I've been crazy excited about this recipe for Japanese style curry for a while, and I'm happy to report that it's awesome and pretty hard to fuck up. The recipe originally appeared in this year's issue of the Saveur 100. I cooked it again from memory today (with a few alterations to suit my taste) and it's spectacular.
My friend Miho says Japanese curry came about after a Japanese woman married to an Indian man tried to recreate the food her husband missed eating. I'm a huge fan of Golden Curry, the kind of Japanese curry you make from a greasy brick, but this recipe is tastier and a lot less guilt-inducing because it doesn't have all of the shelf-stable animal fats, hydrogenated oils and MSG of the packaged kind. You must try it.
There are so many possible variations -- totally vegetarian with vegetable broth, maybe leeks and mushrooms, plain curry with tonkatsu (panko-breaded fried pork cutlets), curry with udon noodles and a simple soy broth, etc. You could probably mix up your own curry powder, or use whatever curry powder you have on hand, but the S&B gives it the right mild heat. If you have Asian-style chicken stock on hand (made with ginger, garlic, cilantro, celery aromatics), this is the perfect recipe to use it in.
My changes: I added way more garlic and ginger, and my proportions suited the amount of ingredients I had on hand. I added wine to pick up the fond -- Japanese beer might be better, or maybe cooking sake, or you could forgo it and just use stock. The original recipe calls for a bay leaf, I think -- I forgot to use it when I made it tonight and I didn't miss it. If you don't have an apple, try adding half a mashed banana instead. I also substitute double strength tomato paste for the crushed tomatoes -- who wants to open a whole can for such a small amount of umami booster? Serve with fresh Japanese rice and the red pickled ginger, maybe with a side of sesame spinach. Great for leftovers or next day lunch. Make sure you invite people over -- this is definitely the kind of dish where, if left to your own devices, you'll wind up eating the whole pot and then hating yourself for it. It is for me, anyway.
Wafuu (Japanese-style) Curry
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs or legs
salt
pepper
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 onion, half chopped fine, half cut into 1-inch pieces
6 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 1/2 tbsp.)
1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, minced (about 1 tbsp.)
2 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. S&B Oriental Curry Powder*
1 tbsp. double strength tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups chicken stock
3 carrots, cut into coins
2 russet potatoes, cut into small chunks
1 small sweetish apple (Fuji, Pink Lady, Gala, Golden Delicious etc.)
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. soy sauce
1. Put the chicken stock on low heat in a covered medium sized pot. On a separate burner, heat up your large Dutch oven over high heat. Add vegetable oil. Add chicken to the oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken til there are lots of crispy brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Remove the chicken.
2. In the same pot, melt the butter. Add the finely chopped half-onion, garlic, and ginger. Saute til the onion is translucent, about 2 mins. Sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture and stir constantly, cooking the roux mash for a few minutes until everything gets a little golden brown. Add the curry powder and tomato paste, stirring well and cooking down for another thirty seconds or so.
3. At this point, you'll have lots of delicious fond on the bottom of your pot. Throw in the wine and stir really well, scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. The mixture will bubble and thicken.
4. Put the chicken back in the pot and stir in all of your hot stock, the remaining onion pieces, carrots, and potatoes. Reduce to low heat. Put the lid on it and simmer for about an hour, until the potatoes and carrots are super tender.
5. Once everything's fork tender, coarsely grate your small apple. Stir the apple, honey and soy sauce into the curry. Cook for five more minutes. Serve now or serve later, it's delicious either way.
*S&B Curry Powder is not that hard to find. You can definitely find it at Sunrise, JAS Mart or any of the other Japanese grocery stores. If you're not near any of those places, check the Korean owned delis -- I got mine at a Korean green grocer on Bleecker St. I think you can find it in Chinatown too.
Name: Eugene Edele 
Tongs 
