If you’ve ever had Japanese curry rice from a take-away sushi store or at a Japanese restaurant, you’ll know how incredibly delicious it is. Japanese curry is quite different from other curries from other places (like India). It is generally thicker and sweeter, so you must try it to taste the difference!
Curry Roux
Japanese curry rice is very easy to make and a very popular dish in Japan. Unlike other curries, Japanese people don’t mix up all sorts of different spices, but use store bought curry roux. Because they are so popular, there are many different varieties of curry roux available in Japan.
Japanese Curry Roux Brands
In Australia, S&B brand ‘Golden Curry’ sauce mix is readily available in the international isle of major supermarkets for around A$4. But my favourite is House brand ‘Java Curry Medium Hot’. This one is usually sold at Japanese grocery stores and Asian supermarkets.
The other popular curry roux is House’s Vermont Curry which is a commonly purchased curry roux in Japan. This is the one my mum usually uses and is my children’s favourite because the mild flavour has a delicious sweetness.
Homemade Curry Roux
If your local Japanese/Asian grocery store or online Asian store does not stock the ready-made curry roux packs then don’t despair. You can also make curry roux from scratch. Read my Homemade Japanese Curry Roux post to learn how to make it at home.
Levels of Japanese Curry Spiciness
There are basically three levels of spiciness no matter which brand you buy: mild, medium hot, and hot. It seems that there is a common colour scheme used among all the brands to differentiate these spice levels. Red packets are usually mild, green packets are medium hot, and blue packets are usually hot.
If you look at the back of the packets, a table shows how spicy the roux is in colour and number. I prefer medium-hot because it has a bit of a spicy kick but not too much. However, my children only like mild (I think it is a better option for younger people because it has a sweeter flavour).
Japanese Curry Ingredients
Commonly used ingredients for Japanese rice curry are a combination of protein and vegetables. Proteins such as chicken, beef, pork, and seafood such as shrimps are used generally. Common vegetables used are root vegetables such as potato and carrot.
Variations of Japanese Curry Rice
When different ingredients are used, the curry is named after that special ingredient. For example, mushroom curry or summer vegetable curry is clearly named after these ingredients. As you may already know if you add anything like Pork panko-crumbed cutlets, it is called “Katsu curry” and with Chicken panko-crumbed cutlets it is called “Chicken katsu curry“. The curry variations are endless.
How to Cut Ingredients
Cutting each ingredient is somewhat important. I like cutting the ingredients in big chunks, especially the potatoes. You can taste the curry flavour much more when the potatoes are chunkier because it gets coated with the curry and absorbs the flavour. It’s also better to use waxy or all-rounder type potatoes so that they keep their shape when cooked. If you would like to know more about potato types, read my Korokke- Japanese Potato Croquettes post.
Kakushi Aji (Secret Ingredients)
The ultimate Japanese curry rice secret ingredients “kakushi Aji”, which literally translates to “hidden taste”, are Apple and Honey. These are well-known Japanese curry rice ingredients among Japanese people so it’s not much of a secret anymore. Adding grated apple and honey gives the Japanese curry rice the signature sweeter flavour and is a staple for any Japanese mother’s home-cooked curry.
Worcestershire Sauce
Usually, I prefer Worcestershire sauce over soy sauce. I use soy sauce on everything but Japanese curry rice and Yakisoba. Those are the only two dishes I use Worcestershire sauce. Somehow Worcestershire sauce enriches the Japanese curry rice flavour along with the hidden taste of apple and honey. Once you try it, you can never have Japanese curry rice without Worcestershire sauce.
Accompanying Condiments
One last Japanese curry rice secret is the accompanying condiments; “Fukushinduke” and “Rakkyo“. Fukushinduke is pickled daikon, eggplants, cucumbers and other ingredients in sweet plum vinegar and soy sauce. (Photo, below right). Rakkyo is also pickled scallions in sweet vinegar. (Photo, below left).
Not Only Japanese Children’s favourite
Japanese curry rice is in the top 3 favourite dishes of Japanese children.
But I know it’s not only Japanese children who love it. All of my children’s friends loved eating it whenever they came over to our house, especially one of my son’s friends. Every time he came over he would request to have it for lunch, so I would always make a large batch and he would take home the leftovers.
How to Make Japanese Curry
Here is belief process of making Japanese curry rice.
