Japanese Curry

• aktiivinen aika: 30 minutes

Ainekset

1lb of stew beef. These should come in diced cuts from the grocer already. You don’t need to worry about trimming the fat, but if you do it yourself and dice something like a flank steak, make sure to cut off the fat cap leaving just a tiny sliver of fat on the beef. Beef should be cut into roughly 1in cubes. You can use other proteins for this, but the beef cooking will add the complexity of the curry roux.

2 Large Carrots

One Small Onion

2 Med Size Potato (Optional : Kabocha Pumpkin, turnips, etc)

5 Cloves of Garlic

200ML of Bone Broth - Chicken is nice here. Make sure you’re not using consomme or boullion/salted stock - you want the kind of bone broth that has a gelatin like texture when refrigerated.

Japanese Curry Roux Blocks (6)

Pickled / Diced Onions, Japanese Pickles or other “Tsukemono” , Pickled Ginger

Short Grain “Koshihikari” Rice

Some good red cooking wine (can be leftover, i usually keep some on the counter or in the fridge as it will last longer)

Instant Coffee or Dark Chocolate (or both!)

1 tbsp butter (optional)

Cooking Oil. Neutral oil is good but olive is also fine.

Ohjeet

Dice vegetables, wash and peel carrots and cut into 1 in chunks. You can use “Rangiri” technique of rolling the vegetable as you slice at an angle - there are cosmetic reasons for this but the main one is that by slicing on an angle, you are giving the vegetable more surface area for flavour absorption.

Slice Onion into wedges. Slice cloves into halves.

Salt and pepper beef. Heat oil med-high in your cooking vessel, I use an instant pot but if you cook it on the stove in a dutch oven the flavours will be even more distinct and complex.

Heat oil and toss beef in. You want the surface to have that maillard reaction and brown so there is a visible brown texture and little bits stuck on the bottom of the pan.

Remove all the beef when it is browned and rest in a dish covered by aluminum foil. Set Aside.

Toss in onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes until the onions are turning translucent. Deglaze the bottom of the pan with your red wine, making sure to scrape the fond from the bottom of the pan. You can also use sake for this.

Toss in diced vegetables and meat, while combining with beef stock.

If you’re using an instant pot, set the pressure to “stew”. If you’re cooking on the stove, let simmer, covered, at low temps for several hours, stirring occasionally.

At the end of the cooking process your meat will be very tender and the veggies will be falling apart, so instead of stirring the curry roux in vigorously, dip a lade in the liquified broth and dissolve the blocks, while incorporating gently into the whole pot. Add 1 square of dark chocolate and 1 tbsp of instant coffee, making sure they are liquified and incorporated into the broth. You may add butter at this point for a creamier texture.

Serve with rice, and top with pickled / diced onion and serve alongside japanese pickles and ginger.

Optional : top with raw egg yolk for richness and let the residual heat slightly cook the surface of the yolk before breaking over your curry and rice.