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Delicious Japanese chicken curry recipe for a weeknight dinner! Tender pieces of chicken, carrots, and potatoes cooked in a rich savory curry sauce, this Japanese version of curry is a must-keep for your family meal.
When you are too busy to cook, what is the go-to meal that you plan ahead of time?
For my mom, it was Japanese Curry aka Curry Rice (Kare Raisu/カレーライス) because she could cook it the day before, and it would taste just as good or even better the second day.
The Japanese Chicken Curry
I know some of you are probably surprised to hear there is a Japanese version of curry, but yes we do! And Japanese chicken curry is quite popular for all generations in Japan and it’s widely available in many restaurants. The Japanese curry is a popular dish outside of Japan as well, especially in Asian countries.
The curry was introduced to Japan in late 1800 by the British and originally it was Western-style stews mixed with curry powder. The Japanese adapted curry to their own version, Curry Rice (Kare Raisu, カレーライス) soon after. By 1950s the curry roux in block form was sold by S&B Foods and everyone could make it easily at home.
Japanese Curry vs. Thai or Indian Curry
The consistency of Japanese curry sauce is much thicker and the taste is on the sweeter side. The sweetness comes from caramelized onions, grated apples, and carrots. It is also less spicy which is suitable for children. We always serve the curry with rice.
What is Japanese Curry Roux?
The reason why we can make the Japanese curry in a short time is that we use the convenient Japanese Curry Sauce Mix (curry roux カレールー). I’m not a big fan of “instant” or boxed food, but I have to say Japanese Curry Roux is an exception!
Each brand of the curry roux usually comes with 3 levels of spiciness – Mild, Medium, or Hot. Since these are packaged for Japanese taste, the hot level is not nearly as spicy as Thai or Indian curry.
Personalize the Store-Bought Curry
My mom always added grated apple and different condiments to the curry while she was making them. She said, “If you put just the boxed curry roux, your curry will always taste the same. It will not be different from your neighbor’s curry.”
So she taught me two tricks. Use 2 different brands of curry roux (sometimes mix the spice level, like mild and medium spicy) and use additional seasonings.
My mom and I would use a few combinations of the following ingredients (* frequently used) to enhance the flavor and give some complexity to the curry.
- Butter
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Grated apple*
- Honey*
- Ketchup*
- Mirin*
- Oyster sauce
- Red wine
- Sake
- Soy sauce*
- Tonkatsu sauce* or Worcestershire Sauce
- Yogurt
Homemade Japanese Curry Roux
If you decide to make the Curry Roux from scratch, it only takes a quick 30 minutes. Click here for the recipe.
Learn how to make Japanese Curry Roux from scratch. Only 5 ingredients! This easy recipe will have you cook up many delicious pots of Japanese curry.
Make Japanese Curry in Pressure Cooker
Do you own an Instant Pot or a pressure cooker? You can also prepare this comfort dish using my Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Japanese Curry recipe.
Itadakimasu!
When I make this Japanese chicken curry, I often cook up a big batch for leftovers and keep them in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for up to a month. I hope you enjoy this delicious Japanese Chicken Curry recipe!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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- 1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (680 g or beef, pork, seafood, tofu, or more vegetables; you can increase up to 2 lbs/907 g)
- kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 carrots
- 2 onions
- 1-2 potatoes (2-3 yukon gold potatoes if you want to preserve the potato shape)
- ½ Tbsp ginger (grated)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 ½ Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- 4 cups chicken stock/broth (960 ml; For low-sodium intake, you can use water only, or use half stock + half water)
- 1 apple (I used Fuji apple; use as much as you like to add sweetness)
- 1 Tbsp honey
- ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- 1 box Japanese curry roux (7 oz or 200 g; use my homemade curry roux recipe)
- 1 ½ Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp ketchup
- soft/hard-boiled egg
- Fukujinzuke (red pickled daikon)
-
Gather all the ingredients.
- Discard the extra fat from the chicken and cut it into bite size pieces. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper.
-
Peel and cut the carrot in rolling wedges (Rangiri) and cut the onions in wedges.
- Cut the potatoes into 1.5 inch pieces and soak in water for 15 minutes to remove excess starch.
- Grate the ginger and crush the garlic.
-
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and sauté the onions until they become translucent.
-
Add the ginger and garlic.
- Add the chicken and cook until the chicken changes color.
- Add the carrot and mix.
- Add the chicken broth (or water).
-
Bring the stock to boil and skim the scrum and fat from the surface of the stock.
-
Peel the apple and grate it (use as much as you like to add sweetness)
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Add the honey and salt and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender, and turn off the heat. Meanwhile you can make homemade curry roux.
- When the potatoes are ready, add the curry. If you use the store-bought curry roux, put 1-2 blocks of roux in a ladle and slowly let it dissolve with spoon or chopsticks. Continue with the rest of blocks. Then go to Step #17.
- If you are using homemade curry roux, add a ladleful or two of cooking liquid from the stock and mix into the curry paste. Add more cooking liquid if necessary and mix well until it’s smooth.
- Add the roux paste back into the stock in the large pot and stir to combine.
- Add soy sauce and ketchup. Simmer uncovered on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the curry becomes thick.
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Serve the curry with Japanese rice on the side and garnish with soft boiled egg and Fukujinzuke. You can store the curry in the refrigerator up to 2-3 days and in the freezer for 1 month. Potatoes will change the texture so you can take them out before freezing.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
More Delicious Japanese Curry Recipes:
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on Mar 19, 2013. The content has been updated in June 2017.
wooow thats so interesting, I use curry roux a lot when making curry but i don’t add so many extra things to it, like honey or ginger. Thank you so much for sharing! I will defenately try it out 😀
Hi Aleks, you can definitely play around – honey, ginger, garlic, all the different kinds of condiments I mentioned in the post, apples, yogurt, etc. Hope you enjoy creating your own version. 🙂
Thank you Nami! My boyfriend who is a fan of Japanese curry loved this when i made it. Your recipes are my go to whenever I need to make a Japanese dish.
Used instant Japanese curry paste. At first, i wondered if it was worth the effort adding all the other flavouring ingredients like ginger, garlic, apple, honey, ketchup … but it turned out perfect! Much better than simply using the curry paste. I didnt add any soya sauce and used less curry paste but it was savoury enough for me. So i recommend you taste and adjust the flavours accordingly.
Hi DT! I’m so happy to hear your BF and you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. It’s good to try different seasonings which help you create different variation so you don’t get bored. Otherwise, the whole Japanese population eats the same curry (out of the box) and it’s boring. 🙂
Looks delicious, I’m definitely gonna try and make it.
Was wondering, since I’m almost always out of carrots, if could use some mushrooms instead, and at what point I should add them? I’m guessing around when you add the carrots, since they can take a while to cook?
Also I have some dried shiitake in my pantry, if I were to use them should I soak them beforehand, or I can go and add them directly in the pan?
Hi Luca! You can add mushrooms toward the end, as it doesn’t require to cook through (carrots need time to cook become tender). Mushrooms are edible even raw, so you don’t have to cook for that long time. If you want to include dried shiitake mushrooms, yes, you need to hydrate it first by soaking. You can use that soaking water (we call Shiitake Dashi) too, if you prefer, but you don’t have to use all the liquid as it has a very strong fragrant. Hope that helps!
My boyfriend tried it and said it is just like he remembers from his visit to Japan! We loved it!
I used the Golden Curry brand and made all the suggested additions in this recipe. The grated apple is a great addition.
Hi Lauren,
Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. We’re so glad to hear you and your boyfriend enjoyed the curry.
Thank you for sharing your cooking experience with us!
Love curry rice!!! I haven’t made it from scratch in years. I usually buy the already made packet that you just boil in water. I know…lazy. lol.. 🙂
Hi Patty! Those are helpful and much healthier than some of the fast food we can get. However, the taste is always the same. By making your own curry, you can adjust to get the best curry you enjoy. 🙂
Hello Nami! Thanks as always for the wonderful recipes! I have made this before but with instant curry mix (S&B Golden Curry), and I’ve had problems with getting the flavor of the curry to penetrate the chicken properly. It might be the quality of the chicken, but I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Would you recommend marinating the chicken? If so, what should I put in the marinade? Thank you!!
Hi Janice! Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad to hear you enjoy my recipes. I don’t think you are doing anything wrong, but you can probably improve by cutting into smaller pieces (you might want to try sogigiri cutting method – more open surface), pricking the chicken with fork (make holes so seasonings go in), seasoning the chicken first (salt is necessary), and cooking a little longer (day 2 might be better). I don’t think marinade is necessary. Hope all or some of these will help!
Did it,..so good, Namilicious,,I think this whole pot will only last 1 day..lol :d
Thank you Eng! I’m so happy to hear you liked it! 🙂
I love this recipe so much! I’m making it for the third time now and my kitchen smells delicious. Thank you so much for your clear instructions and lovely website. I’m a fan!!
Hi Sheila! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Japanese curry is the only curry I enjoy. I normally buy curry roux. I didn’t realise it can be made from scratch. I will have to give it a go. Thanks for another great recipe Nami!
Thank you Marianna! I hope you enjoy making this homemade curry roux recipe! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I really liked your tip about adding a few other condiments to supplement the flavor of store-bought curry roux. I usually just throw in the blocks from a package of Vermont Curry, but I’ll try your suggestion next time I make a batch. =)
I’ve also heard that some people like to add chocolate to their curry. I’ve never tried it myself, but I wonder if you have an opinion on it?
Hi Kimmi! From time to time I do that too, but I get bored with the same flavor so it’s fun adding and see how we get the additional savory flavor by adding extra things. 🙂 Yes! I thought of adding it too, some also put coffee too. It adds “koku” in Japanese (if I translate it’s “savory”…). Just more deep dimension to the flavor. 🙂
I always cooked japanese curry but you have a different version and I would love to try it one of these days. I’m sure that your recipe would be awesome! Thanks!
Thank you Rosemarie! I hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami, what kind of apple do you use for this recipe (or what kind of apple shouldn’t you use for this recipe)? Thanks!
Hi Lillian! I used Fuji apple. I’d recommend a sweet apple because the purpose is to sweeten the roux. 🙂 Thank you for asking! I’m going to update with Fuji apple. 🙂
I’ve used the SB Brand before but found the House brand better tasting and more to our liking. Curry and rice is one of our favorites; I’ve made the curry using udon noodles instead of rice as well and it’s also great! Thank you for the homemade curry roux. I will definitely try it!
Thank you Darlene! Hope you enjoy making homemade curry roux! I always eat curry udon the next day lunch. Ahhh I need to make curry again so I can eat curry udon! 😀
what is the red flaky thing on the side of the dish?
They are pickles called Fukujinzuke. It’s usually served with curry. 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukujinzuke
Turned out fantastic! I used a can of coconut milk with a bit of chicken powder mixed in instead of using just chicken broth. Was really flavorful and creamy 🙂
Hi Steph! I’m so happy you liked it. I love coconut milk too! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Very interesting! I’ve never added apple, honey, or ginger to curry before. I will definitely be giving this a try. Thanks, Nami! =D
Oh I would highly recommend! 🙂 They are very common ingredients in fact (it’s not my original. :))
Yum! I can’t wait to get stuck in!!
Thanks Sandy! Hope you will like it! 🙂
My family and I love Japanese curry. I grew up on S & B Curry…as a very little girl, I didn’t like the strong aroma and refused to eat it; BUT, we went to Japan when I was 7, and my grandmother made curry for us, and I don’t know why but I LOVED it ever since then! Probably grandma’s special touch! I have fond memories whenever we have curry, even now!
Hi Julia! Sorry about my late response. Your message was in a wrong folder by accident… Yes, it must be the grandma’s special touch or can be the environment (being in Japan, etc). So nice to hear you have fond memories, I do relate curry with lots of good memories too. 🙂
Hello Nami:
I tried your recipe this afternoon and must say that I am very happy with the results. My spouse does not care for the store bought roux so this was a challenge to make it from scratch. After the butter melted, I added the flour and worked on it for less than 5 minutes and it already had the yellowish-brownish color. Was that too soon to add the curry, garam masala and the cayenne pepper? Also, I did not have honey and thought of using maple syrup and did not make that choice.
We had a yummy dinner and have leftovers for tomorrow.