- Start to cook rice
- Cut the protein source of your choice, and vegetables into bite-sized chunks.
- Heat olive oil in a pot and add garlic and onion to add fragrance.
- Add vegetable chunks and chicken to fry.
- Pour water into the pot and stir in the grated apple and honey.
- Skim the scum off occasionally.
- When the vegetable and chicken is cooked, add the curry roux and turn the heat off.
- Make the curry roux pieces dissolve in a ladle with pair of chopsticks, one by one.
- Serve with cooked rice.
How to Store
So if you make bulk curry as I used to for my son’s friend, you can freeze it. Here is a very important tip to freeze Japanese curry. You need to separate the chunky potato pieces. They don’t freeze well. So you either eat all potatoes or take the potatoes out of the curry. Then mash the potato and freeze separately. You can reheat them in a microwave or in a saucepan.
Versatile Adaptations of the Curry
The Japanese curry’s flavour is also quite versatile and does not always have to be served with rice. In Japan, some common adaptations of the curry are: “Karee Udon“, udon noodles in a curry flavoured broth; “Karee chahan“, curry flavoured fried rice; and “Karee pan“, which is a thicker curry sauce inside a deep-fried bun. This one is a little evil for the body but it is one of my daughter’s favourite Japanese foods.
Stay Connected
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Recipe Measurement Notes
- To alter the serving size click on the serving number and move the slider left or right to adjust the quantity.
- As you move the slider the quantities of the ingredients will adjust accordingly in both imperial and metric measurements.
Japanese Curry Rice
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups Uncooked rice – Follow the instructions on your rice cooker. *1
- 1/2 a large packet of Curry Roux *2
- 9 oz your preferred protein *3
- 1 brown onion
- 1 large potato *4
- 1 carrot *5
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup grated apple
- 1 tbsp honey
- Pinch of salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups water approximately 500 ml
- Fukushinduke and/or Rakkyo to accompany condiments *6 optional
- Worcestershire sauce optional
Instructions
- Start to cook rice. *7
- Cut the meat into bite size pieces and set aside
- Peel and cut the potatoes, carrot, and onion into large bite size pieces and set aside.
- Peel and slice the garlic.
- Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat and add garlic
- When the garlic is fragrant, add the onion to cook.
- Add the chicken to cook and when they change into whitish colour, add potato, carrot, and onion and stir with a wooden spatula.
- When the oil has coated evenly on all the ingredients and the outer-edge of the potatoes have become transparent, add the water, honey, and grated apple.
- Bring it to boil and then turn the heat down to low to simmer until the potatoes become soft. and all the other ingredients are cooked. (Takes about 15 minutes)
- Turn the heat off, break the curry sauce blocks apart and add to the pot.
- Make each piece of curry roux dissolve into the cooking water in ladle with a pair of chopsticks *8
- Turn the heat back on low and bring to simmer to thicken the sauce.
- Serve cooked plain rice in a shallow bowl and pour the curry over the rice.
- Garnish with Fukushinduke and Rakkyo if you like. *Optional
The Book of Food says
Amazing. I’ll be doing this regularly for sure.
Jenny says
This looks delicious! How much worchestshire sauce do you use?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Jenney I have never measured how much I use, but I would say 1/2 tbsp?
Jenny says
Thanks! Iβm going to try the recipe tonight.
Minnie says
Thank you Shihoko-San for sharing your recipe!
I’m hoping to follow your recipe and extrapolate it to feed 30 people π
My maths tells me that the recipe allows only about 42g of meat per person. As there are many meat lovers in my group that I’d like to cook for, do you have any suggestions for me how I can increase the meat portion? Should I reduce the potato / carrots by the same proportion?
Thank you!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Minnie san, you can increase meat portion without reducing vegetable portion if you increase curry roux and water to add. Add water just enough to cover the ingredients and when the ingredients cooked, add curry roux piece one by one until you get the Japanese curry consistency π
Janina says
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Using apples and honey really did the trick! I usually use Golden Curry (because it is easiest to get here in Germany- believe it or not: you will only get Golden Curry at Asia supermarkets here, and the otehr brands are only available online.)
Since I’ve only been using golden curry and have been adjusting the flavour, I was wondering how adding Java and Vermont curry would add to the taste. I fear that vermont is already so sweet that adding apple and honey would be a bit overpowering. What do you think?
