Wednesday 22 April 2015

Vegetarian Japanese Curry

When I was a student, we had a Japanese student stay with us briefly.  She cooked us lots of amazing meals.  It was my first experience of how interesting Japanese food could be.  Often Japanese restaurants have not seemed as good as her dishes.  Junko never made me Japanese curry but it is one of the more pleasing Japanese dishes I have had in restaurants.  So I was keen to try it at home.

Sometimes it is only in making it myself that I understand a dish.  Indeed understanding how Japanese curries differ from others I have had came from making it.  It is more like an Indian curry than a Thai curry but is made like a soup with a lot of the flavour and texture coming from stirring in a roux.

I followed the recipe by Rika of Vegan Miam.  She has such lovely photos that draw me in. Then, the geek in me wanted to check if her recipe was typical.  So I did a quick search for other Japanese curry recipes.  I was surprised to read that many people just buy the roux rather than making it.  I was happy to do as Rika did and make it myself.

I was interested that recipes for Japanese curries suggested different flavourings to add including Worcestershire sauce, red wine, apricot jam, miso, maple syrup, ketchup, honey and chocolate.  I would like to try it with chocolate one day.  This curry had some apricot jam that was on hand.

More mysterious was the Oriental curry powder that Rika used.  I have never heard of it and just used the Keen's curry powder that I had in the cupboard.  Our curry was quite hot, though not unpleasantly so.  A few people noted that Japanese curries are quite mild.  So I checked for Oriental curry powder in the supermarket and only found a roux for a Japanese curry.  But as it had palm oil and MSG I don't know that I will be rushing out to buy it. 

We ate this on the school holidays.  It was a chaotic night after a trip to the park with Sylvia's school friends.  I searched high and low for black sesame seeds but they were nowhere to be found.  I discovered them in the back of the cupboard last night.  Maybe it is a sign that I need to make Japanese curry again.

I am sending this curry to:

More Japanese-style recipes:

Avocado, pickled ginger and tofu soba noodle salad (gf, v)
Japanese snow pea salad (gf, v)
Japanese-style pumpkin, sprouts and tofu soup (gf, v)
Sushi stack with carrot, tofu omelet and avocado (gf, v)
Sushi with sticky walnuts and edamame (gf, v)
'Teriyaki' tofu with brown rice and kale (gf, v)

Japanese Curry
Adapted from Vegan Miam
serves 4-6

1-2 tbsp any neutral oil (I used rice bran)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 cups water
2 large potatoes, cut into chunks
1 small apple, peeled, and grated
2 tsp curry powder*
1/4 cup tamari
1 tsp salt, or to taste
125g tin of corn kernels, rinsed and drained
300g pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup frozen broadbeans (or edamame)

Roux
3 tablespoons neutral oil (I used rice bran oil)
1/4 cup plain flour
1-3 tsp curry powder*
1 tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp apricot jam

Garnish
2 spring onions, sliced
black sesame seeds

Heat oil in a stockpot or large saucepan.  Cook onion and carrots for 5 to 10 minutes until vegetables soften.  Stir the garlic in for a minute and then add remaining ingredients except broad beans.  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile make the roux. Stir together the curry powder, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and apricot jam and set aside.  Fry together the oil and flour until it slightly browns and smells cooked.  Add the curry powder mixture and stir until smooth.  Add a ladleful or two of liquid from the curry and stir roux until smooth.

Tip roux into curry and also add broad beans.  Gently simmer a few minutes, stirring frequently, until roux incorporated and broad beans warmed through.  Garnish with spring onions and black sesame seeds if desired

NOTES:  For traditional curry, use a Japanese Oriental curry powder (such as S and B).  I used Keens curry powder which is more Indian.  It worked well but was quite spicy with 1 tbsp of curry powder in the roux.  Perhaps less curry powder is needed with Keens, hence my suggestion of between 1 to 3 tsp depending on the curry powder used.

On the Stereo:
Born to Die: Lana Del Ray

29 comments:

  1. Looks lovely, my experience of Japanese food is very limited. I've never seen Oriental curry powder either, but then I have never looked for it. I may give this go some day, shame you were late finding the black sesame seeds but as you say another opporunity to make it again.

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    1. Thanks shaheen - I don't have a great experience of Japanese foods because a lot of restaurants don't seem to have lots of vegetarian food. I love my black sesame seeds but they do seem to get into odd corners of the pantry because I don't use them enough.

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  2. Yum, sounds delicious. I've never had Japanese curry.

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  3. Japanese food is pretty unique isn't it? I went to Japan many years ago and found the flavours amazingly subtle, but quite alluring. Your curry sounds full of those lovely flavours. Delicious!