Arigato!
Hi Mae! Thank you so much for trying this recipe already! I think your heat was probably strong and it turned the color very quickly. Usually it takes a long time – like 20-30 minutes. Did the roux nicely swell? I’m not actually quite sure the difference it makes by cooking shortly vs taking a long time. Maple syrup could be fine too. You only put a little bit, not to change the flavor but to add more complexity. I’m happy you enjoyed this dish. Usually the leftover tastes better too! Arigato for your feedback! 🙂
I LOVE Japanese curry! I use the Golden curry sauce. I have not heard of adding the apple. I just might take up your suggestion of adding the tonkatsu sauce or ketchup!
Hi Dominique! I hope you will like more complex version of Japanese curry! 🙂 Thanks for your kind comment!
Hi Nami,
Bravo. This is so simple yet very delicious. I’m Malaysian and used to spicy curry. However, I’m very surprise to find myself liking the Japanese curry as much as I do. I certainly will be making this again.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Lily! Haha – I know what you mean. When you like spicy curry, Japanese (sweet) curry sounds very strange. I’m really happy to hear your feedback. It’s easy to make and I’m glad you will be making this again. 🙂
I typically use S&B but with COVID I cannot get to the Japanese market as often as I would like to. I want to make Japanese curry from scratch and found your recipe. I noticed your suggestion on what kind of curry to use; I’m interested in what brand of garam masala you use. I’ve tried one previously and it was terrible — too much coriander in it and it wrecked an entire dish. Please advise. My son has been asking for Japanese curry! Thanks
Hi Lori! I use garam masala from a local Indian grocery store. Hope you can find garam masala that works for you… or you can make your own blend if you’re interested in doing that (but you end up buying lots of spices…). Amazon also carries the curry roux too, if you live in the US. 🙂
Oh boy, it seems so long ago when we made Japanese curry at home. When I visited Mark in Japan, we made them a few times with the same curry roux you had. Japanese curry dinner in the tiny apartment was absolutely fun. Seeing your curry makes me want to cook them again to relive the memories:)
do you know of a brand that does not contain MSG???
Hi jhiselle! All these big brand name boxed roux has MSG. In Japan there are more high end and famous chef’s produced roux etc…. but unfortunately those don’t go outside of Japan. So it’s very hard to find. Hope you will try making your own roux.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to/how-to-make-curry-roux/
Yay!!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! YUM shrimp sounds wonderful. I make seafood curry sometimes too, but I put shrimp, calamari and other stuff. The S&B curry roux is definitely delicious, but it’s always same taste. But hopefully you can arrange the homemade roux to make YOUR favorite curry. 🙂 Thank you for your feedback Monica! You made my day!
Nami,
I was wondering if you ever make manju with your curries. I always have just a bit left when I make curry and I wanted to take a crack at Kare man but have yet to find a good manju recipe for it.
Hi CK! Ohhh Kare man! No, I don’t have a recipe with me, but now I wish that I have! I have been wanting to buy this home bakery (Japanese bread maker) which allow me to make the dough for nikuman easily… One day I have to figure out how to make delicious kare man (or niku man and anman) at home! I put it in my list to make. 🙂 Thanks for your suggestion!
Your curry is the new favourite dish in my family. They’ve asked me to make it twice this week already! It is so hard to make food everybody will eat, so I am really happy. I had seen the curry roux in stores before and tried to make it once, but your recipe makes it taste much much better 🙂
Hi Noora! Thank you so much for your feedback, and I’m really happy you enjoyed this recipe! I can definitely eat curry twice a week. 😀 Make Curry Udon using the leftover curry the next day, that’s another favorite dish of mine. 🙂 Thanks again for writing!
I usually make curry w/ the prepackaged roux for an easy, lazy dinner. But I tried your recipe last night with the prepackaged roux + soy sauce/ketchup and it turned out extremely salty. I love the sweetness from the honey and apple, and the kick from the ginger, but the sauce was much saltier than all the curry I’ve had (in restaurants, at home, in Japan, etc). Do you think it could be the brand of curry cubes that I used (House)? Thanks!
Hi Lucy! Thank you so much for your feedback. No, I don’t think it’s because of the brand of curry cubes. Usually it’s about the same with slightest difference between brands. Only thing I could think of is that the amount of ingredients were less than mine or/and the stock was evaporated more, which leads to more salt content in the curry. Next time, would you try adding a little bit less and see if that helps? It’s very common to add extra seasonings to your curry as I mentioned in the post, so I hope you get to play with the ingredients and adjust to your liking. (of course the packaged curry is already good, but it wouldn’t be so unique. ;))
This dish looks delicious and it looks very easy to make 🙂 thank you <3
Hi Mayra! Thank you for your feedback! I hope you will like this recipe! 🙂
I could probably eat this every night and not get sick of it. I’ve made this before with the boxed roux and following their instructions but yours are superior. I tried it before I added the roux and if I ever want chicken soup, I’m making it using these directions and stopping before adding the roux.
Thank you Mary! I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami, my colleague and I have both made your curry recipe and it’s delicious. We’ve been busy comparing notes. I used the store bought curry roux this time and after I added all 200g of it, the sauce became quite thick. I added a little more water to thin it out some more. Next time I will give the home made version a go. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Alina! Thank you for trying this recipe with your colleague! 😀 Adding water is the right solution. Depending on how much liquid inside the pot (after evaporated etc), it’s impossible for everyone to have the same amount of liquid left in the pot, so we need to adjust with the water/stock. 🙂 I hope you will enjoy homemade version as well. Thank you for your kind feedback!
I really enjoyed your recipe! It was delicious – I made a vegetarian version. I don’t cook often but this was fun to make and I can’t wait to eat this tomorrow for lunch at work. Thank you 🙂
Hi Tony! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for trying this recipe and giving me your feedback. Enjoy your leftover lunch tomorrow too. 🙂
Love ur recipe,i will try this^^
Thank you Yushie! I hope you will enjoy this recipe!
What a wonderful recipe! I got lots of praise for the curry, and I visit the blog several times a week to check if you have posted a new recipe or to just look at all the recipes.
Greetings from Norway
Hi Hanna! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! I’m sorry my posting is less frequent these days (I’m visiting my family in Japan right now). If you like, you can subscribe to my blog, so you will know when I post a new recipe on the blog. 🙂 I will leave the link here just in case if you are interested (no pressure!). 🙂 Thank you for following my blog from Norway! 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/subscribe/
Hi Nami,
I just made this recipe tonight, but I doubled everything since I was serving 8 people. The result was phenomenal! Thank you!!!
Thank you for your feedback Vivi! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this curry. You make me happy every time you write your feedback. Thank you for your encouraging words!
Hi Nami, just wanna let you know i tried this out last night including making the roux and it was a big hit with the family. We love it so much! Domo arigato, Nami!
Hi Adeline! Thank you so much for trying my recipe! I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed it! Arigato! 🙂
I tried this after having box curry a couple of times and getting overwhelmed by the high amount of sodium in store-bought roux. This was AMAZING. Despite having a lot of ingredients, it was very simple to make! Thank you for providing the recipe!
Hi Adrien! Ohh I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe and thank you for trying and leaving your feedback here. I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I just discovered your site, and am so happy I did! I ADORE Japanese food, and the only authentic restaurant in my city recently closed. It left a huge, curry shaped hole in my heart. I am going to make this tomorrow night, and can’t wait to explore the other amazing recipes you have!
Hi Madeline! I’m terribly sorry for my late response. I’m so glad you found my site. I hope you enjoy cooking Japanese food at home! Thank you so much for your kind comment. 🙂
Hello! I just made this right now and…I have to say it is something Ive never tasted before 🙂 in a good way! its very healthy and has kick, I definately going to add cayenne next time. I was confused about the apple but it seems to all go together..thanks so much!
Hi I8POMjuice! Thank you so much for trying this recipe. 🙂 Japanese curries are usually not spicy compared to ones from India or Thai. We put sweet flavor ingredients such as apples and honey to balance the spiciness (they are very common addition in Japanese curry). Hope you enjoyed it. 🙂
Its really good. I changed it up a bit though. Instead of honey i used maple and without the Cheyenne pepper it was still evenly spicy but not burny. Still awesome recipe.
Hi Jenna! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for trying this recipe and writing your feedback. 🙂
My husband and I lived in Japan for two years and one of our favorite foods was curry rice. I tried making it at home a few times following the box directions and it was never very good. We always went to CocoIchibanya or other curry places instead. But now that we live in America…well, I thought we would never have good curry rice again.
Then I tried your recipe. It was perfect!!!! From the first bite I knew it was SO right. Finally, I can have my nostalgic bowl of curry rice anytime and the recipe was so simple! Thank you SO MUCH!!!
Hi Ashley! Did you make curry roux from scratch, or you added extra stuff to the curry roux from the store? Either way, I’m really happy to hear that you liked the homemade curry! You can now eat the curry with fresh and best ingredients you get! 🙂 That’s the best part of making homemade food. You will soon feel comfortable adjusting the curry as you like. Try with different ingredients (seafood, beef, seasonal veggies). Enjoy! 🙂 Thank you for your feedback!
Hey Nami! I just made this tonight, with the curry roux and everything. It was so good! My husband loved it-success!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Caitlin! Thank you so much for trying this recipe, and I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed it. Thanks for the kind feedback! xo 🙂
Made this curry and even used your recipe for the homemade Curry Roux and it was fantastic! Very very delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Carrisa! Thank you for trying my recipe! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
Ahhh i really really lucky cause of i could find your recipes! Since i have been visiting this site, with my boyfriend we are just sitting inf front of your recipes and pics of food and say OMG yummy we have to make it.
🙂 we are really into japanese foods and im really into your site of tummy happiness ^^
Hi Alexandra! Haha you two are so kind, thank you! Hope you try making Japanese food at home! Some of them are really easy to make at home, and you don’t need to go to restaurants anymore. 😉 Thanks so mouch again!
Does the apple change the flavor much?
I do not keep apples due to allergy to them.
Hi Blaknite! Don’t worry, just omit apples! It adds sweetness to the curry, but optional. 🙂
Hi Nami ! 🙂
I’ve cooked Japanese Curry for years now, but I always followed the recipe on the curry packet : just adding water, potatoes, carrots, onions and chicken ; and it turned out very good each time. So I was surprised to find your recipe asking more ingredients and seasoning, but it seems to be a great addition.
I would like to skip ketchup and use tonkatsu sauce instead ; do I skip the soy sauce too or add it with tonkatsu sauce?
Bye,
Cassandre
Hi Cassandre! There is nothing wrong with the curry following instructions on the box! It’s common to add extra condiments to make your curry “special” and “different” at your home. Extra additions can be yogurt, honey, apple, milk, ketchup, tonkatsu/Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce… and interestingly it gives nice complexity. I make changes all the time to see what goes well with the curry ingredients. So it’s entirely up to your preference. Hope you have fun discovering extra flavors added to the boxed curry. 🙂
Can I use Indian curry powder instead of blocks?
Hi Chris! If you are going to make “Japanese curry”, you have to make curry roux first. I use Indian curry powder to make curry roux too. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to/how-to-make-curry-roux/
Nami,
I just wanted to say thank you for everything you do here. You have been an invaluable resource…
I was looking for my next big challenge in my life and I decided to expand on my interest in Japanese culture and history. To my mind when really trying to understand a people, it helps to learn the language and their cuisine. So I am now a beginning self-study of the Japanese language, but I have limited resources to find authentic Japanese food here on the Virginia coast.
I started with your Onigiri recipe which I and one of my friends loved. I recently also tried Omurice, and this the Simple Chicken Curry. My roommate who had been to Japan during his time in the Military told me it was spot on to what he would get while he was there. I have loved everything I’ve tried and cannot wait to try more recipes in the future. So thanks again from a budding cook and student.
Hi Jeremy! Thank you so much for your comment and I’m really happy to hear you enjoy reading my blog! I’m excited to hear that you are interested in Japanese culture/history/language and food! Ingredients can be hard to find, but there are some online shops (Japanese grocery markets) available and hopefully closest Asian supermarkets carry some Japanese products. So glad your curry came out well!
Thanks so much again for encouraging and supportive words. Arigato!
