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Japanese Curry Rice

East Asian · 55 min · Easy · 4 servings

Japanese Curry Rice

A thick, glossy, faintly sweet curry sauce over rice, with soft potato and carrot. Mild by design and deeply comforting — Japan's favorite home dinner.

~640 cal per serving — Calories are approximate, per serving — a guide only.

nut-free
Plan it:

Method

  1. 1

    Cook the rice

    ⏱ 20 min

    Rinse the rice until the water runs clear and cook it with the water for the rice — boil, cover, lowest heat, then rest off the heat with the lid on.

  2. 2

    Brown the vegetables

    ⏱ 15 min

    Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onions until soft and golden, then add the carrot, potato, garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes more.

  3. 3

    Simmer

    ⏱ 20 min

    Pour in the stock, bring to a boil, then simmer until the potato and carrot are completely tender.

  4. 4

    Make the roux

    ⏱ 7 min

    In a separate small pan, melt the vegan butter, stir in the flour and cook it to a pale sandy paste. Take it off the heat and stir in the curry powder and garam masala, then whisk in a ladleful of the hot broth until smooth.

  5. 5

    Thicken and season

    ⏱ 10 min

    Stir the roux back into the pot along with the soy sauce, maple syrup and ketchup, and simmer until the sauce is thick and glossy enough to coat a spoon. Season with salt and serve over the rice.

Notes

The roux is what gives Japanese curry its distinctive thick gloss — do not try to thicken with cornflour instead. Ketchup and maple syrup sound wrong and are exactly right; the style is mild and slightly sweet.

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