Norm's Recipe ｜Japanese-style Curry Rice

The must-have meal in every Japanese home - Japanese-style curry rice. It's not uncommon for an average person in Japan to eat curry rice once a week - or more! It works with a wide variety of vegetables, making it a perfect dinner if you have a bunch of ingredients and you're not sure what to make.

This recipe is special because it calls for the chef to add no water - all of the liquid comes purely from the vegetables. This gives the dish a rich and vibrant flavor, with a comforting, thick texture.

Key Points

Curry Paste

Curry paste can be found in any Asian grocery store. There are lots of different varieties - feel free to experiment! Personally, I've found mild-spicy or spicy to be the best complements to the sweetness of the vegetables.

Vegetables

This recipe calls for tomatoes, zucchini and celery, but any vegetables with lots of water will do. Eggplants work great, too!

Pot

You'll need a sufficiently thick pot to cook with, so as to store heat while cooking. This is key for getting a sufficient amount of water out of the vegetables. Staub pots work great here.

How to make Japanese-Style Curry Rice?

Ingredients (4-6 servings)

• 4-6 pieces or 400g chicken tenderloin 
• 2 small onions, sliced (approx. 450g)
• 1 zucchini (sliced)
• 1 celery stick (only the stalk, cut to an appropriate size)
• 4 tomatoes (approx. 400g) 
• 1 carrot (sliced)
• 1 clove of garlic (peeled)
• 6 servings curry paste
• 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce (optional)
• 10-15g unsalted butter (approx. 1 tablespoon, optional)
• Micro-broccoli for garnish (optional)
• Salt and pepper

Steps

1. Cut chicken tenderloin into 3 pieces. Cover lightly with salt and pepper, set aside.
2. Prepare tomatoes:
1. Remove the stickers and wash tomatoes thoroughly.
2. Prepare one large bowl of ice water and set aside.
3. Remove stem and cut a shallow X on the bottom of the tomato.
4. Boil water in a large pan. When it's boiling, put the tomatoes into the pan.
5. When the tomatoes' skin is wrinkled, remove them from the boiling water and place in the ice water.
6. Once the tomatoes are chilled, you can peel them very easily.
3. Layer the vegetables in the pan in following order (from the bottom): onion, celery, tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, garlic and then chicken.
1. The order is to avoid burning; tomatoes and zucchini will burn easily if placed on the bottom.
2. Garlic, chicken, carrots, and potatoes (optional) should always be on top. This ensures they cook well in the steam.
4. (Low heat) Put the lid back on, simmer about 50 mins. (Do not open the lid while cooking) 
5. Open the lid. You should see a lot of reddish-colored water that has come out from the tomatoes. (If you don't see this, use the ladle to crush the tomatoes in the pot). Turn off the heat and add curry paste to the pot, stirring until the paste is fully melted.
6. After the paste is fully melted, turn on burner back on to low heat. Put the lid back on and simmer for about 20 mins. Stir occasionally to prevent curry paste from sticking to the bottom. 
7. Add the soy sauce and butter to the pot (if desired), stir thoroughly.
8. Garnish with micro-broccoli and serve with rice. 

 Item we used for this recipe :

Linda Pasta & Curry Semi-porcelain Bowl