This recipe is awesome! I’ll eat any type of curry, and this is great info on this type of curry. Easy and super delish
Hi Gina! I hope you enjoy Japanese curry! 🙂
Hi, Nami! I followed this and your roux recipe last night, and my husband and I both agree: 2 thumbs way up! There’s so much subtlety in the sweet and saltiness that every bite was so enjoyable. The big curry chain restaurant here in Okinawa is called Coco’s, and while they’re good in a pinch, there is zero complexity in their meals. Your recipe is by far my favorite for Japanese curry 🙂 Thank you for sharing! I’ll be trying out your other recipes soon!
Hi Florence! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 😀 I know Coco’s… I’ve tried it in Los Angeles and Taiwan (not in Japan though) and yes… it’s pretty basic, not really a great curry (but it’s good start for most people who had never had Japanese curry!). It’s more fun to adapt to your taste when you make from scratch. Hope you find your favorite spiciness and ingredients to your curry. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂 xo
Just saw a video from Chef Morimoto making rice curry from a Golden Curry Box. I particularly use the extra hot Golden Curry.
http://firstwefeast.com/eat/masaharu-morimotos-curry-rice-video/
いただきます。
Hi Frank! OMG, this is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing this video. I enjoyed the chef cooking Japanese curry rice! 😀 ありがとう！！！
Glad you like it! Like Chef Morimoto, I can eat Curry Rice every day. Once in a while I might go to curry restaurants in San Francisco, where I live. Volcano Curry is a 15 minute walk from my home. If I go to the Financial District I might eat at Muracci’s or stop in Japantown on the Bridge.
When I used to go to Japan to the US bases, I ate a lot of Curry Pan, which unfortunately the ones made here are subpar compared to Japan.
I haven’t tried Volcano Curry or Muracci’s before. I should check it out! Ahh curry pan! I receive so many requests from readers for that recipe. I hope I can recreate it one day. 🙂
Hi I just wanted to know if you can freeze curry and if so how long will it be good for?
Hi Amanda! Yes you can freeze curry. Only thing that changes the texture is potatoes. I don’t mind the texture, but you may not like it. You can try and see – if you don’t like it, take out the potatoes before freezing. And you can freeze up to a month or so. I’ll add the info in the recipe. Thank you for your question!
thank you for this. Wonderful with homemade roux.
Hi B.J.Y.! Thank you for checking this recipe! 🙂
I just prepared it for my family n they love it.its so simple n the steps were easy to follow.m so grateful : D… arigato.
Hi Lovelace! I’m so glad your family enjoyed it! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! Arigato! 🙂
Loved it!! My daughter mixed it up, so I dont know how precise her measuremets were, but I would definitely make it again. We like it a bit thicker like the packet, so we didn’t add as much water. Glad I found this recipe 🥰
hi nami,
I would like to try your chicken curry rice for 3 person. should i use 1 box of store bought curry roux? i have seen ur keema curry recipe but it used only 2-3 blocks curry roux. does it make difference with the thickness texture and flavours?
Thanks in advance nami ☺
Hi Riska! Keema curry and this chicken curry is different. Keema curry is more dry/paste form (thick) and not much liquid. However, this curry requires some liquid (kind of like stew). Therefore you will need stock and more roux than keema curry. 🙂
If it’s for 3 people, use half of the box (and cut down on the liquid and ingredients). Hope this helps!
I’ve always made curry with the recipe on the curry roux box. I’ve never added anything to the sauce.
Today I tried your recipe and it is wonderful! The sweetness of the apple & honey seems to bring out the spices in the roux so much more.
Hi Marise! So glad to hear you enjoyed my recipe and thank you so much for your kind feedback. Your curry will never be the same package taste as you arrange your curry with additional ingredients. Enjoy experimenting! 🙂 Thank you for writing!
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. Like the previous poster, I always just followed the instructions on the box of curry roux. Your recipe makes it so much more delicious!!
Hi Allison! Thank you for your kind feedback! The package tastes pretty good but it will always taste the same. Adding other ingredients (yogurt, soy sauce etc) give the curry taste a bit more depth. 🙂 So happy to hear you liked this recipe. Thank you for writing! 🙂
Tried this out tonight! Absolutely fantastic! Thanks for sharing 😀
Thank you for your kind feedback Michelle! So happy to hear you enjoyed this dish. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I grew up eating Vermont curry in Yokohama and love Japanese curry but not very keen on processed food. After coming across your homemade curry roux recipe I decided to give it a go and my partner and I were very happy with the result. We also found that the flavour improves with time – we packed the left overs and took it on our ski holiday with us (to Vermont actually 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Cath! Hahaha, instead of the packaged Vermont Curry, you were eating homemade curry in Vermont! That’s awesome! 😀 I’m glad to hear you two enjoyed this recipe! Thank you very much for your kind response. 🙂
I loved this recipe! It was really easy and very hearty. I love one pot recipes too.
If I were to put some daikon radish in the next time I made this, how would you recommend cooking it? Should I basically treat it like a carrot?
Hi Jonathan! I love one pot recipes too, especially in winter time. Thanks so much for trying this recipe. I’m so glad you like it! Yes, daikon takes slightly longer to cook than carrot. I’d cut a bit smaller than carrot so that cooking time is about the same. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi, thisis great I’m trying it today. If I knew it was so easy, I wouldn’t have paid $15 for my fix everyweek all these years! Will you be doing a Ramen recipe any time soon?
Hi P! Hope you enjoy this recipe! I do have Miso Ramen and Spicy Shoyu Ramen if you’re interested… Thank you!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/homemade-chashu-miso-ramen/ (with video)
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/spicy-shoyu-ramen/
I made this for dinner last night and it was really good and I definitely appreciate you sharing this recipe.
However, I used a box of curry roux. The recipe on the box called for 2 and a half cups of water, not 4. I used the 4 cups and it came out WAY too watery.
I just wanted to let other people know and it might be nice if you updated the recipe to use less water when using boxed curry roux.
Anyways, thanks for sharing, it was good!
Hi Noel! With the amount of ingredients used this recipe (I am talking about chicken, potatoes, etc), 2 1/2 cups of water is not enough to cover to cook the ingredients (See step 9). You lose some of liquid by skimming and evaporating, so 4 cups is necessary to cook for this amount of ingredients.
The box doesn’t require the same amount of ingredients, therefore 2 1/2 cup maybe enough. If you put less ingredients than specified amount, most likely you won’t need that much water as well. Hope this explanation makes sense.
I usually use one box to make curry (I don’t always use homemade roux), and I use pretty much same amount of ingredients as shown here, so I believe it should work.
For those who are worried, I’d say to adjust the amount of stock/water according to the ingredients you use. Please also note that if you put too many ingredients (=more liquid required), then you may not have enough roux.
Growing up, this was the only type of curry I knew existed! Thai or Indian curries are ok but this is certainly my favorite. I hadn’t made it myself until tonight. It was fantastic! I added a red bell pepper and a celery stalk but otherwise followed the recipe. Thanks for sharing it!
Hi Mub! So happy to hear you enjoyed this curry recipe! I also grew up eating Japanese curry only…but now I love Thai curry. 😀 Thank you very much for your kind feedback. It means a lot to me! 🙂
Hello. Just stumbled upon your website yesterday and saw this recipe. I’m not very comfortable with cooking and the detailed recipe with pictures is just great! Haven’t found many of those. Will be making this recipe once I get curry powder and will tell you how it goes. Looking forward to browsing through more recipes. Thanks!
Hi Sarah! I hope you enjoy this recipe and thank you for your feedback. More recent recipes/posts include videos and I hope you find them helpful as well. Good luck! 🙂
Thanks Nami! I’ve made this dish a couple of times and I loved it ^^ x
Thank you so much for your kind feedback AngelC! 🙂
I have made this recipe several times – my girls love it. What a great website with fantastic recipes. Keep up the good work!
Hi Aaron! Thanks so much for your kind feedback! I’m happy to hear you all enjoyed it! 🙂
I love this recipe! I originally found it while I was searching for a way to make the curry roux at home – we used to buy the packaged blocks, but when we started eating less packaged foods, I wanted to make it myself. We have made the Chicken Curry a half dozen times or so – and tonight I made the recipe with leftover duck and homemade duck stock from our Valentine’s Day dinner. This is fabulous and so very versatile! Thank you so much for this recipe, and for your whole site. It is amazing!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback Amanda! I am happy to hear you like this recipe! I love duck… You must have made delicious curry! 🙂
Oh my gosh, I love Japanese curry so much. I’ve been making it for myself since high school, but your recipe looks so much tastier. I have a suggestion for eating it leftover in a lunch or as a snack. If you take roasted seaweed sheets and wrap bites of curry in them, it’s super tasty! Thank you so much for your recipe, I look forward to making it.
Hi Mellie! I hope you enjoy this recipe! Thanks for sharing the new way to enjoy the curry with roasted seaweed! 🙂
I just made this, and it’s super tasty! I can’t eat gluten though, so I used your recipe for curry roux, replacing the 4 Tbs flour with 2 Tbs superfine brown rice flour and 2 Tbs potato starch (and I used GF soy sauce, too). The final curry was a tad thicker, but still delicious. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Karin! I’m so glad to hear you liked this recipe, and thanks so much for sharing GF option! My readers will appreciate your information. 🙂
This recipe is amazing! I have been cooking Japanese curry with the S&B curry roux and have been having a hard time getting my partner to agree to me making it for dinner because they thought it was too bland. Your recipe changed that! They said “This one is actually flavorful. It’s good!” I’m so happy because I love Japanese curry but wasn’t getting to make it as often as I liked due to the “blandness”. Now I won’t feel guilty when I make it for dinner! I agree this recipe really adds some needed flavor to the curry roux and it is just DELICIOUS. Thank you so much Nami!
My only question is in regards to the step where you add the potatoes. I left the pot simmering from the previous step to cook the potatoes and after the 15 minutes they were still undercooked. Should I have raised the heat a bit at this step? I eventually did and it worked out just fine, but would like to know what to do next time so it doesn’t take as long. You said to “cook” the potatoes for 15 minutes so maybe I should have assumed that meant to raise the heat from simmer. Either way not a big issue just curious how you do it! ^_^
Thank you again for helping me incorporate Japanese Curry back onto our menu!
Hi Erica! I’m happy to hear your kind feedback and thank you! Regarding the potatoes, if you don’t mind the potato shape, you can add to the pot when you add carrots. Sometimes potatoes disappear or break into smaller pieces while cooking. If you prefer to keep the shape, I recommend to add it later. If the potatoes are smaller like 2 inch pieces, 15 minutes of simmering should be enough, but cook until it’s tender. Depends on potatoes, size, and heat, the cooking time will vary. I personally don’t mind potatoes disappearing or shrinking so I put it together with carrots or slightly later… Hope this helps! I’m happy to hear you get to enjoy Japanese curry more often. 🙂
I bought instant curry the type where you just put it in the microwave to heat up. Would I still have to add the chicken broth while I’m cooking the chicken or should I just cook the chicken and nothing else because it comes with vegetables as well.
Hi Stacy! I know which product you’re talking about. Those are already made and the flavor is set (so as ingredients/liquid ratio). You can add cooked chicken pieces in it when you serve over rice, but you can’t add raw chicken (and chicken broth) to it and cook on the stove as it’ll dilute the flavor. Hope this helps!
I just wanted to let you know that I make this recipe at least once a month. I used to live in Hawai’i and would eat at Curry House CoCo Ichibanya all the time. This is a great substitute recipe for it. Thanks! <3
Hi Jaquelyn! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear you like this dish! Mr. JOC used to like Curry House CoCo too, but now he is happy with homemade curry. I’ve tried it in LA and Taiwan, and I think our curry freshly made at home is better. 😀 Hope you will try adapting the curry to your liking and make your own version! 🙂
10 for acquiring these totally free tests.
I’ve cooked with store-bought Golden Curry roux without adding so much as fresh ginger and garlic, but I’ve got to say this recipe blew me away. The extra condiments added complexity to the flavors in such a simple dish, from a culture known for the elegant simplicity in its cuisine. Thank you, Nami, for sharing this recipe, I will be making this again.
