Emiko Davies, an Australian-born cook and author, shares her recipe for Japanese curry rice, known as kare raisu. This dish differs from South Asian curries due to its yoshoku (western-influenced) origins, arriving in Japan via the British Royal Navy during the Meiji Restoration, when India was under British colonial rule. It came as British "C&B" curry powder, so it was considered western food, not Indian. Curry became a staple in Japanese naval and army kitchens at the turn of the century, eventually spreading to homes and school lunches, and is now considered a national dish.
Thickening and Spice Mix
Japanese curry needs to be thick enough to be easily eaten with rice using a spoon. This can be achieved with a French-style roux of butter, flour, and liquid, or, as Davies prefers, a Japanese-style thickening using a potato starch slurry at the end of cooking. The spice mix often includes Japanese S&B curry powder, which contains 17 spices such as turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, cumin, cinnamon, fennel, ginger, and star anise.
In Japanese homes, curry is often made with packet mix cubes added to a stew of meat and vegetables. The cubes dissolve, creating a thick, fragrant, mild curry. Many families add "secret" ingredients like honey, nashi or prunes for sweetness, or coffee for color and balance. Davies mentions her mother's friend who added dark chocolate, a technique similar to adding chocolate or cocoa to Tuscan wild boar stew.
Recipe: Japanese Curry Rice
Serves 4. Ingredients: 300g pork loin (or beef or other protein), vegetable oil, 40g butter, 1 onion (sliced), 4cm piece of fresh ginger (peeled and finely grated), 2 tbsp mirin (or white wine), 1 tbsp curry powder, 2 tsp garam masala, ¼ tsp chilli powder (optional), 500ml dashi (or chicken stock or water), 1 tbsp soy sauce, ½ tsp salt, 1 carrot (peeled and chopped), 200g potato (peeled and chopped), 80g mushrooms (roughly chopped), 2 tsp potato starch or cornflour, 1 tbsp water (or as needed), 1 cube dark chocolate (about 10g, minimum 70% cocoa solids), rice and pickles to serve (such as beni shoga and rakkyo).
Chop the meat into 3cm cubes. Heat a little vegetable oil in a heavy-based saucepan over high heat and sear the meat on all sides for about four to five minutes. Remove and set aside. Reduce heat to medium, add butter, then onion and ginger, stirring quickly to avoid burning, cooking for about two to three minutes. Deglaze with mirin, scraping the browned bits. Add curry powder, garam masala, and chilli powder (if using), toss to coat, then add dashi, soy sauce, salt, vegetables, and meat. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine potato starch and water to make a slurry. Add the chocolate to the curry, stir, then immediately add the slurry. Let it bubble for one to two minutes until thickened. Serve immediately over warm rice with pickles.
Dashi Stock
For a vegetarian version, omit katsuobushi and double the kombu. The dashi can be stored in a jar in the fridge for up to a week. Makes 1 litre (4 cups). Ingredients: 1 piece of kombu (dried kelp), about 10-15cm long or 10g, and 10g katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes). Wipe the kombu, place in a saucepan with one litre of cold water, and steep for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Warm over low heat until the kombu softens and the water is about to boil, about 10 minutes. Remove the kombu. Add katsuobushi to the kombu-infused water, turn off the heat just before boiling, skim off any scum, and let steep for five to 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve.
This is an edited extract of Gohan by Emiko Davies, photography by Emiko Davies, Hana Davies, and Yuki Sugiura, available now through Smith Street Books (AU $49.99).