Also, have you tried using tonkatsu sauce instead of worcerstershire sauce? There is one available at a local Asia market (brand otafuku), do you have any experience with that brand? Otherwise I might just order one online, but it is very expensive π
Sorry for all of these random questions! I would try all of these options out, but Japanese curry (except for golden curry) is very expensive here, so I decided asking you for your opinion first before diving right in haha π
My Mum wanted me to cook Japanese curry for the whole family on her birthday, so now I’m just looking for new ways to enhance the flavour (usually I don’t add worcestersauce or tonkatsu, but I really want to give it a try!)
Thanks again for this recipe π
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Janina, Thank you for 5 star rating and lovely comment. So the first question, mixing different roux? is great idea. If you can get two or three different brands roux and mix them, delicious. Depends on spicy level, if you use mild adding honey might be too sweet, but if you use hot blue one, I don’t think it will be too sweet.
I have not tried Tonkatsu sauce but Otafuku brand is good one. I usually use Otafuku brand Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki sauce. I have not used Tonkatsu sauce, but it is good brand so I guess Tonkatsu is good one though for curry, might be a little too thick?
Hope above does help π Good luck!
Janina says
Thank you for your quick and very helpful answer!
I tried adding tonkatsu sauce today, and I really liked it! There is still a little something missing though, so I’m trying Worcestershire sauce next π Since golden Curry is not that thick, adding tonkatsu was not making it too thick, I only added two spoons.
However, my “secret” ingredient is 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable boullion. I like cooking curry vegetarian (meat is expensive and the animal and the environment are going to thank me :)), so because I thought that I had to compensate for not having the chicken flavour in the water, I added it, and it was delicious. The trick is to mix the boullion well with the water you are going to add, so that the flavour of the broth gets absorbed into the potatoes as well. I didn’t even have to add salt or soy sauce at the end. Adding that salty flavour at the beginning makes everything way tastier! (I guess it’s the same when you’re cooking noddles or potatoes, you put the salt into the boiling water before adding the rest.)
I wish I could add a picture, it looked truly deliecious! Thanks for your help again, I shall eep cooking until my curry is perfect! *stares into the distance, fist raised with a determined look* ;D
Alyssa says
Shihoko, these recipes look great! Itβs awesome to see so many delicious recipes in one place.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Aalyssa π
Charlotte says
Oh, I love your website!
I made curry before and it was delicious but tonight, I am going to try it out with the “Japanese secret ingredients”, I already know it will be 10 x more delicious thanks to your easy to use recipes!
A picture and tag will follow…
Love,
Charlotte
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you so much for kind words Charlotte π
Simone says
Hello Shihoko,
I find your recipes quite interesting as I try to learn how to cook curries other than the indian ones.
However, I do not live in Australia and could not find curry roux in the asian markets here either.
I wonder if you can suggest a substitute for it that come close to taste? Thank you in advance and keep up the good work!:)
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Simone π Thank you for your comment. My substitute suggestion is homemade curry roux. I thought Japanese curry roux is readily available world wide π¬ I will post a homemade curry roux recipe on the blog very soon. Thank for your question π
Shannon Terry says
KFL in Flemington had the Java brand. I literally just walked in the door with it to try this now. And there are KFLs all over Melbourne
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Shannon, thank you for sharing the information. What does KFL stands for by the way?
Belle says
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this! I’m in Melbourne and I’m looking forward to trying it out. I really appreciate the tips about finding the roux here in Australia.
Just wondering how you’d adjust this for a vegetarian? Would you add more veggies or adjust the other ingredients when not using meat? Thanks!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Belle π you are welcome. Yes add more veggies instead of meat such as peas, broccoli, eggplant and mushrooms are good to add.
Ines Pattiran says
Hi Shihoko! Thank you for the great recipe. Japanese curry is very popular in where I come from. Im from Indonesia and I can still do quite well for my first attempt. I used golden curry the spicy one. Apparently, itβs not even spicy for Indonesian taste :p so I added some chopped chilli and it went really well.
Thank you again
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome Ines π Good thing about Japanese curry is that you can adjust the taste your like. I am glad your spicer curry went well π
Corey Dwyer says
Hello, would like to thank you for posting this recipe I look forward to try and make it.
Wanted to ask is the honey really needed?
I live with my gran an she is Fructose intolerant and can’t eat honey or sweet things like it.