Hi Maja! I’m so glad you tried adding different flavors to the curry. Isn’t it amazing? This way, you’re not eating so much of a boxed curry as it’s yours and more unique (and convenient). Hope you experiment with your favorite flavors and enjoy! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
This is a great recipe! I love the photos and step by step instructions. The extra condiments make the flavours so delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Gary! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the curry! Yeah the extra condiments do make the difference compared to just boxed roux. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I made the chicken curry for dinner yesterday and it was yummy! I tried to make my own curry powder minus the chili pepper and cayenne pepper and it worked. I like the fact that the ginger and apple are grated to add that subtle flavour. I used to make the curry roux, add liquids and then the vegetables. By cooking the chicken first, it seals the juices and makes the sauce more flavorful. The leftovers are even better as I made it with udon noodles. Thanks for your recipe! Darlene
Hi Darlene! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe and enjoyed it! Thanks so much for your kind feedback! Yes, additional flavors are really nice and I feel it’s necessity. 🙂 I love curry udon with leftover curry! Now I want to eat curry…
I followed this recipe a few nights ago and it was absolutely delicious! My boyfriend loved it so much and now wants to have this Japanese curry for dinner more often. I used to just use the roux and didn’t enjoy it as much, but adding the grated apple, honey, soy sauce and tomato sauce really improves the flavour and overall outcome of the curry. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Rachel! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Yes, adding the extra ingredients really help with more complex flavor and you can definitely personalize it. You can add yogurt and milk to make it more creamier and mild etc. Hope you enjoy customizing your curry! 🙂
Hi Namiko!
Thanks so much for this recipe. I was wondering that, if we want to use tofu or veggies, when should we add them? And which veggies do you think work better?
Thank you very much!
Hi Sandra! Since tofu and veggies can be cooked quickly, you don’t have to cook for a longer time. So you can even reduce the amount of liquid, as you don’t have to take the amount of evaporation into count. If tofu, add after veggies are cooked. All you need is to heat up so tofu is not cold. Then you can add curry. You can add any vegetables of your choice, but make sure to cook hard veggies first, then leafy veggies (if you add) toward the last. Hope this helps!
Thanks so much! This really helped 🙂
I am really liking your curry recipes and love it when you used more vegetables. There was one Japanese curry dish I had tried before which is very mildly spicy and sweet called coconut chicken vege curry (ココナッツローストチキン野菜カレー – I replicated the characters from the restaurant’s menu). I haven’t come across the recipe for this in English and the restaurant that served it mentioned that it’s a homemade recipe of theirs which they cannot share. I’d like to know if you would have this recipe added on to your curry collection here in the near future.
Hi Ling! I have one coconut curry recipe that I love, and I hope you give it a try. In the recipe name you wrote in Japanese, it says “Roasted Chicken”. Maybe the key is to use the roast chicken instead of regular chicken to add more flavor.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/coconut-curry/
Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi Nami. Thank you so much for replying me. I have noted on your curry chicken recipe. I experimented around with the coconut milk (reading from one of your advice comments regarding the yogurt/milk condiments gave me the idea) and I still find it a much closer match to your Japanese Curry recipe. I will be definitely be trying it with roasted chicken later. Once again thank you and have a very Happy Lunar New Year.
Thank you, and Happy Lunar New Year to you and your family!
Can this work in the slow cooker? would you do anything different?
Hi Rin! Sure! I think from Step 14 you have to do it after cooking on slow cooker. I haven’t done it so I can’t say for sure, but I would not put curry roux from the beginning… 🙂
Can I omit the apple? Or sub with something else.i do not have an apple on hand or pear.
Hi Van! Sure! Apple is one of common additional ingredients, but you don’t “have to” add it. 🙂 I listed optional ingredients you can add in Japanese curry on my latest post here: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pressure-cooker-japanese-curry/
this is the only curry recipe i use and i love it. it really warms me up and i feel so much comfort in this recipe. well now everyone wants to it so I am passing this blog post on to all my friends! Thanks for such awesome recipes!
Hi Tanya! Aww I’m so happy to hear you like this curry recipe! Thank you so much for recommending my blog to your friends too! I’m honored and happy. Thank you for your support, Tanya! xo
Been using this recipe for a couple of years now and it occurred to me I never thanked you! So thanks! My entire family loves this! I make it at least twice a month on request! I’ve done this recipe with chicken, thinly sliced london broil steak, and a vegetarian version I made once using zucchini/broccoli/cauliflower. It’s really adaptable!
Hi Harry! Wow I’m so flattered and honored that you’ve been using this recipe for a long time and that your family likes it! Thank you very much for taking your time to give me your kind feedback. I really appreciate it.
Thank you for sharing this recipe
You’re very welcome, Lena! Thank you for your kind words!
I absolutely love Japanese food and I’ve been learning to make them recently. I’ve been lurking on your blog and trying some simple recipes and finally was brave enough to attempt making curry and I DID IT! 😀
Thank you very much for sharing this. I’ve always found your recipes and explanations the best to follow. 🙂
Hi Bawuk! Yay!!! I’m so happy to hear you like my recipes. Thank you for trusting and trying my recipes! 🙂
Thanks for sharing. I made this recipe at the cottage with the thermal pot. Went out for a hike and came back to a delicious meal.
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Wonderful recipe, Nami. We’re taking care of a family friend who’s the widow of a Japanese businessman, and I figured I’d make this for her. I’d already bought a pack of garam masala from an Indian restaurant a couple of years back, and crossed that off my checklist of things to get. So then hunted down their supplier of Indian ingredients yesterday (the restaurant itself, sadly, closed). Turned out to be quite an adventure getting to that store (there aren’t a lot of Indian places in my country), but it was well worth it. Got a pack of meat curry powder.
I had a lot of fun making the roux, especially since I can’t find roux cubes at any of the nearby supermarkets any more. Love how it smelled just like the S&B cubes that I used to buy. Totally ace. I tweaked the recipe a bit by adding a whole finger of turmeric (I just can’t imagine curry without real turmeric bits), and since we didn’t have honey on hand, I substituted an equal amount of sugar. Also the only chicken we had on hand was fillets rather than thighs, but I guess that makes eating it easier, huh? We also only had a Washington apple instead of a Fuji, so I went with that too. Didn’t have any Fukujinzuke either, but we did have eggs. So I guess in the end it wasn’t perfect, but still… well… see below. 🙂
Our friend’s a double stroke survivor, so she’s got chewing problems, but to my surprise and delight when I went to check up on her, her bowl was completely empty and she was giving me a thumbs up!
Since she’s as close as I can get to authentic Japanese, I was really pleased when she said it tasted just like what she’s used to. And since there’s still a ton of curry powder and garam masala here, I guess I’ll be making this whenever I get the chance.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, Nami! 🙂
Hi Israel! Oh my gosh! Your story made me almost cry! Thanks so much for sharing the story with me. I’m so happy that you made a wonderful Japanese curry for your friend and she even gave a thumbs up!!! you did a great job! I’m so happy to hear your adventure and it was exciting to read! Thank you for your kind feedback, Esrael!
Thanks, Nami! I just wanted to give back to you, and figured the best way was to let you know you and your recipes are doing a lot of good. Consider me subscribed. 🙂
Ah! I just realized my typo of your name. I apologize for writing E instead if I… 🙁 Thank you Israel! I’m honored that you enjoy my recipes! xo
THANK YOU for that recipe ! I tried to follow the instruction on the curry box and it says 6 cups of water !! Can you imagine how liquid my curry ended ? 🙁 Also the translated instruction where so weird haha. The one on their web site qnd on the box aren’t the same either !!
Anyways, i still have one cube so i’ll tried your way next time 🙂
Hi Vanessa! I wonder if 6 cups of Japanese cups (200ml)? Do you mean one cube as in tiny block of 1 cube? You’ll need a whole block (or at least half block) of curry roux to make a pot of curry. 🙂 Just in case… since you mentioned one cube. 😀
tried this recipe today and it was delicious – like they make it in Japan
Hi Clay! I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you for trying this recipe! 🙂
what do i do if it doesnt thicken?
Hi Jenna! How thin was it? I recommend leaving the lid open so that moisture can evaporate, which will help thicken. With my recipe, I don’t have problem with curry being too thin. You can add more curry roux if you have some extra around… 🙂
L.O.V.E. this recipe. I substituted a gluten-free flour mix, (Cup4Cup) because I have celiac and cannot use flour. My entire family raved about this. Every.Single.Dish. I have made from your site is divine! We added a few raisins also. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Hi Aimee! I’m so happy to hear that you liked this recipe! I’ve heard from GF readers that GF flour works for this recipe and I’m so so happy about it! Also, your kind feedback about my recipes made me so happy. Thank you!!!
Your cooking site, which is full of passion, inspired me to learn how to cook. Today, I actually cooked curry according to your recipe (more or less). It was probably the first meal I ever cooked (I am not counting “left-overs” fried rice recipes). Fortunately my mom and I enjoyed the dish I made. I will be trying to do okonomiyaki next.
Thank you for this site – I like your detailed explanations and tips. I hope that you can continue sharing to everyone your culinary journey. More power to you, Nami-san!
Hi Raf! I’m so happy to hear that you get inspiration from my site. Thank you for your kind words! And so nice to hear you tried this recipe and enjoyed it!
Yes, I’ll keep sharing my recipes! Thank you for following and cooking with me!
How much oil should we use for the recipe?
Hi Lauren! I updated the recipe with 1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil. Thanks for asking!
I am a woman with Aspergers Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, which means that my food choices are often limited due to how I deal with textures and flavors of what I eat. I’ve learned several good recipes from this site, but this one is my favorite and I cook it several times a week for an easy meal that can be eaten later with a fresh serving of rice. Thanks Nami-san!
Hi Brianna! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe. Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I generally know what type of food people would enjoy seeing on my blog, but it’s really encouraging and inspiring to learn which recipes people are cooking and all the feedback I receive has been very helpful when I plan future recipes for my blog. Thank you for writing! I’m so happy you found some recipes from my site. xoxo
I just wanted to tell you I am absolutely in love with this recipe. The first time I made it I used the Golden Curry roux blocks but since then I have made it at least 4 times using your homemade roux. It’s delicious! Honestly it’s even better the next day after the flavors really get into it. Thank you so much for this simple recipe for a delicious meal, I’ll probably be making this for years to come.
I love the addition of ketchup, soy sauce and I even add worcester sauce to it.. It’s so wholesome and filling. Very much a comfort food. 🙂 Thank you Nami!
Hi Crystal! I’m so happy and excited to hear your feedback, and thank you for spending your time to write me. Glad my homemade roux recipe works for you! Yes, I agree about the next day. The first day, flavors are still not there. If I invite someone for Japanese curry, I’d invite them on the 2nd day. 😀 Hope you experiment with toppings you can add. I made a list of choices here:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pressure-cooker-japanese-curry/
Thank you again!
This looks really tasty and no… I did not know there was a Japanese curry.
Hi Ben! Japanese curry is really popular in Asian countries. As it’s not too spicy, kids (and family) can enjoy it. In Japan, it’s one of the top popular menus among kids and adults. 🙂
I love this curry! I made it with beef and it was delicious. This curry tasted just like the curry i had when i visited Japan.
Hi Nien! I’m happy to hear you liked it! Thanks for trying this recipe Nien! xo
UM wow, this tasted amazing. Copied the recipe word for word and made my own Curry Roux. No left over sadly
Thanks Wendy! So glad you tried homemade curry and enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Yum! Japanese curries are one of my favorite dishes. Love this
This looks really great and authentic, trying it out tonight
Hi Daniel! Hope you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Thank you
This was amazing!!!!
Hi Nadia! So happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Very tasty! This is the first time I didn’t use the packaged block curry seasoning and we loved it. Today we will have it with rice, tomorrow Curry Udon. Thanks!!
Hi Linda! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for trying my recipe – I hope you enjoyed both curry rice and curry udon! 😀
Hello,
How Much of the homemade curry roux do you put in the curry, following this récipe and your récipe on the homemade curry roux ?
Thank you
Hi Nina! Homemade curry roux is for 4 cups of liquid, and this recipe requires 4 cups of liquid, so it is just perfect amount. 🙂
I tried this recipe a few weeks ago over the weekend. I can’t tell you in words how much I loved it. I normally just use the curry blocks they sell in the Asian grocery stories without adding anything special, just the sauce, water and root veggies.
you took up a delicious recipe and made even more, even better, like you took it up wow-I-can -not-stop-eating-this. it took three days finish up the leftovers.
this will be my curry recipe. period. I already been telling people I work with how awesome it is.
