Japanese Archives - Foodology

Japanese Curry starts off from blocks of curry roux from the supermarket. At least that how I do it. I picked this up at T&T and got the Golden Curry brand in Medium Hot. It saves a lot of time and it always tastes great!

I remember having this a lot as a child and it was so goooood. M loves it too, so having this for dinner was a no brainer.

It’s one of the most popular dishes in Japan and has 3 main components – curry sauce, rice and the pork cutlet. With prep and cooking time, this should take about 1 hour or less depending on how organized you are.

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Curry

Half a box of Curry Roux
3.5 cups of water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red pepper, sliced
7 mushrooms, sliced
1 potato, into bite sized pieces
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, into bite sized pieces

Pork Katsu

1 egg
2 pork chops
salt and pepper
Vegetable Oil
Panko breading

Cooked Rice

3 cups of Rice
6 cups of water

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Before you do any prep, make sure you start cooking the rice first as it needs time to cook. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 45 minutes depending on how much rice you cook. For M and myself, we just made 3 cups of rice. I like to make a little bit extra so I have leftovers for next days lunch.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot. Then, dump the onions, carrots, peppers and potatoes into the pot.

Once the vegetables soften up a bit, add the 3.5 cups of water and half the box of curry roux. Mix well until the roux dissolves. Cook for an additional 15 minutes until sauce has thickened.

To make the pork katsu, you need to tenderize the pork first. I didn’t have a mallet, so I used a larger dull knife and pounded at the meat. When you don’t have the tools you need, just find another alternative.

Once you have your tenderized pork cutlets, dip them into the egg to coat the outside, and then into the panko crust and throughly cover it.

This is what it should look like.

Take a frying pan and add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Heat it at medium high. Once the oil is hot enough, put in the cutlets.
Cook until each side is nice and golden brown.

To make the rice into the rounded shape, just take a small bowl and fill it with rice, then you just flip it over onto the plate. Scoop the curry around the rice. Then put the golden crisp pork cutlet on top. I used black sesame as a garnish to make the rice a bit more beautiful.

Voila! Katsu curry done at home!

Yaki Udon is a stir-fried udon noodles dish with meat and vegetables. It’s simple to make and a very popular dish in Japan. It’s a dish I usually order at Japanese Izakaya restaurants, but you can make it at home for a fraction of the price.

Having bricks of frozen udon in the freezer can be a life saver if you need a quick and simple meal. There are no right and wrong ingredients you can put into the dish. People tend to add whatever left over meat and vegetables they have in the fridge.

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A pack of shredded beef
1 shallot, sliced
1/2 a carrot, shredded
7 mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 bricks of udon
splash of mirin
splash of soy sauce
salt
pepper

Garnish:

Seaweed
bonito flakes
sliced green onions

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After you prep all your ingredients, soak your udon in warm water until all the strands of noodles separate. Then just drain it until its time to add it into the other items.

Heat up your pan with a splash of oil on medium heat and add in your carrots, mushrooms, onions, shallots, until they are a bit softened. Then add in your meat.

Once the ingredients are ready, add in the udon with soy sauce and mirin. Mix until its nicely combined. You can then add salt and pepper to enhance the taste.

Once you have it all ready and plated, sprinkle bonito flakes, green onions and seaweed on top. You’re ready to go! I shredded my carrot too small, so its barely even visible. I think I need to get a new grater with larger holes. It also makes for great leftovers for the next day.

From start to finish, you recipe should only take 30 minutes or less.