Japanese curry recipe

こんにちは (Hello)!

This past weekend I had time to cook my favorite Japanese curry. Japanese people love to incorporate foreign food cultures and make it their own. It may not seem very original, but Japanese people are able to create a very original spin on a culturally traditional dish like curry.

Japanese curry can be sweet or spicy, depending on your taste. I go for the latter. My take on Japanese curry is pretty straightforward. First, I saute chicken pieces after dashing salt and pepper. They are cooked until lightly browned. I would not overcook them since they have to boil in curry soup later. I chop onions, carrots, and potatoes and add them with the chicken for a bit of sauteing. After boiling about 6 cups of water, I add the sauteed chicken and vegetables. Once the vegetables are soft, I would add the curry paste. You can purchase them at any Japanese or Asian grocery. All this takes about 20 minutes.

The surprise with my take on Japanese curry is to add curry sauce over a baked potato. The baked potato is very simple. Poke about 10-12 holes with a fork into the potato so moisture can escape. Drizzle oil and dash of salt. Wrap it in foil and bake in an oven for about 1 hour for 350 degrees. Or you can cook about 2.5 cups of rice. Voila! The results below...

Japan in my belly..

I went to San Francisco's Japantown for a grocery run. I am lucky that I live near diverse markets, whether it is Chinese, Latin or Japanese. I can go to an authentic grocery for snacks, dinners, and seasonings. My favorite Japanese foods to cook are Yakisoba, which are pan fried noodles with ham, onions and veggies, and Japanese style curry, which is sweeter than Indian curry. Growing up, my mom would spend an hour or so cooking curry and it is one of my favorites foods to this day.

Yakisoba is the easiest to cook since you sautee onions and ham for a few minutes then add noodles and the pepper/soy sauce seasoning. Voila! It's an instant lunch and dinner meal in about 10 minutes. In another post, I will list the ingredients for a curry meal and how to prep. All of my purchases were made at Nijiya, a Japanese grocery off Post St. in the City. I alternate between this store, Ichiban Kan, and Daiso for the best prices on seasoning and snacks. Nijiya is your best go to for fresh fish, bento boxes (Japanese meal sets, which include an entree and sides), and snacks.

Japan has some of the most unique fast food to eat. Places such as MOS Burger and Yoshinoya are the best! They are cheap, quick and flavorful. I especially love Moss Burger because they make burgers with rice buns instead of typical hamburger ones. They also serve unique soda flavors such as melon. Yoshinoya specializes in Gyudon, which is thin slices of beef marinated in a sweet ginger, soy sauce blend then sauteed with onions and served over soft, warm white rice. These beef bowls are about $5US and so freakin good!