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    1. Thanks Kate - yes Japanese flavours are gentle but really tasty so I do love the food when I have it. I would love to visit Japan one day.

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  4. I like how there's some apple in the curry. I don't think I've had too many Japanese curries and I didn't know they're predominantly mild. This is a lovely family meal xx

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    1. Thanks Charlie - I am not sure I am right in saying they are mostly mild (from some reading since I wrote the post) but that was the impression I got. Perhaps the oriental powder is less mild than keens powder - I guess I should buy some if I can to check.

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  5. I have never had a Japanese curry (this despite we too having a Japanese student stay with us at one point)! I am keen to try this out.

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    1. Thanks Kari - we only have a Japanese friend stay while I lived in a share house - it would have been interesting to have a japanese student stay but I guess if she was a school student she might not have been so likely to cook for you. We shared the cooking in this house where I had Junko's cooking.

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  6. This looks like a beautiful curry. I've never tried a Japanese curry before so I'm very intrigued to try out these flavours. Thanks so much for linking up with the latest #TheSpiceTrail challenge too!

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  7. Japanese curry is one of my favourite foods, we make it all the time at home. :D Your version looks beautiful!

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    1. Thanks Jenny - I just checked you blog for a recipe but couldn't find one - would be interested to see how you make it

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  8. Would you believe that we have at least 4 Sushi restaurants in Tartu?
    But I don't know if any of them serve curry dishes. I'll have to have a look.
    Saw this recently: http://www.boredpanda.com/dam-curry-rice-damukare-japan/

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    1. Thanks Pene - seems like there are lots of sushi stands and a few really nice Japanese restaurants that I enjoy visiting but I tend to eat downmarket rather than anything fancy. Thanks for the link - I love the dams made of rice - wish I had such skills with my rice presentation

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  9. Hi Johanna, I do hope you'll come over to Food on Friday: Curries to bring this to the party! Cheers from Carole's Chatter

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    1. Thanks Carole - looks like a great curry party - have sent my curry in (and done a little bookmarking from the party)

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    2. Hi Johanna, thanks for bringing this over. This is now on my shortlist for a feature. Cheers from Carole's Chatter

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  10. I've only made Japanese curries using the roux cubes. But I find them a bit too mild for me. I suspect I might like this one better.

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    1. Thanks Lorraine - the roux cubes seems fascinating in the way of processed food that looks really odd but makes good food (I have only seen pics online). Good to hear they are mild if I ever try them.

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  11. Huh. I have never heard of Japanese curry. I'm eager to try your recipe though. Your photos are always so gorgeous! I feel as if I could eat the food right off of my laptop screen ;p
    Thanks again for sharing your wonderful culinary creation at HVF - I am pinning this recipe and look forward to see what you have in store next =)

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    1. Thanks Kimmy - so pleased you enjoy my photos - I always wish for scratch and sniff screens but maybe you need lick and taste screens :-)

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  12. oh I love Japanese curry! Especially when it has something breaded and fried like tofu. This was all I ever ordered in Japanese restaurants. I've got a recipe somewhere that is very similar to yours, with the apply too and some mango chutney. I used to buy those Golden Curry packets but yes they're full of MSG (I loved the taste though)!I used Keens too for my recipes.

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    1. Thanks Veganopoulous - I really would like the crumbed and fried tofu on the curry but that was a bit too much for me - maybe I need to make it in stages - curry one night and fried tofu the next. Mango chutney would be great in it.

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  13. Johanna, thank you for the kind shoutout and for trying out my recipe! Your curry version looks wonderful with apricot jam, mmmiam! This one is my older Japanese curry version when I don’t have access to kitchenware and staples back in Buenos Aires. Here is my most recent and updated version: http://veganmiam.com/recipes/japanese-kabocha-curry with a guide about curry powder.

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    1. Thanks Rika - yes I read your comments on curry powder - it was useful to see what is in the oriental one but in the end I only had keens. There is a Japanese grocery in the city that I have to check out (had a look at our Chinese grocery but it doesn't do a great range of Japanese ingredients). Thanks again for a great recipe

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  14. What an interesting post, Johanna. I admit I have never tasted Japanese curry. I am like you in needing to make a dish to understand it fully. Thank you so much for contributing to MLLA.

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  15. This was completely brilliant, I've always been too nervous to try Japanese cooking as I've thought it was out of my range but my husband and I gobbled this delicious curry down tonight and I'm pretty happy with myself. Cheers!

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    1. Thanks Tess - lovely to hear it worked for you - it was easier than I expected too

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  16. Japanese curry doesn't sound very likely somehow. CT says they have a very eclectic diet though, so I guess anything is possible. It sounds rather intriguing, I think I'm going to have to try it.

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