Thank you!!
Hi Rin! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe so much. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂 I truly appreciate your support! xoxo
I cooked this just now and it is amazing! So simple and yet tasty. Thanks for sharing us this recipe.
Hi Sheila! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
love, love, love this site!!! We just moved to CA after living in Okinawa for 3 years. My whole family (2 year old toddler included) miss Japan so much. Just One Cookbook has helped me recreate lots of foods we’re missing so we’re a bit happier. Thank you Nami!
Hi Caitlyn! Thanks so much for reading my blog! It seems like you had a wonderful time in Okinawa. I’m glad my blog has been useful. 🙂
This is such a great approach to this recipe, and super easy to follow, even for a novice cook like myself. I’m finishing my second batch and will return to your site when it’s time to make my third. Thank you!
Hi Matt! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe. And I visited your website – wow, really, really well-done site! Pictures are breathtaking!
How important is the chicken to this curry if I am making this along with the tonkatsu.? Might I be better suited to just use chicken broth and extra veggies?
i Kaylin! It’s really up to you, I’d totally make vegetable curry and put Tonkatsu on top. Mr JOC would be happy with chicken curry on first day, and second day (less chicken in the curry) with Tonkatsu on top. 🙂
Hi Nami! 😀 I’m planning on doing this recipe soon! I want to do the curry rouge from scratch, I have seen your the recipe, but the thing is that I’m not sure if the serving size stated in that recipe would be enough for this one or if I should double the quantity or do 1 and a half servings…. I hope I’m explaining myself well enough! Everything in your blog looks deliciously amazing <3
Hi Carolina! This recipe requires 4 cups liquid, so theoretically, the homemade roux is just right amount for this recipe. However, if you adjust the amount of vegetables or you prefer pretty thick curry, I recommend making double amount. It’s a lot easier to add broth/water to dilute the curry than not having enough roux. The liquid amount also depends on how long you cook (and let the liquid evaporate) etc too. Hope this helps!
Hi again Nami! I made your recipe with 1.5 servings of the homemade curry roux and it came out perfect!!! My boyfriend loved it so much that he told me he wanted this to be his b-day dish! His b-day is tomorrow, so here I am again x) Just wanted to thank you for sharing such an amazing recipe <3
Hi Carolina! AWESOME! Happy Belated Birthday to your husband! He’s so lucky you made this dish. 🙂 Thank you for taking your time to write your kind feedback. xoxo
Love the curry recipe!
btw, this issue you may not be able to do much about, but I feel the need to at least let you know about it: there is an ad (I believe for Dell) continuously loads on this page and even when I kill it (exit it) or try turning off the sounds, it will simply restart itself and play again. It is incredibly annoying (and as I listen to podcasts while I cook, interferes with my regular evening habits). I’m not sure if you can bring it up with google ads or not, but if I continue to see that particular ad on other pages, I’ll let you know. Hopefully it will just cycle through and go away.
Hi Kat! Happy to hear you liked the recipe! And thank you very much for letting me know about the ads problem. Some readers told me about the auto playing sound (and it shouldn’t be according to ads partner’s rule for ads companies), and I’m going to report to my ads partner (it’s not Google). Thank you for letting me know, Kat! I’m hoping to fix this issue soon. Please email me if this continues.
And by the way, if you can get a screen shot of the ads, please send it over as my ads company request for a screen shot. Thank you!
I made this today and it was delicious! Tastes like the curry from the Japanese restaurant up the street from me. I used tofu since I didn’t have any meat on hand. I served with quinoa, roasted chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. I also used homemade roux from the recipe you guys have listed with home-mixed garama masala. Will definitely make this again!
Hi Kesondra! I’m so glad you liked this recipe! I’m so happy you made the roux as well! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
I try to make this no less than once a month. It’s so good and satisfying, as well as cost efficient to make!
Hi Ariane! So happy to hear that! Thank you for trying this recipe! 🙂
I’m cooking チキンカレーright now.. but without carrots because i don’t have them and didn’t plannen to Cook this dish tonight…so…Hope it’s good ad well
I’m cooking チキンカレーright now.. but without carrots because i don’t have them and didn’t plannen to Cook this dish tonight…so…Hope it’s good ad well
Hope you enjoy! Yes, it’ll work without carrots. 🙂
Hello Nami, Is there a way to make kare raisu gluten free? I believe the golden curry uses wheat. Is there a golden curry that is wheat free?
Hi Rudy! I’ve recently made homemade curry roux (recipe link above) with gluten free flour and it was pretty successful (slightly different texture as regular flour). There is no gluten free curry roux made by big brand names that are available in the US… so try making the roux from scratch. 🙂
This looks amazing. I have one comment – coconut milk is surely not dairy.
Hi Ed! Thanks for your kind words. And thanks for pointing that out – I fixed it. 🙂
Thanks for this great recipe! I love the detail and pictures and I have used this recipe a bunch of times. It’s my go-to and I panicked when earlier today the site was down.
Hi Kathy! Thank you for your kind words. I apologize about the website being down. We finally moved to a new host with higher security, so we shouldn’t get attacks! HUGE RELIEF…
I love using this recipe and think its fantastic! But the 15 minute prep time is far, far too optimistic. Unless you have the ability to replicate yourself, it’s more like an hour of prep, unless you forego removing the fat from chicken, which takes almost 30 minutes alone, then maybe you can get the time down. Maybe the order that the instructions are provided aren’t the most effective way to quickly prep everything. I’ve made this meal 5 or 6 times and every time it’s the same story, prep takes forever. Other than that on little thing, this recipe is AMAZING!
Hi Kenneth! Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Yeah, I agree. It should be 30 minutes at least from Step 1 to 5. I’ll double check the prep time when I make this recipe next time. For now, changing to 30 minutes. I’m happy to hear you enjoy this recipe. Thank you!!!
how many blocks of the raux do i use? i have 8 that came with the box.
Hi Emanuel! Use all 8 pieces. 🙂
I am glad to find a recipe that provides the roux- even though the cubes are easy to find, I am likely to have the roux ingredients on hand and I love to really get down to basics with my food!
On the roux, it says 20-30 minutes- is that for real or is it just 2-3?? I just eyeballed for the color, and it tasted fine in end, but I’m not sure if I followed the recipe properly.
Anyway I ended up using new potatoes and adding a tomato because it was in the house- didn’t soak ’em since new potatoes aren’t too starchy, and while I have never seen a tomato in a restaurant curry, I remember some Korean 3min ready curry with it. Maybe it’s not proper, but (Japanese style) curry is just so flexible and versatile that it lends itself to some experimentation!
I think I was most pleased with the heat level too- tingly, but not distracting. All in all, I will certainly use this recipe in the future.
Hi Kei! Yes, homemade roux is really nice – I especially like it as it’s not complicated recipe and MSG-free. When I’m too busy, I still use the Japanese curry roux, but I like having both options. 🙂
Haha, yes it is 20-30 mins. Supposed to be slowly cook to get the nice aroma and color.
I love your addition of tomatoes, I’d love to try that! Thank you for your comment! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I think you have a glitch with the youtube link on your website to the Instant Pot Chicken Curry. When I click on it, it shows the video for the omelet with tomato sauce instead. Just wanted to let you know, it must have happened recently because I was able to view it before in an email.
Nora
Hi Nora! Thank you for taking your time to letting me know. I think I know what you’re talking about.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pressure-cooker-japanese-curry/
In this IP Japanese Curry post, there are two videos. One for IP Japanese curry video, and there is another video right below – this video player shows different videos and recently it’s been playing Omurice recipe (the omelette with tomato sauce). It’s a ad video player for my site. I apologize for the confusion….
Hi, thank you for the wonderful recipe! I can’t wait to try it. Just one silly question though: Is there any good substitute for the carrots? Or can I skip them completely? Will it affect the flavor much? Everyone in my house dislikes carrots, you see… Thanks in advance! 🙂
Hi Yolanda! You can totally skip it, and I don’t think it affect the flavor much. You can include other vegetables if you prefer. 🙂
Hands down my favorite Japanese Curry Recipe. It’s the only recipe I can find that is as good as my dad’s was growing up. Favorited! Thanks for sharing.
HI Samantha! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! I appreciate your kind feedback. Thank you Samantha!
Made this one tonight. Found it pretty salty. I am going to have tontry not adding the salt with the apples, the salt on the chicken and maybe use low sodium chicken broth and soy sauce. I used the pre-packaged curry roux so i wont be able to adjust it’s salt level. .
Hi Larry! Sorry to hear about the high salt level. Yes, remove all the salt that is added to recipe. Hope you enjoy it next time.
I don’t usually comment on anything on the internet, but I just wanted to say thank you. I just made this chicken curry recipe using your homemade curry roux recipe… and it’s AWESOME. It took a while, but it was all worth it because it tastes (in my opinion) even better than the store-bought stuff, with WAY less sodium.
I’ve been exploring a lot of Japanese cooking this year (my favorite cuisine), and your blog is basically my number one resource. I make your gyudon recipe all the time, and your onigiri recipe, and more. It’s all exactly like the stuff I had when I visited Japan. Frankly, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to using pre-prepared, store-bought mixes anymore because of what I’ve learned from you.
I’m always excited to see what new recipes you have, so thanks again, and please keep doing what you do! 🙂
Hi Vincent! Thank you so much for your kind feedback, and I’m SUPER happy to hear you enjoy my recipes. Thank you for your encouraging words too. I’m glad JOC has been a good source for you to cook Japanese food. I’ll work hard to keep it up! 🙂 Thank you again for taking your time to write. Your comment made my day!!
This is my go to recipe for curry. Tonight I’m making it for the first time using a packet roux.
Hi Kelly! So happy to hear you enjoy my curry recipe. Have a wonderful dinner. xo
Dear Namiko,
The red picked dish alongside the curry and rice. Can you tell me what this is because the Fujinzuke I buy is a brown shoyu color.
Thank you
Renee Evans
Hi Renee! Most common Fukujinzuke is known as a red color, but recent years with healthy eating consciousness, people prefer not to have fukujinzuke with red coloring. It’s just an iconic look to have curry + red color fukujinzuke… but I highly recommend the brown one because taste is exactly same. 🙂
Hi, I lovebirds your recipes and tried this curry just tonight. It tasted good but the chicken started to get shredded while the carrots weren’t too soft yet. ALso, the sauce got too thick and had to keep adding water to dilute abit. Is it right that I have to use whole box as it gets way too thick even with just 3 bars. Thanks
Hi Elle! Thank you for trying this recipe! Do you think chicken pieces were small? Maybe stir fry at Step 8 a bit longer? Or carrot pieces were bigger (and took a longer to cook)? When sauce gets too thick, it can be due to lack of vegetables (if you adjusted the amount – vegetables release water too), your heat was too high, so water evaporated faster, or kept the lid too open for too long (and evaporated)… FYI (in case you’re not familiar with Japanese curry), the curry is very thick. Not like Thai or Indian curry. It’s the roux we use that makes the curry thicker than other kinds of curry. So keep that in mind. But we can always thin out as you wish. Hope this helps…. 🙂
do you grate the whole apple or just a quarter?
Hi David! I used whole apple, but cut into quarters to grate. If you prefer to make it spicy, you can adjust the amount of apple according to your liking. I recommend tasting the curry before adding more. 🙂
Having nothing in the fridge but chicken, I gave my husband and daughter a few choices of what we can have for dinner, and they requested for curry. I didn’t feel like using the generic store-bought yellow curry we have, so I searched up Japanese-style curry. I’m so happy I came across your recipe. The ingredients are simple, and I made the roux according to your instructions.
The dish was a hit! Thank you for sharing. This will be my go-to recipe for Japanese curry.
