Name: Restaurant-level Japanese curry with rice
Yield: 4

1. Heat up a big pot with 1 tbsp of oil and add the diced onions. One of the most important things about making Japanese curry is the caramelised onions jam. If you have cookbooks saying it takes 15 minutes to caramelise onions THROW THEM AWAY NOW. It takes 30-45 minutes onwards to fully brown the onions on a low to medium heat. Patience is the key. Use this time to grate the carrot, dice the proteins and potatoes, and cook the rice.
2. Once the onions are almost brown, add the grated carrots and stir for another 10 minutes. Grating the carrots increases the surface area and make the stock thicker like a smoothie.
3. Add another tbsp of oil, then the proteins into the pot and stir until browned.
4. Add the potatoes into the pot and stir until the edges are cooked.
5. The next important thing is the stock. Water alone, according to the packet instructions, won’t cut it. You should use beef/pork/vegetable stock, if absent use instant bouillon cubes. Pour in the stock, give the bottom a good scrape, bring to boil, add any extra vegetables if desired, and cover for 10 minutes.
6. Another pro tip is to mix your curry roux. You can find them in any Asian/Japanese grocery stores - buy two different brands and mix them. When the 10 minutes is up, uncover the pot, bring heat to low, add the curry roux and stir. Anything extra in your pantry like 2 tsp of cayenne, curry powder, garam masala, Chinese five-spice etc will elevate the ‘curryness’ of this curry.
7. Never, never forget to finish with an umami thickener - a tbsp of fish sauce, or Worcestershire sauce, yakisoba sauce, honey, oyster sauce, tomato paste, barbecue sauce all good. Here are some curveballs - grated apple, dark chocolate, vegemite. The roux already contains a fair amount of flavours, what we’re doing is just to boost the colour, complexity and umami. There’s no wrong way to make this.
8. Serve immediately with hot rice.

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Restaurant-level Japanese curry with rice

Ingredients

What to do

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