Japanese Curry Recipe

Japanese chicken curry with sauce and carrots served next to rice and chopsticks.

5 from 2 votes

Japanese Curry is savory, warm, and easy to put together for a weeknight meal. If you are craving an easy curry dish, Japanese curry is the perfect recipe to try!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 35

Servings

Calories 350kcal

Author Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

Pot(s)

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
½ inch ginger minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small yellow onion chopped
1 celery stalk diced, optional
1 ½ lb chicken breast or thigh; about 2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 ½ cups water
2 large carrots peeled and cut into rounds
2 golden potatoes peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 tsp soy sauce optional
6 golden curry pieces
Japanese short rice for serving

Instructions

In a large pot, heat the 2 tbsp vegetable oil until warm. Then add the ½ inch minced ginger and 2 minced garlic cloves and stir for 1 minute. Add the small yellow chopped onion and diced celery and stir for about 3 minutes until the onions start to turn translucent.
Add 1 ½ lb chopped bite-sized pieces of chicken and stir for 2-3 minutes, until the outside of the chicken is cooked but the centers are still raw.
Add the 3 ½ cups water, 2 carrots cut into rounds, 2 choppted potato, and 1 tsp soy sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. While the water is coming to a boil, use a spoon to scoop off any film forming on the top of the water. Once simmering, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.
Add in the 6 pieces of curry, one block at a time. Stir to dissolve the one block, and then add the next. Mix well.
Simmer for another 5 minutes with the lid off, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, until the curry thickens.
Serve with short grain white rice and enjoy!

Notes

Recipe reviewed by Japanese reader, Kengai Wilberding. Copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

Ginger & Garlic: Minced
Celery Stalk: My recipe includes celery because I found a recipe online from KurumiCooks that had celery. However, many other recipes online do not. Feel free to omit this celery if desired.
Chicken: You can use either chicken breast or chicken thighs. Chicken breasts will be slightly healthier and chicken thighs tend to stay juicer longer.
Carrot Chunks
Golden Potatoes: Golden potatoes provide the best texture for this recipe but you could use any kind of potato that you have on hand.
Soy Sauce: Optional. See celery note above.
Golden Curry: I’ve seen golden curry sold at my local grocery store and at Walmart. It comes in a box and the curry is divided into sections like a chocolate bar. It's a golden brown color and smells delicious! You can also find it at Asian grocery stores.
Steamed Rice: Short grain white rice for serving
Celery and soy sauce are optional. They are used occasionally by home cooks but not frequently. I added them because I saw them used in a few versions. You could also add green beans or green peas.
Some versions of this recipe add a grated apple for sweetness and dark cocoa powder for depth and richness. Feel free to try these additions.
This recipe calls for water but you could also use chicken stock.
This version is made with chicken but you could also make this curry with beef or a pork cutlet. It is also popular to make chicken katsu for katsu curry.

Nutrition