Hi Diane! I’m so happy to hear that your first Japanese curry came out well! Thank you for your kind feedback, and I’m glad your family had a wonderful meal! 🙂
We like to use a homemade roux recipe by Marc Matsumoto from No Recipes. He has a more updated version of his Japanese Curry recipe, but this video from youtube makes THE BEST Japanese Curry I’ve ever had. I am sorry I have not tried this recipe, but I just wanted to share this because it is so flavorful. I mean I could eat this stuff everyday for the rest of my life. Really. (side note: instead of grating in an apple, we just add the tablespoon of honey and we do not use a cardamom pod because we can’t find them) So far I have loved all your recipes though!! You’re the reason I can make homemade miso soup now!
https://youtu.be/Rxg67_xvtxU
Hi Melissa! Thanks for sharing, and I remember this video from Marc’s. I’ll meet him again this summer so I’ll let him know how much you enjoy his recipe! I’m happy to hear you enjoy my homemade miso soup recipe. 🙂
My children love this recipe. Tonight’s dinner with veggies. Yumm. Thanks so much. I love your blog!!!
Hi Aimee! I’m so happy to hear your children enjoy this dish! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
When we had a japanese high school student come to board with us this year I made a resolution to try and cook a japanese meal every week to help her feel at home. Your recipes have been so helpful on this cooking journey! This curry has become a firm family favourite, as well as being our student’s favourite comfort food!
Hi Anna! You are such a wonderful host and the Japanese high school student is so lucky to be able to eat Japanese food oversea! I’m happy to hear you all enjoy this recipe. Thank you for your kind words!
I came here because of Japanese anime, I left with a deep and longing hunger for curry rice.
Thanks, Nami
Hi Jake! There are a lot of people who come to my site seeking for Japanese recipes that were featured in anime and drama. 🙂 Thank you for visiting!
Can’t wait to try this. I live in Japan but prefer not to buy the curry boxes.
Hi Christina! Hope you enjoy this recipe! In Japan, there are more gourmet curry roux in powder form. Have you seen it? It can be curry roux from famous curry restaurants etc. You have way more healthier and delicious choices in Japan. 🙂
Hello Namiko San,
Just want to take a moment and say thank you for the curry recipe. My friend from Tokyo came to visit my family and I in the US I have decided to make him something he is familiar with. He loved the dish a lot and it was such a fun experience cooking this recipe. The recipe was simple to gather all the ingredients and it was of course delicious! Love the use of the apple and honey I never thought about it. Thanks again for your website I have tried many of your recipes!
Jackie T
Hi Jackie! Thank you so much for writing this kind comment. I’m so happy to hear you got to enjoy this dish with your friend from Tokyo! I am happy that my recipe was a part of your memory. 🙂
I won’t take credit on apple and honey – they are quite common ingredients to add to the curry. If you want to see the full list of other secret ingredients, I mentioned it in this post. 😀
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pressure-cooker-japanese-curry/
Hi Nami,
This looks delicious. Can you tell me what size pot you are using?
I am looking to buy one, but am unsure about the size.
Regards,
Maikel
Hi Maikel! Sure! It’s this one (5.5QT):
https://amzn.to/2llQNAV
It’s a good size, but I’ve been using way more 4.5QT one (white color) for my daily uses:
https://amzn.to/2DJvEd7
All the Le Creuset you see in my videos and recipes can be found on my shop page here:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/shop/
Hope that helps!
Absolutely wonderful recipe. Better than most curries that I’ve had in Japan. Also very forgiving. Feel free to play around with your veggies: I took out one potato and added some sliced mushrooms in with the carrots.
One note, mine came out a bit on the thick side for my taste, so I added a few tablespoons of water from the boiling egg to thin it a bit. It didn’t dilute the taste and came out to my ideal consistency.
A++
Hi Brandon! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. Thickness comes from how much water escaped while simmering, and how much water content is released from vegetables. So it varies. For the curry, you can always dilute with water or broth, whenever the liquid is low in the pot. And if you ended up adding too much, let it reduce by simmering.
Hello, Nami. I am Anna, writing from Italy.
Japanese chicken curry, together with the roux, it’s the first recipe from your website that I am trying.
When I have started to make the broth and then I have tasted it, I suddenly have had a beautiful remind of my travel to Japan last June where I went with my hubby for our honeymoon,
I wanted to thank you for these recipes. I miss Japan but now I know that when I am looking for a sweet memory, I can just stop here to be inspired!
Arigato gozaimasu!
Hi Anna! Aww thank you for your sweet feedback! I’m happy to hear this dish reminded of your wonderful memories from Japan! I hope my website offers some of your favorite Japanese food. 🙂
Very tasty and easy recipie to follow. My husband said this was the best meal. I appreciate the pictures which eased my nervousness of cooking a new meal. Taste 5/5, recipie 5/5, medium level of difficulty so maybe 3/5. We have leftovers which we froze half the batch per your suggestion.
Hi Charisma! Thank you so much for trying out this recipe and I’m glad to hear step by step pictures were helpful and you and your husband enjoyed this meal! Thank you for writing your feedback!
Just finished making this and it’s so great! The little additions of honey, soy sauce and ketchup really add depth to the flavour! Didn’t make my own homemade roux this time because I already had a box of curry roux in the fridge but migt try it next time! So glad I followed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Charlotte! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Delicious! The addition of the honey, apple, ketchup and soy sauce really added depth to the Golden Curry roux. I’ll definitely make this again!
Hi Jessica! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
This came out beautifully. Flavors were on point, curry was a nice thickness. I followed the timing pretty closely and the vegetables were neither over- nor under-cooked. Will absolutely make again.
Hi Kelly! I’m so glad to hear this recipe came out well and thank you very much for your kind and detailed feedback. xo
The best curry rice ever, the only recipe I’ll ever use ❤_❤
Hi Spamantha! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂 xo
Hello, if I am using your linked recipe for the homemade curry roux, how much do I add in terms of Tbsp/g, approximately? This is my first time attempting to make this.
Thanks!
Hi Ashley! So sorry for my late response. I updated my recipe with grams for the homemade curry roux:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-curry-roux/
Hope you enjoy!
Hi. I’m going to make this recipe using tofu instead of chicken. At what stage would I put the tofu in?
Thank you!
Hi Sharon! Tofu is cooked already and it’s ready to eat (even chilled). Therefore I recommend you to put at the end just to warm up. Don’t put it in early because when you stir, it will be broken. You just need to warm it up. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I just had to say thank you so much for your curry recipes, it is so hard to find Japanese curry recipes, period, on the internet. It’s always Thai or Indian curry that I find, which isn’t bad per se, but it is when I want Japanese curry! The from scratch curry roux also tastes even better than store bought. Your recipes are a staple for our household, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve visited this page now to refresh my memory on the ingredients and steps, but it has been many times!
Hi Sarah! Thank you for trying my recipe and for your kind feedback. I’m so happy you have enjoyed this recipe many times already. Thank you for taking your time to write your feedback. I truly appreciate it! xoxo
I’ve been looking everywhere for a good curry roux recipe and I think I have found it! I made this with chickpeas because I was too lazy to defrost some chicken and it turned out beautifully. I love the addition of the apple and honey for sweetness! I think I will stick to this recipe for a while.
Hi Max! I’m so happy to hear you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it. Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I appreciate it!
Hi,
I’ve been making Japanese Kare all these while. I like your roux and this curry recipe. No Msg Like those bought in the box . Anytime I want Japanese Kare, it’s your recipe. It’s very very good.
Hilton – Singapore
Hi Hilton! So happy to hear you enjoy my recipe and thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi I made this several times,and its delicious.Japanese curry roux,makes it easier.Love your recipes, Great work.I learned how to cook simple Japanese thanks to you.
Hi Ramon! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. Glad to hear you liked this recipe and thanks for trying this recipe! I’m happy to hear you are cooking Japanese food at home! 🙂
Just made this. It was amazing!
Hi Elf! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Thanks for this recipe, is it viable without using the chicken nor the chicken broth?
Hi Sarah! Nope, you can use vegetable broth or other broth in your mind, AND use seafood, beef, pork… all possible! In fact, I have beef curry and seafood curry on my blog. 🙂
Trying your recipe for the first time tonight. I’ve been making Japanese curry for years but never thought to ‘fix up’ the curry blocks that I buy with additional ingredients. I’ve always just browned the meat and onions then added all the other ingredients at once, adding the curry once the potatoes and carrots are done.
Hi Sheila! Thanks so much for trying this recipe. I hope you enjoyed it. 🙂
This was delicious! I made it with store-bought roux, but next time plan on using your recipe for homemade.
Hi Regan! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m glad you liked the recipe! Yes, try homemade curry next time – I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
I never write reviews for recipes but I felt compelled to after making this curry more times than I can count. I love your website and have made many of your recipes. I currently live in Japan in Kanagawa and have not had much luck finding Japanese recipes online and I’ve always asked my Japanese friends to share their recipes but they often forget….or my Japanese isn’t that good 😉 Either way, oishi! Arigato gozaimasu – パトリック
こんにちはパトリック！ I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe! Thank you so much for your kind words! You live in Kanagawa! Which part? My home is in Yokohama and I was there over the holidays + Oshogatsu. I hope you enjoy your life in Japan! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
We live in Zama. But I often head to Yokohama a couple times a month, Yamashita koen is such a pretty place and a great place to bike we also go for the Chinese food as well 🙂
Ohhh Zama-shi! That’s wonderful. Hope you enjoy your life in Japan. Stay warm! It was so cold before I left. 🙂
Love this recipe! One quick question I just noticed. Seeing as you are only using 4 cups of water/broth/stock did you meant to use the whole box of curry roux? For the beef curry recipe, you say to use the same amount of roux, but double the liquid. Thanks!
Hi Ben! The beef curry has more ingredients, which was the reason why we needed more liquid to submerge the ingredients to cook. If you have one curry box to work with, I would use the minimum amount of liquid (just enough to cover the ingredients + the liquid amount that could possibly evaporate) to be safe. Curry roux will naturally thicken as the water evaporate and cook longer. 🙂
I was very disappointed with the result. Taste, color, texture… Looks like everything went wrong! Maybe the garam masala & curry powder I used don’t work with this recipe 🙁
Hi Eleonora! I’m sorry yours didn’t come out well and I hope I could help you. It looks like you made my curry roux recipe as well. Did you substitute other ingredients, like butter or flour? What type of garam masala and curry powder did you use? Both recipes to make this curry are pretty straightforward and not many people make mistake with these recipes so I think something was off and not right. Please feel free to reach out because I really want to help you succeed. 🙂
Delicious! I just made this exactly as was directed and it is absolutely amazing!!! Thank you!
Hi Jules! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami 🙂
This sure looks delicious and I hope I can cook it myself someday.
But for now I have a different question – my best friends birthday is comming up and since she wishes for new kitchen supplies and loves japanese cuisine, I want to gift her with a new pot filled with all the ingredients for this curry. Also, I want to give her your recipe, but her english isn’t very good, so I want to translate it. And now comes my question: do you want to have the translation (to german) as well? I don’t know how many of your readers are german, but maybe it could help someone else than my friend?
Hi Corinna! I am so sorry for my late response. I don’t have the translation in any other language on my blog. We’ve looked into it before, but with Google, it gets tricky as we don’t want our duplicate content on sites other than JOC.com. After all, our income will be based on this blog, not on other (translated) sites, etc. It’s a bit more complicated issue. I’m sorry I can’t offer the translation. 🙁 I love your idea of the gift. I could feel your thoughtfulness in the gift! 🙂
I just made this tonight. Easy and simple and absolutely delicious! Just make sure to add only half a box of curry mix at a time and try the taste. We bought the mild golden curry and I followed the recipe to a tee, but found the taste just right by the time I mixed in half the box. Delicious!! Thank you 🙂
Thank you for trying this recipe, Jean! And thank you for your tip as well. When/if the roux is too thick, it’s okay add water/broth to thin out. The difficult part is when you have too much broth and too little roux… 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback!
Made it tonight. My family gave it a 10/10! I did cut back on the salt & soy sauce as it was plenty salty for my taste. I also used chicken breasts. The S & B medium golden curry was outstanding. Next time I will use your recipe for the homemade curry. I appreciate your cooking videos! This was very easy once all the ingredients were gathered & prepared.
Hi Donnalee! I’m really happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
This was excellent! I made it with tofu. I was worried it would be too sweet so I left out the honey, but I will add it next time. Your instructions were easy to follow and really tasty. I like making your recipes, thanks for sharing them.
Hi Mary! Thank you so much for your kind feedback on my instructions and the recipe! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you! 🙂
THE most delicious curry EVER!!!
