Japanese Curry With Homemade Curry Roux
Finally...Mr Hubby's long standing request to make our homemade Japanese curry is fulfilled.
I'm sure there are a lot of Japanese curry lovers out there.
What is it that makes Japanese curry so special to us?
Does it has similar taste to Indian or Thai Curry?
Well, for those who have ever taste Japanese curry before, I'm sure you can tell the difference.
Japanese curry normally has thicker in texture, due to flour added to the curry roux.
Curry roux, can also be called as curry paste; is a mixture of butter, flour, garam masala, curry powder and chili powder or cayenne pepper for those who love spicy.
Curry roux need to be prepared earlier, or you can easily buy from the store and it can be stored in freezer or refrigerator for few weeks.
Honestly, we've never buy ready made Japanese curry paste before.
As I read on the label, it contains a long list of ingredients written in their chemical names, so we are not exactly sure weather or not to buy it.
So, we end up not buying curry paste from the store.
It took me for quite some time to figure out what's the best way to prepare my homemade Japanese curry that we both crave to eat.
Do you know a famous Japanese anime known as One Piece?
I've never like to watch anime before until my hubby introduced me to One Piece.
This anime is basically about a journey of a pirate group known as The Straw Hats, lead by Monkey D. Luffy to be The Pirate King.
It's an interesting story with a lot of moral values about loyalty, friendships and how greed could ruin the morals of someone.
And as we watched the anime, we came across one episode whereby Sanji, the cook of the team taught a Navy soldier to cook Japanese curry.
The ingredients added were garam masala, curry powder, butter, flour, onion, ginger, garlic, beef, apples, potatoes and carrots.
Oh yes! Now I got the rough idea on how to cook our homemade Japanese curry.
So I googled the recipe and there's a lot of variety in making it.
I have all the ingredients ready at my home, so I was very eager to make it.
As I told earlier, we need to prepare the curry roux first.
You need to melt the butter, then add in four, and stir continuously until it turns golden brown in color, the distinct color of Japanese curry, lastly add garam masala, curry powder and chili powder and stir to combine.
You can double the ingredient's quantity, and keep the curry roux refrigerated for future use.
Some of the recipes called for soy sauce, wine and tomato paste, however, I did not include these ingredients in my Japanese curry.
Japanese curry, as you know, it is not spicy.
It is a bit sweet and savory, which differentiate it from Indian and Thai Curry which are more spicy.
If you want to add spiciness in your curry, you can add in chili powder in the curry roux.
I made our homemade Japanese curry today, for our lunch and Mr Hubby's lunch box to office.
You know when we eat Japanese curry in restaurants, usually it is served with crispy breaded chicken, am I right?
It is called katsu.
Katsu can be of chicken, fish or pork, according to your preference.
I made fish katsu, or breaded fish fillet to be paired with our Japanese curry.
I didn't use beef in the curry, but instead,..I substitute with chicken.
If you want to add natural sweetness in your curry, you can add grated apples in it.
Fuji apple is the best option, but I only have Granny Smith apples, so I have to add more sugar in my curry since the apple is a bit sour.
We both satisfied and happy with the outcome of our first trial.
Next time, I want to make Japanese beef curry to be eaten with chicken katsu.
JAPANESE CURRY WITH HOMEMADE CURRY ROUX
Cuisine : Japanese
Serve : 6
Curry Roux Preparation
30 grams or 4 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
2 tablespoons of garam masala
4 tablespoons of curry powder
1 tablespoon of chili powder
In a sauce pan, melt butter in a medium heat.
Once butter is melted, add in flour while stirring continuously.
Reduce to low heat and stir until the mixture turns golden brown.
Then, add in the remaining ingredients and mix to combine.
Remove from heat and set aside.
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| Curry roux is ready to be used. |
Japanese Chicken Curry
1 large onion - finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
1 inch ginger - finely chopped
1 apple - grated
1 chicken breast- cubed
4 medium sized potatoes - cubed
1 carrot - cut into wedges
3 tablespoons of curry roux
1 chicken cube/ 1 tablespoon of chicken powder - optional
3 cups of water
1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar
salt to taste
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
Instructions:
Heat a wok and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Season chicken breast with salt and stir fry chicken until chicken turns white. Transfer them into a bowl and set aside.
In the same wok, add another 2 tablespoons of oil and once hot, saute large onion until caramelized, which is about 10 minutes depending on the heat temperature.
Add in ginger, garlic and grated apple and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add water, carrots, potatoes, stir fried chicken, chicken powder/cube and bring to boil.
Add in curry roux, season with sugar and salt, cover and simmer until the gravy is thickened.
Serve Japanese chicken curry with chicken or fish katsu and white rice.
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| Enjoy! |
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