I am a big fan of Japanese curry and this dry style Japanese curry is one of my favourites. Japanese style curry usually consists of large pieces of meat and veggies in plenty of curry gravy/sauce and this ‘dry’ curry is a quick and easy take on it with ground meat, finer diced veggies and less gravy/sauce. There are plenty of different versions and recipes for Japanese curries using different meats, veggies, curry seasonings and cooking methods and this is a simple outline/template for a Japanese dry curry.
The base of any curry is the gravy/sauce and there are a number of ways of making it. The easiest way is to use a Japanese curry block; they are very popular in Japan and there are a ton of different flavours! (Look for them in an Asian grocery store, the Asian section of your grocery store or online, amazon has them.) The next way is to use a curry powder and to make a roux with butter and flour along with a variety of seasonings to build up that complex curry flavour base. This recipe uses a quicker and simpler method with curry powder and seasonings without the roux.
One aspect of Japanese style curries that I particularly enjoy is an underlying sweetness that balances the heat and spices in the curry. This sweetness often comes from the use of fruit and so I like to add diced or pureed pears or apples to my Japanese curries. In this recipe I have added diced pears along with onions, carrots, potatoes and peas to finish the curry off! Japanese dry curry is commonly served over rice with a garnishing of red pickled radish.
Plenty of veggies!
Or no veggies!
Japanese Dry Curry
A quick and easy Japanese style ‘dry’ curry with ground beef and finely diced veggies that has less sauce than regular Japanese style curry.
ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup potato, diced
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 1 cup pear, diced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 2 tablespoons tonkatsu sauce (or worcestershire sauce)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup (or 1 tablespoon tomato paste)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup beef broth (or water)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup peas
directions
- Cook the beef, onion, potato, carrot, and pear in a large pan, breaking the beef apart as it cooks, before draining off any excess grease.
- Add the garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the tonkatsu sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, and the cornstarch mixed into the broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until most of the liquid has cooked off, about 5 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix in the peas and enjoy!
Option: Add 1/4 cup raisins.
Option: Use 1 box Japanese curry roux instead of the curry powder, tonkatsu sauce, soy sauce, ketchup and corn starch.
Japanese Curry
Kare Pan (Curry Bread)
Kare Udon (Curry Udon Soup)
Katsu Karē (Pork Cutlet with Curry Sauce)
Nikujaga (Japanese Beef Stew)
Beef Massaman Curry
Tonkatsu (Japanese Pork Cutlets)
Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes
Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
Texmex Sloppy Joes
Sloppy Joes
Beef Rendang
Taco Seasoned Ground Beef
20 Minute Korean Beef
20 Minute Thai Basil Beef
Cuban Picadillo
Mexican Beef and Bean Skillet Rice
Jamaican Jerk Beef and Bean Chili
Oh my goodness, that looks fantastic! Thank you!
This looks delicious, do you pre cook the potatoes? Or do you put them in raw with everything else ?
Thanks 😷
Put them in raw. They pretty finely diced and will cook through. Enjoy!
Makes me think of a shepherds pie – Japanese style!
Curry roux is usually sold with two “portions” per package – If I want to substitute curry roux, when you say “one box” do you mean one whole package, or one “portion?”
Yes! Use the amount the package suggests for one batch of curry! Enjoy!
Hi Kevin! Looking forward to making this but I only have chicken breast instead of ground beef. Are there any adjustments you could recommend to make this work? Thanks!
I would dice the chicken as small as possible and pretty much use the recipe as is. Enjoy!
I made this tonight with veggie mince instead of beef and it was so delicious! A but sweet, a bit spicy and quick to make.
If I was doubling this, would you double everything as is? My main question is about the amount of beef broth – does it go to a full 2 C or do you think it would take less?
I would simply double everything, but you could use less than double the broth.
What this recipe is missing is 1/2 tsp of gochugaru.
Gochugaru goes well in this!
Delicious! The bits of pear really made the recipe special.