… Simple and yummy recipe… is it spicy?
btw~ can i ask~ where did you buy the curry cubes from? i cant find them TT___TT
Hi Anna, I’m not sure where you are from. I’m in Singapore, see it quite often from Japanese sections of major supermarkets such as Cold Storage and NTUC…
Ahhh~!!! really??? oh thankyou SOOOO much!!! :DD
This inspired me! Will try it out tomorrow!
I’m loving your blog. Everything looks so delicious!
Thanks for sharing your recipe’s.
I love Japanese curry too! Usually I make mine using beef cubes and I’ll substitute potatoes with daikon and add shitake mushrooms. Daikon is juicy but gotta skin it really well and cook long enough so it won’t leave a bitter taste. Sometimes, I’ll dice apples too, it’s crunchy and sweet and goes really well with the curry. And instead of using cooking oil, I’ll stir fry the ingredients with butter. It’s really aromatic.
Great tips! I shall try your version when I cook Japanese curry next time :))
What is the serving size for this recipe?
I am going to cook this for 6 people and need to know the serving size so I know how much more ingredients I am going to need.
hi, sorry for my late reply. The recipe cooks for roughly 3 persons. The serving size is indicated in the recipe itself, ingredients section.
Thanks for that I totally didn’t see that. Looking forward to making it.
Turned out great thanks for posting the recipe.
Hello Wiffy, it’s 2x in a day that I’m using your recipes :-) sambal kangkong for lunch and Joe, Japanese curry for dinner ….my boys are happy that we have different ‘never cooked at home before’ dishes :-) thank you!
thumbs up!! it was yummy! hb n son loved it! Thx for the ez step by step instructions…u r so kind ^^
Hi wiffy! may I ask after you added the curry cubes do u need to simmer for very long for the entire curry to turn starchy? Seems like potato is a must have ingredient in order to make the curry thicken? I tried before w/o the potato and it remains watery. I tot I failed as I did not proceed to wait =(
no I didn’t simmer very long. I have not tried without potatoes but I think without shouldn’t make so much difference. Did you measure the water? How about reducing the water next time?
thanks wiffy! I will try again n let you know if i succeed =)
I have made curry with and without potatoes and it doesn’t make the curry watery. The problem is how much water you’ve added. I do recommend you to use less water or more curry cubes :)
Where to buy the curry in the Netherland?
Hans
Waar is de japanse curry te koop in nederland?
De curry die we gebruiken stuurt onze dochter op uit Japan en is Japanse curry van House
You can get it from any asian grocery store
I wosh I could fnd this product. Looks wonderful and I am hungry!