Still look forward to trying it ever since the anime I watched showed it in it >.<.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Corey, no you don’t have to add honey π
Mathias Bjorkman says
I made this tonight and it was really good but I find it was really thick, not sure if this is how it’s supposed to be. Plus I used lean ground beef to try it out. I assume that if I want the sauce thinner I need to add more water in the beginning. Also it took almost 30 minutes for the potatoes to coo so maybe too much water cooked out. Either way it was good.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Mathias, I am glad to know it went well. Yes it is quite thick but you can adjust to your like π
Mathias Bjorkman says
What exactly is a brown onion? Is that the same as a yellow onion? Or I the taste about the same?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Mathias it is just an onion. Is it called yellow(?) onion? In Australia where I live, it is called brown onion though it look more like orange colour π
Mathias Bjorkman says
The shell of the yellow onion is brownish so it’s probobly the same
Mary says
We were stationed at Misawa AFB in Japan back in the 1970s. The cafeteria was shared with Japanese troops, and we loved to go to the Japanese side and have the curry. Super cheap for a nice sized portion, and delicious. I have tried with some success over the years to duplicate the recipe, but didn’t know about the boxed curry roux. Probably wasn’t available when we returned home in 1978! Not great deal of interest here until the “Shogun” miniseries. Seems to me that there was peanut butter in the BX cafeteria curry. I am going to try this right away. I have added apple to mine, but not the honey, so will try that also. thanks!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Mary, Thank you for sharing your story about Japanese curry. Adding peanut butter is an interesting idea. Please let me know how it turns out π
Avi T. says
I have been eating Japanese curry since the mid-70’s and my wife is Japanese. We love Japanese curry and have tried many different types of Japanese brand roux for a long, long time to include House Vermont Curry (*0^). We have experimented with different sauces, caramelizing, roasting, grilling, veggie combos, chilis and a myriad of spice options, but I never thought about just adding apples & honey since it was already included in the roux. Wow! What a difference! In addition, the Worcestershire sauce seemed to enhance the spicy sweetness of the curry. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you very, very much!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi AviT. You are welcome. I am glad that you found something new and different π
Aimee Shugarman says
One of my favorite dinners. And that bowl is gorgeous.
Helen says
You MADE the bowl?
Oh my goodness, it’s beautiful!
What a lovely post! There are so many little nuggets of information about Japanese curry here. I have tried it (in the Japanese lunch places you often see around Australia) but I bet it isn’t as delicious as yours! I also had no idea you could buy this ‘curry roux’ in the supermarket. I’ll look for it next time I’m in the International aisle!
pablo says
amazing i love this curry is super yum!!
Chopstick Chronicles says
thank you, Pablo! I love curry, it’s so delicious
Jajja F says
I love Japanese curry, but now I am hearing about a different version… mochi and cheese?? I want to make it, but I am hard pressed to find a recipe. What type would you guess would be used? I thought mozzarella but I haven’t tried it yet.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Jajja, to be honest I have never heard of mochi and cheese curry. Mochi in curry could be as mochi is made out of sticky rice and will go well with Japanese curry but not sure about cheese. I think mozzarella will be good guess. Try and let me know π
Lony says
In case anyone sees this in the future! Mochi & Cheese and Kim Chi & Cheese are really popular additions in Japan among younger people in Curry, Okonomiyaki, and other dishes that have room for a mochi-like filler. The cheese they use is Japanese ‘pizza cheese’ (the only kind readily available in most Japanese super markets) which is like a cheap, shredded mozarella.
Sue Young says
Thank you for the recipe! I made this tonight and it was very good! I was amazed how sweet the curry tasted. No wonder it is a favorite! Looking forward to your next suggestion here in Ohio, U.S.
Shiho@ChopstickChronicles says
You welcome Sue! I am glad that you liked it. Many more delicious Japanese food will be posted, so stay tuned!
Yumiko says
What a coincidence! I am planning to post a blog about curry, hopefully today, and talk about House Vermont Curry as it was the very brand I used in the past. My recipe is not Japanese curry, though. I like any types of curry. Once in a while, I go to a Japanese restaurant and eat Katsu Curry. I know it’s really high calorie but I love it.
Shiho@ChopstickChronicles says
Konnichiwa Yumiko san. Every one is talking about Curry:D Japanese curry seems to be so popular here in Australia.