I followed your recipe for the roux and chicken curry and it is AMAZING! My family is head over heals for this recipe.
I can’t wait to try your other recipes! Thank you for sharing!!
Hi Mele! Aww thank you so much for your kind words! I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your feedback. xoxo
Hi Nami, I always love your recipe and your recipe is so delicious……
Is golden curry or vermount curry roux contain beef? Because I want try to make vegetarian curry with your recipe.
Hi Rena! Thank you! I have Vermont Curry and Java Curry at home and I just checked them. There is no “beef” mentioned or “animal” related stuff that I know of. But please double check on your end as I do not want to make a mistake. 🙂
Thank you Nami, I will check it before I buy it……
For honey subtitute, can I use sugar?
Hi Rena! If you don’t use honey, you don’t need to substitute with sugar. You can, but it’s a bit different. I would simply skip. 🙂
Thank you Nami for your advice
I just made this tonight for dinner and it was my first time ever making Japanese curry. I decided to follow your roux recipe as well and wow, everything about this recipe was absolutely delicious. Thanks for breaking down each step and for the helpful pictures, this is one recipe I will definitely be making this again. Thanks!!
Hi Allison! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m glad your roux came out well too and my step-by-step pictures were helpful. Thanks for your kind feedback. 🙂
Finally switched to chicken since that’s what I had on hand (as opposed to beef) and boy am I glad to have tried this out! So delicious and glad I didn’t rush the process at all. I combined two different curry roux and added use a greater quantity of the ingredients since I made this for my family. Will definitely try this again in the future! Thank you!
Hi Ono! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for taking the time to write kind feedback. xo 🙂
Yummy, I make them often- my family love them so much. I use trio baby potatoes(one bag about 680 grams or 1.5 lbs) with boneless and skinless chicken thighs or thin sliced beef ribery rolls.
Hi Lily! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and I’m really happy to hear your family enjoy this recipe! 🙂 Thank you for sharing your tip! xo
Very good but you must remember to thicken the sauce with flour at the end, just in case the grated apple isn’t enough to change the texture.
Hi Richie! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Grated apple is to add the sweetness to the curry at the end, and the texture should not change much. 🙂
I’m not a fan of MSG so I was delighted to find your recipe with the from scratch roux. I followed your directions and ingredients exactly (barring variations due to New Zealand ingredients) and used beef instead of chicken. WOW! It’s definitely a keeper. Can’t wait to make it again.
Hi Morven! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Morven! 🙂
We made this recipe, but found the S&B sauce to be individual packets with vegetables included in the sauce pack. How can we amend the recipe using the S&B individual servings?
Also wasn’t sure how long to saute?
Hi Jolene! Oh!!!! I think what you bought is an instant curry. It was in a silver pouch, right? That’s an already-made curry. All you need to do is to heat up the package (without opening) in a boiling water and pour over rice. 🙂 Regular curry “roux” is like a chocolate block. You have to dissolve it. 🙂
I have tried many different japanese curry recipes in the past using store-bought roux and have always been a fan. I tried this recipe tonight and decided to make homemade roux for the first time, following your other recipe, just to see the difference. It turned out DELICIOUS. It was, hands-down, the best japanese curry I have ever had. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe. I will be sure to come back to it in the future. 🙂
Hi Gabriel! I am SUPER happy to hear that! Thank you so much for trying my curry and homemade curry roux recipe! Thank you for taking the time to write feedback here. I really appreciate it! xoxo
I love it!! My curry turned out fantastic!!
6 blocks of roux was enough to have that thick consistency that I want!
Hi May! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
This is my first ever time tasting a Japanese curry and boy is it scrumptious! Everything is just so well explained in your recipe that it just made it so easy to follow. I even made my own curry roux (again your recipe) and it just all turned out fantastic. I think this has become a favourite for me and my husband. Even my almost 2 year old seemed to enjoy it. My older children on the other hand can be hard to please at time.
Tomorrow I am planning on trying out your Curry Bread recipe with the left overs … that’s if my husband doesn’t eat it all before I get around to making them 🙂
Hi Sarah-Jane! Thank you so much for trying my recipe (The curry roux recipe too! Hooray!) for your first Japanese curry experience! 🙂 I’m glad my recipes were clear. I’m not sure if you could make curry bread, but that’s a little challenging one (putting curry in, deep frying etc) and hope they came out well if you end up trying. Thank you for your kind feedback! xoxo
Thank you for putting in all the hard work that you do Nami! I did end up making your curry bread recipe and boy it was a lot of work but it was so worth it! They are so yummy. I am making more this weekend! my husband has also asked me to make up a batch to take into work to share with everyone. Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful recipes! My family sends you loads of love from New Zealand!
Hi Sarah-Jane! WOW I’m so flattered! Thank you so much for trying both recipes! I would probably make Curry Bread once or twice a year because it’s so much work…. but omg when it’s done, it’s the best! I can’t wait to make it (more like to eat it) again! Thank you again and sending lots of love to your family too! xo
Thank you for sharing your recipe! Actually this is my first time cooking (without any help) and it turns out great! I love every detail you put in your recipe. I can’t wait to make other recipes you make in this site 😀
Hi Sonnya! I’m so glad to hear your curry came out well! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I hope you enjoy my other recipes too. 🙂
I made this recipe twice – once with shop-bought curry roux, and once with homemade one. The homemade one tastes nothing like the curry I had in Japan/from ready made roux 🙁 Major heartbreak! For some reason we could taste mostly cinnamon, and it wasn’t the main ingredient in the garam masala or curry powder I use. Is it definitely 1:1 ratio on GM and CP? I don’t want to go back to using ready-made roux 🙁
Hi Kat! Thank you for trying this recipe with both roux. I’m not sure about the cinnamon taste in the curry, but MSG is something really hard to replicate. You can adjust or add different spices to make your own curry roux. Please feel free to adjust according to your taste. 🙂
Ah! I didn’t think about the flavour of MSG. It’s probably that… Thank you! I really L O V E your recipes <3
Thank you Kat! Yeah… MSG is really hard to imitate, that’s why people get addicted to. If you look at the box, you will know you can’t make it like that… too many chemicals. 🙂
I tried this recipe minus the ketchup, soy sauce and honey. It was a hit in my family, we have no left overs. You were right that it’s less spicey and sweeter, my kids loved it so much they asked for extra portions. The curry sauce was full packed with flavour we didnt need any garnishes though the eggs were a nice touch. Thank you so much for the recipe, I dont have to buy cubes from the asian store anymore!
Hi Undraa! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Hello!
My children love this Japenese Chicken Curry of yours but thay want me to separate the curry sauce. They said that if combined with the chicken, it become mushy.
What can i do about this… Pleaae help me.
Thank you!
Hello!
My children love this Japenese Chicken Curry of yours but thay want me to separate the curry sauce. They said that if combined with the chicken, it become mushy.
What can i do about this… Pleaae help me.
Thank you!
Hi Esther! How about use grilled chicken instead of cook in the stew? 🙂
I have bit of a weird question! I’ll start by saying I’ve made this recipe twice more-or-less exactly as the recipe says including making curry roux from scratch and it’s been absolutely delicious! I make huge batches and me and the whole family, including a very picky 6-year old, enjoy it for about a week.
However, the curry sauce never looks exactly like it does in the pictures – when I cook it, it’s a bit closer to a very dark green than brown it and i’m not exactly sure why. It makes zero difference to the actual taste and maybe i’m just being a bit perfectionist but I’d love to replicate the proper deep, dark meaty brown curry colour like whenever I’ve had Japanese curry eating out.
Although I try to scale the ingredients up I think I might be not using enough curry roux, or alternatively maybe I’m not letting the roux cook for long enough. I also like to add a lot of vegetables – could that be affecting the curry colour?
If anyone has any input it would be much appreciated 🙂
Hi Patrick! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and I’m happy to hear your family enjoyed this dish. 🙂
Interesting! The brown roux color definitely comes from browning the flour and spice for a long time, as if you end early, it’s less dark in color. But the “dark green” color is definitely peculiar to me… What type of vegetables did you add? Any green veggies? If the roux is lighter in color, maybe pigments from veggies come out? How was the roux color before you cook with the vegetables? When did you notice the curry starts to look dark greenish? I’m curious to find out too…
Thanks for responding Nami! Actually made it again this week and everything came out the right colour so i’m not totally sure what my mistake was haha.
I think I probably didn’t let the roux brown for long enough, or maybe simply didn’t put enough roux in, so it didn’t impart enough colour to the final mix. I also do like to add green veggies like beans or frozen peas so that could have had some effect!
Hi Patrick! Thank you for your response. I’m so glad your curry came out successfully! 🙂
Delicious! I just made this and it was delicious! Thanks!
Hi Cheryl! Thank you so much for trying my recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
After experiencing the goodness of Japanese Curry at Harajuku Gyoza, I set out on a mission to make for myself the tasty flavour I experienced. Following this recipe and the recipe for rice I have now dabbled in my first culinary excursion in Japanese cooking and am blown away by the result! Thank you to Nami for the amazing explanations and guidance in this recipe!!
Hi Stephen! I’m so happy to hear you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it. Thank YOU for your kind feedback! 🙂
I made this but with fish + your Japanese curry paste from scratch and oh my goodness it’s so good! I love it, I will be coming back to this recipe!
Hi X! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback!
Just tried this recipe with the homemade curry roux. Just perfect!
Hi João! I’m so glad you liked the recipe. Thank you for trying it and for your kind feedback. 🙂
I love this recipe and make it all the time!
If I were to use napa cabbage next time at what point do you recommend adding it in?
Hi Melissa! I’m happy to hear you enjoy this recipe! Napa cabbage is cooked quickly so you can add toward the end, about 10 minutes before finishing it. And remember, it also releases water more than other veggies, so adjust the amount of roux if necessary. Don’t be surprised with a bit more runny roux. 🙂
hi, your recipe looks great! If I like the curry to be spicy, could I just add chili powder?
Hi Chua! yes, you can add more chili powder or cayenne pepper. 🙂
Made this tonight and it was soo good and flavorful! It took a while to make but was worth it. I used water instead of chicken broth because I thought that might make it too salty. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Forestpelt! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
This is the best curry I have made and so easy to make. Our mouths are singing a happy tune after eating it. Thank you for a great recipe.
Hi Bev! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Just made this curry tonight for my boyfriend and I. I have to say, as a first timer trying Japanese curry, I am truly impressed by the flavors! I didn’t have apples on hand, so I skipped out on those, and since I’m vegetarian used 2 lbs of zucchini to sub in place of meat. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe. 🥳
Hi Leah! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback! So glad you could make it vegetarian-friendly! 🙂
If I were planning on doubling this recipe what size pot would you suggest I would need? I have been meaning to purchase a larger pot and want to buy one that’s big enough to double this recipe. I should note that I usually omit the potatoes and thus normally make this in a 4qt Staub.
Also, to Mr JOC: you might look into the adservice you’re using because, and others may have experienced this, it’s extremely taxing on mobile devices. I use a high-end chromebook and having the JOC website open on a tab causes noticeable lagging as the ads cycle through and they cycle quite frequently, at least once a minute I think. Obv not suggesting do away with ads but maybe there’s an option available that doesn’t bog down mobile processors as badly.
Hi Talyor! If you are meaning to get a big pot for hosting a party etc, I recommend this 9.5 QT one or similar size: https://amzn.to/2mlGtNh
I don’t use it for my regular dinner (4 people) but when we have another family coming over, I use this size. 🙂
I passed your information to Mr. JOC. We work very closely with one of the reputable ad networks who manage our site. We do our best to make sure our readers are happy. I think the ad refreshes frequently (I’ll ask if we can control how fast, not sure if we have an option). One thing you could do is to install an ad blocker. If there is any annoying ad or not appropriate ad, please send me a screenshot. I’ll have them block those ads from my site.
Thank you again for your message!
