Chefs Binge · Japanese · Serves 4 servings
Japanese Potato Curry
My Japanese potato curry: waxy potatoes that hold their shape, a curry roux made from scratch and beef stock for depth. Swap the stock for vegetable stock with a spoonful of miso and it is genuinely vegetarian. It is on the table in under an hour.
Prep
10 min
Cook
45 min
Total
55 min
Serves
4 servings
Per serving
418 kcal
Ingredients
2 Carrots - (300g) medium sized, diced or roll cut
700 g New potatoes - halved if very small, quartered if bigger (or 2 medium sized sweet potatoes)
3 Small onions - diced
4 Garlic cloves - sliced
½ Celery stalk - finely chopped
500 ml Beef stock - (for purely vegetarian version use vegetable stock with 1 tbsp of miso)
200 ml Coconut Cream - (Much better for curry than coconut milk)
4 tsp Curry Powder
2 tbsp Plain flour
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce - (More robust flavour than standard soy sauce. Season to taste: more soy, or a thick sweet soy, makes the sauce darker)
1 tsp Honey - Skip if using sweet potatoes
1 tbsp Japanese mirin
5 tbsp Rapeseed oil - for frying (or any vegetable oil)
1 Green chilli - sliced for garnish
200 g Short grain rice - to serve for 4 people
Equipment
Medium sized pot · Hybrid Non Stick Frying Pan
Method
1
Preheat the Pot. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a medium pot over a medium heat. Keep the other 3 tbsp back for the roux.
2
Sweat the Onions and Celery. Add the diced onions and the finely chopped celery to the pot. Sweat on medium heat for 8 minutes until soft and translucent, then give them a little longer until they just start to colour. Some gold, not a deep brown.
3
Brown the Main Veggies. Turn up the heat slightly and add the diced carrots and the new potatoes to the pot. Fry until the vegetables start to brown. You may need to add a little bit more oil at this step.
4
Add the Stock, Soy and Mirin. Next, pour in the beef stock, the soy sauce and the mirin. Stir to combine.
5
Simmer the Vegetables. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer with the lid on until the vegetables are soft and tender, around 20 to 25 minutes, when a knife goes into a potato with no resistance. Sweet potatoes will get there sooner.
6
Prepare the Curry Roux. While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the curry roux (or use shop-bought curry roux blocks and skip this step). In a small frying pan, heat the rest of the oil and add the sliced garlic. Cook until the garlic is browned, then add the curry powder and the flour. Cook on low heat for a minute to combine.
7
Coconut Cream and Honey. Once the potatoes and carrots are cooked to your desired texture, add the coconut cream and the honey to the pot. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat.
8
Thicken and Serve. Stir in the curry roux until it has completely dissolved, then put the pot back on a low heat and let it simmer gently for a good ten minutes, stirring now and then. Off the heat only dissolves the roux. The thickening happens over that simmer. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve over rice with sliced green chilli. Perfect with my cabbage kimchi or cucumber kimchi.
Chef’s notes
- Sweet potato: swap some or all of the potatoes for sweet potato, and leave the honey out if you do.
- Adding protein: cubed tofu or tempeh, both of which take the sauce on well.
- Peas: 100 g of green peas, stirred in near the end.
- Roux consistency: more flour for a thicker curry, less flour or more stock and coconut cream for a looser one. This is the dial that decides the texture.
- Herbs and aromatics: chopped coriander over the top at the table, and a bay leaf or two in with the simmer.
- Other vegetables: peppers, mushrooms and courgettes all work. Grill them first and add them late, or they go to mush.
- Storage: better the next day. Airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days, and loosen with a splash of water or stock when you reheat.
- Best potatoes: waxy, so they hold their shape. Charlotte, Maris Peer, Jersey Royals, Yukon Gold or Red Bliss.
Per serving Calories 418 kcal · Protein 7 g · Carbs 58 g · Fat 20 g · Saturates 9 g · Fibre 7 g · Sugar 9 g · Sodium 630 mg
Recipe © Chef Łukasz Babral · chefsbinge.com · for personal use only
chefsbinge.com/japanese-potato-curry
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