Japanese Beef Curry

Food.

Japanese Beef Curry

I know what you are thinking, "curry" is Indian food, not Japanese.  The British introduced curry to Japan when India was under its administration in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.  Since its introduction to Japan, it has changed a lot and has become one of its most popular national dishes.

When we were in Japan, we smelled this delicious curry quite often, especially when in the major rail stations food areas.  We chose not to eat it because we wanted to stick with authentic Japanese foods.  Well, we should have done our research because we ended up missing out.  Only until we got to the airport outside of Tokyo did we have some of this savory stew.  I have been craving it since the first tasting at the end of July.

S&B Golden Japanese Curry Sauce Mix, seconds before the pot boiled over

I took the easy way to make this curry by purchasing a sauce mix.  Sure, making it yourself probably would turn out well, but I wanted to remember exactly how this tasted so I went right to a brand that was made in Japan.  S&B Golden Curry can be purchased at almost any Asian food mart or store.  We use to have a few located close to our house in northern VA, but in NC it isn't as easy to locate this product.  I went right to Amazon and purchased it as an add-on item for under $6. That means it is cheaper if you purchase something else over $25 on prime, you can add this to the order and receive two-day prime shipping. Shipping on smaller items like this by itself can often be more expensive than the actual item. Now that I made this savory meal, I wish I had purchased a few more boxes.

There is a recipe on the back of the box, but I feel like it was lost in translation.  Adapting the recipe to make it what we were craving was simple. 

Japanese Beef Curry

2-3 lbs of lean beef (or chicken, lamb, pork or shrimp)

2 large onions

3 whole carrots, peeled and chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

4 tbsp cooking oil

3 cups water

1 box S&B golden curry sauce mix

Cut the meat into cubes. Chop the two onions finely.  Stir-fry the meat and onions in the oil in a large skillet until the meat has been browned on the outside and the onions are lightly browned. Add the chopped carrots and the chopped celery; sauté for another few minutes.

Add the water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the meat and veggies are tender. Remove from the heat and add in half of the package of sauce mix. Stir until the mix has completely melted and put back on heat.  Simmer about 5 minutes, while continually stirring. Serve over rice or noodles.

Simmering Japanese Curry Mix

Honestly, the smell that was filling up my house from this curry was one that brought me right back to Japan.  This was a really simple recipe to figure out and adapt.  I honestly think it was harder to make the Japanese rice correctly.  Next time I make this recipe, I want to cut the beef up into smaller pieces.  It was still delicious, but they needed to be a bit more bite sized. 

Serve this easy, quick meal with some Sake or Shochu and you will be tasting a little bit of what  traditional Japanese home-style meal tastes like. 

Enjoy.

<3 mk