Vegetarian Japanese-style curry rice recipe
California-born Nancy Singleton Hachisu arrived in Japan in 1988 and, while there, fell in love with both her Japanese husband and the nation’s food. Since then, she has embarked on a life-long journey to understand the complex cuisine, becoming something of an expert along the way.
With her latest book, Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook, Nancy delves into the vegetarian side of traditional Japanese cooking, bringing us a host of interesting, achievable recipes at the same time. This recipe for Japanese-style curry rice is Nancy’s vegetarian take on a beloved classic.
“Curry rice, along with ramen, might well be Japan’s national dish,” Nancy explains. “The British style of making curry from a flour-based sauce flavoured with a curry spice mix was introduced to Japan in the Meiji period by British sailors.
“Typically, Japanese use pork in their curry rice, but with a combination of flavourful vegetables and mushrooms, there is no need for meat. Also, the combination of tomatoes, miso, and sesame paste eliminates the need for making a curry roux with flour, so the resulting texture is silky and luscious.”
Things to note:
This recipe calls for konbu (sometimes called kombu) dashi, a vegetarian stock made with dried kelp. You can find konbu in most Asian supermarkets.
To make the stock at home, soak 10g konbu (1/2 cup) in 1 litre (32 fl oz) of cold water for 3 hours, then bring it to a simmer. Allow to cool to room temperature before straining out the konbu and using the resulting stock.
Atsuage is a deep-fried tofu slab, a common staple in Japanese cuisine that can be found in most Asian supermarkets. If you can’t source atsuage, Nancy recommends using medium-firm tofu instead and adding to the pan for the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Fresh corn kernels, briefly sautéed for 30 seconds, also make a beautiful and tasty garnish in place of the okra.
For US ingredients and measurements, use the drop-down menu and select ‘Cups’.
Ingredients
- 4 medium potatoes
- 2 medium carrots
- 3 tbsp rapeseed oil or unroasted sesame oil
- 600 ml konbu dashi
- 600 g canned tomatoes and their juices, diced
- 4 tbsp mild curry powder
- 4 tbsp Japanese white sesame paste
- 2 tbsp Hatcho or soybean miso
- 50 g shimeji mushrooms, removed from the base of the cluster and separated
- 50 g maitake mushrooms, torn into large bite-size pieces
- 200 g thick deep-fried tofu (atsuage), cut into 6 pieces
- 200 ml neutral oil, such as rapeseed, peanut, or safflower oil, for deep-frying
- 4 medium Japanese aubergines
- 8 medium okra, for serving
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
- 1 tsp shoyu
- 4 servings of freshly cooked Japanese rice
- 4 medium potatoes
- 2 medium carrots
- 3 tbsp rapeseed oil or unroasted sesame oil
- 21.1 fl oz konbu dashi
- 21.2 oz canned tomatoes and their juices, diced
- 4 tbsp mild curry powder
- 4 tbsp Japanese white sesame paste
- 2 tbsp Hatcho or soybean miso
- 1.8 oz shimeji mushrooms, removed from the base of the cluster and separated
- 1.8 oz maitake mushrooms, torn into large bite-size pieces
- 7.1 oz thick deep-fried tofu (atsuage), cut into 6 pieces
- 7 fl oz neutral oil, such as rapeseed, peanut, or safflower oil, for deep-frying
- 4 medium Japanese aubergines
- 8 medium okra, for serving
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
- 1 tsp shoyu
- 4 servings of freshly cooked Japanese rice
- 4 medium potatoes
- 2 medium carrots
- 3 tbsp canola oil or unroasted sesame oil
- 2.5 cups konbu dashi
- 21.2 oz canned tomatoes and their juices, diced
- 4 tbsp mild curry powder
- 4 tbsp Japanese white sesame paste
- 2 tbsp Hatcho or soybean miso
- 1.8 oz shimeji mushrooms, removed from the base of the cluster and separated
- 1.8 oz maitake mushrooms, torn into large bite-size pieces
- 7.1 oz thick deep-fried tofu (atsuage), cut into 6 pieces
- 0.8 cup neutral oil, such as canola, peanut, or safflower oil, for deep-frying
- 4 medium Japanese eggplants
- 8 medium okra, for serving
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
- 1 tsp shoyu
- 4 servings of freshly cooked Japanese rice
Details
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Recipe Type: Vegetarian
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 60 mins
- Cooking Time: 35 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- In a medium pan, heat 2 tbsp of the oil over a medium heat until it starts to ripple. Add the potatoes and carrots and stir to coat the pieces with oil. Add the dashi and bring to a boil over a high heat. Reduce to a brisk simmer and cook until the potato and carrot pieces are soft, about 10 minutes.
- In a medium frying pan, warm the remaining oil over a medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes and curry powder and bring to a lively simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, to take the raw edge off the curry powder and concentrate the tomatoes.
- In a small bowl, mix the sesame paste and miso together. Ladle in a small scoop of the cooking liquid from the potatoes and carrots and stir to emulsify. Scrape back into the pot with the vegetables and stir in the shimeji, maitake, tomato mixture and tofu. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat and simmer for about 15 minutes more.
- In a medium high-sided saucepan, heat the oil over a medium-high heat until it starts to ripple.
- Cut the aubergines (eggplants) into bite-size chunks and slip the pieces into the hot oil. Fry, turning with cooking chopsticks, until evenly burnished (about 3 minutes).
- Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil over a high heat. Pare the brown portions of the okra tops off and lay the okra horizontally to you on a cutting board. Sprinkle with 1⁄4 tsp salt, then roll the okra in the salt with the flat of your palm to break down the fibrous skin a bit. Drop into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and set aside.
- Brush the salt on the cutting board into the curry along with the remaining 3/4 tsp salt. Stir in the shoyu.
- Pile hot rice onto the side of four plates, then add the curry beside the rice. Garnish with the okra and aubergine (eggplant) and serve hot for a casual meal.
Recipe adapted from Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook by Nancy Singleton Hachisu (£39.95, Phaidon Press). Photography by Aya Brackett.
Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook by Nancy Singleton Hachisu
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