Japanese Beef Curry

Japanese curry, or curry rice, is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It’s commonly cooked at fast food joints and also sold at convenient stores and street vendors. This dish is so well known there that it is sometimes considered one of Japan’s national dishes. Curry rice is typically made with lots of vegetables and meat.  Be sure to adjust the salt and pepper each time you sauté the vegetables. It is very important to flavor every layer;  if the seasoning is not spot on by the end, add as much or as little more to achieve the perfect taste. I hope you guys give this dish a try sometime!

Total cooking time: 1 hr.

Serving size: 4 plates of curry

Ingredients:

1 cup beef, cubed

8 brown mushrooms

½ large potato,  diced

½ large onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

½ eggplant, diced

¼ cup all purpose flour

4 cups chicken stock

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp. curry powder

2 tbsp. cumin

Directions:

1. In a large pot, oil the base and  sauté the onions until translucent. Then add the flour in and cook until until you can’t see any more of the whiteness. Salt and pepper to taste.

2.  Add in the chicken stock now and bring to a boil.

3. In a separate pan, sauté the potatoes and carrots until slightly browned and add to the pot. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Next, sauté the mushrooms and eggplant until slightly caramelized. Salt and pepper to taste and add to the pot.

5. Finally, sauté the beef until almost cooked through and add to the pot. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. Add the spices and bay leaves into the curry and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on the stove for 15 more minutes and serve with some hot white rice!

~Anni Zhang