Japanese Curry

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.