Following up on the double-batch. Without the potatoes I was able to EASILY and comfortably make a double batch of this curry in a 7 qt dutch oven. The times need a little tweaking I think though so i’ll have to make a single batch again, get an idea of what it should look like at each stage, and then use that as a reference to develop new times for the double serving. It was a huge hit with my class though. I’m glad of this bc I really didn’t have the coin to drop on a new Le Creuset at the moment (though I do love them and have a smaller grill-bottom one). Just wanted to chime back in case anyone else was wondering. Doubling the recipe without potatoes will work fine in a 7qt dutch oven
Hi Taylor! You’re very kind – thank you so much for your followup on the dutch oven size. I’m glad you could fit everything (but potatoes) in the 7qt dutch oven! 🙂 And glad your classmate enjoyed the dish!
How much of the homemade curry roux should I make for a pot of this using two chicken breasts?
Hi Tessia! The homemade curry is for 3 cups liquid. 🙂
I followed the recipe and… voilà, delicious curry chicken! I received a lot of praise for the dinner so I wanted to thank you for this wonderful website.
Dear Nami,
Happy new year 2020 to you and you beloveds!
I’m so into japanese curry recipes now, wow, i’m gonna live that a lot! Never tried it with ringo.
As I was by accident buying duck leg instead of goose for christmas (which is traditional in germany for christmas lunch) I’m now totally into the taste of duck meat (the accident wasn’t so bad, and the recipes for duck are easier to make i discovered). So I was wondering if there are any japanese recipes with duck, and there wasn’t one. Why? Wheren’t there ducks in the past, as there are much chicken recipes? Was it to expensive?
Well, dearest Nami, wouldn’t you like to create a japanese duck dish? I can imagine one really well. As I was cooking the last time duck (yesterday), I thought instead of wine to put soy sauce into and ginger with root vegetables for the sauce. Perhaps cook it in Dashi instead of vegetable/chicken stock?
I know that I’m not able to make it delicious, but I think you can do it. Hoping your into it like i am and if i’m looking so forward to it!!
Hi Anna! Happy New Year! What a fun and exciting discovery! Duck has been eating in Japan for a long time, but it’s not the mainstream. Maybe because it’s expensive? The popular dish include Kamo Nabe (duck hot pot with all the similar hot pot ingredients) and Kamo Nanban (duck soba noodles with long green onion). It has a stronger smell, so it’s not as popular as chicken. And back in Edo period, it was considered lower class people’s food.
Mr. JOC loves ducks, but I don’t really cook much (maybe because it’s also not common meat from American grocery stores). I’ll think about something! 🙂
Nami, thank you so much for your easy-to-follow detailed recipes! The end result invariably makes me feel as if I’m in Japan again 😎
But this one actually turned out ever better than anything I’d ever had in Japanese restaurants – which is entirely due to the ingredients you shared and to your explanations – because I’m not a good cook AT ALL, I need every step explained to me in detail if I want to end up with something edible. And this one is just fantastic.
So thank you again for sharing your knowledge with us all!
Hi Anna! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. It meant so much to me! I’m glad you could enjoy this at your home. 🙂
This tastes sooo good! I’ve made curry a lot and have always thought something sweet would make it better so I like the incorporation of apples and honey. Paired it with coconut rice.
Hi Neeki! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
I just made this recipe, I used all the ingredients and followed the directions as best as can. I used the Golden curry sauce packet, not the cubes. I have to say, this recipe is delicious! I was a little apprehensive about the apple, honey and ketchup but the sweetness blended with the savory. Thank you!
Hi Tori! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Great, easy curry recipe. This is minor, but it looks like you are using more than 1.2 pounds of boneless chicken thighs. Is that the correct chicken weight on your recipe?
Hi Karen! Thank you for trying this recipe! My measurement should be correct; otherwise, I wouldn’t write 1.2 lbs (not clean number…). 🙂
This seems like a double order or something, since the boxes I can find are usually 92 oz you should specify a bit better as one box can vary and now I only have half of what I need…
Hi Yoko-san! My recipe already mentions that you need 1 box (7 oz or 200 g). I’m sorry you missed that. 🙁
My wife is allergic to tomatoes. Is there any harm in leaving out the ketchup?
Hi Kyle! You can leave out the ketchup. I shared other things you can add instead in this post: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pressure-cooker-japanese-curry/
Hope that helps!
We’ve been making Japanese curry for years now, but we’ve only ever followed the recipe on the back of the box until now. Decided to finally try a recipe with some extras added to it, and wowie what a difference!
All these little extra bits and bobs really takes it to the next level, and add a complexity to the dish that was previously missing. Made one of my favorite dishes even better!
Thanks for the recipe 😁
Hi Sunny! Aww I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the curry more! Thank you for your kind feedback. Try different condiments so each time will taste differently. 🙂
Hello! Can I use apple juice instead of the grated apple, and if so, how much should I use?
Hi Gianna! Grated apple is added for a hint of sweetness, not for the apple flavor per se. So if you use apple juice, maybe 1/4 cup or so, but make sure to reduce the broth/water from the main cooking liquid since you’re introducing more liquid. 🙂
Thank you for replying! Are there any other ways of substituting the grated apple?
Hi Gianna! Grated pear works too, as just a hint of sweetness under the layer of curry flavor. Some people may notice some may not. 🙂
Ok, thank you!
First time making Japanese curry and I must say the flavours are so delicious!! I loved it and so did my family. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi Sharon! I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. xo
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made this along with the curry roux recently for my partner and we were both so impressed with how delicious it was and how authentic it tasted. I adapted it slightly because I’m vegan (vegan butter for the roux, tofu instead of meat, water instead of beef stock, and rice malt syrup instead of honey), and it turned out fantastically. I’ve recommending this to everyone and will be making it again today 🙂
Hi Bec! Wow, thank you so much for your kind feedback! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe with great success! Thanks so much for sharing your substitution and recommending my recipe to your friends too! 🙂
I was craving a Japanese curry and haven’t had one for years (owing to now being gluten free and unable to find one that is GF). I made your roux and the curry and am so impressed with the flavour. I obviously used a GF flour (my only substitute). I wasn’t sure how much of the roux to use and ended up adding until it tasted right for me (half per instructions and a little more towards the end of the cooking). I will be keeping your recipe and making again. Thanks so much!!
Hi Kristy! Thank you so much for trying my roux recipe and this curry recipe! I’m happy to hear GF flour worked well. Thank you for your kind words and feedback!
This was my first time making Japanese curry from scratch. Epic flavors and wow’d my audience who have never had something like this before. I substituted potatoes for daikon and added broccoli. Also added a hint of Worcestershire sauce. This recipe is a keeper.
Hi Inka! Aww I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for trying my recipe and for your kind feedback! 🙂
Great as as every time I make for my family is now one of their favorite dishes. Thanks
Hi Alba! I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you so much for your kind words and feedback. 🙂
Hi – what if one just wants to make the curry sauce (example if serving with chicken katsu)? Follow the same steps but without adding the chicken? Possibly use a stock cube to get a stick flavor instead?
Hi Maheen! Yes, you can make the sauce minus chicken. 🙂 If you’re using curry roux, you “could” use water instead of chicken broth or stock cube… up to you! 🙂 Enjoy!!
Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s my family’s go to meal, we make it almost every week using the homemade roux recipe too. So easy to make, hearty and comforting. Everyone love the taste and how it warms you from inside. It’s enjoyable to test small different flavor variations. We always try to have the ingredients for this at home. During quarantine we’ve eaten this at least twice a week without getting tired of it. It’s like a warm hug from the inside, true comfort food.
Hi Johanna! I’m so happy to hear you (and everyone you mentioned) enjoy this recipe and thank you for your kind words and feedback! Good food definitely keeps our spirit up and keep us happy! Stay safe and healthy, Johanna! xo
Is Japanese curry gluten free?
Hi Dan! If you make your own Japanese curry roux from scratch with GF flour, yes it can be GF. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-curry-roux/
Hello Nami-san,
May I get your email address to make a private request?
Many thanks,
Nancy
Hi Nancy! You can contact us hello @ justonecookbook dot com. 🙂
Great delicious recipe! I added a little (1 tsp) sesame oil to the onion mixture for extra flavor in addition to the olive oil and used coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce, but stuck with the recipe otherwise. Next time I’ll cut the cayenne in half only because my daughter thought it was too spicy. I loved it!
I’d also like to add that I used your homemade roux! I’m so excited to be able to make it from scratch! It seems so much healthier that way.
Thank you! 😊
Hi Michelle! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your sweet comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe as well as the homemade roux! 🙂
This recipe is the best but I personally don’t like honey taste in a curry. It’s a perfect recipe when I skipped a honey.
Hi bscale! Thanks so much for trying my recipe and for your kind feedback! 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I have made this recipe many times with beef/chicken and it turns out great every time:) by far my favorite Japanese curry recipe, highly recommend trying it💕
Hi Bella! Aww thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m really happy to hear you enjoy my recipe. Thanks for using my recipe all the time! 🙂
DELICIOUS!! been in quarantine I decided to give this one a shot. Went to head and made my own curry roux with the justonecookbook recipe and added the veggies I had in the fridge…. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined making my own curry roux! I was shocked at how easy it was. And now I can’t stop eating it!
Hi Satomi! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and thank you so much for your kind feedback! 🙂
I tried this recipe and the taste is amazing! The ginger, honey, and apple really adds flavor to it!
Hi Phoebe! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks so much for your kind feedback!
This is unfortunately not my native cuisine, but I love it so much, and am almost never able to replicate the wonderful authentic food I have had from my Japanese family. I have an aunt who was born and raised in Okinawa, and she would make her version often for us as kids. We LOVED it. I have been looking for something similar to hers, and this is it. I LOVED it as well. Thank you for this recipe, it was fantastic!!
Hi Corey! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed it. Hope you can tweak the recipe to make it just like your aunt. 🙂
I have never left a comment on recipe websites but this deserves it!!! Growing up in Japan, curry was an essential part of our family meals. No other recipe comes close to this. Thank you!!!
Hi Masumi! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m really happy to hear that you enjoy this recipe!
Hi Nami, could I use boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of the thighs?
Hi Mariam! Yes, you can. I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
The best curry I’ve ever had! I made a had to omit a lot of the ingredients for dietary reasons, but making it with that recipe for the homemade curry roux was just perfect <3
Hi Michelle! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for your kind feedback!!!
Just wanted to say that I’ve made this about 6 times now and every time it’s phenomenal. The whole family loves it. It’s one of my go-to recipes now. I even decided to put some in a savory pastry (a Cornish pasty) this time and it was sooo good! The filling held up really well and it’s much more delicious than the standard fillings. Thank you for the time and effort you put into making this recipe easy to follow for everyone!
Hi Keegan! I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoy this recipe. Thank you for trying it and taking the time to write our feedback! xo
Making it for the second time. It’s just like the curry at my favorite japanese restaurant. I made it without an apple the first time and added more ketchup. I will now try to find the curry cubes because making a roux makes this recipe not as easy! I also am vegetarian and made it with more carrots and potatoes, as well as peas.
Hi Erika! Thanks so much for trying this recipe. I’m glad to hear you enjoy it. Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
My family loved this curry. I made your roux using mochiko because I cannot eat wheat. It was amazing. This curry tastes almost exactly like I remember curry made with S&B roux tastes like. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hi Jennifer! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear you liked it and good to know mochiko worked for curry roux too (I’ve never tried that before). 🙂
my mum had been wanting to eat chicken curry for a while and today I made this for her. we are both so completely overjoyed with how it came out. I usually try to make lots of asian cuisine recipes for her but so far this has been our favourite. I even used the homemade curry roux recipe since I can’t find the curry cubes here in Colombia. This was an absolute delight and all the flavours are in completely balance with each other<3 literally a 10/10 of a recipe.
Hi Ren! Thank you so much for trying this recipe. I’m so happy to hear you and your mom enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind feedback!!!
This recipe is so delicious! We have made it several times now and I haven’t tired of it. I stumbled upon it when searching for freezer friendly meals, and am so glad I found it and this website. I typically don’t crave recipes (I tend to jump around in my recipe arsenal), but I find myself coming back to this recipe because of how flavorful it is. I also appreciate that it’s easy for me as I have no prior experience cooking Japanese food at home. Thank you Nami for such a wonderful and easy way to make curry roux! I really appreciate this recipe and your website, and I look forward to making more delicious meals!
Hi Amber! Awww your kind comment made me so happy. Thank you for your feedback. I am so happy you’re cooking Japanese food at home! Hope you will enjoy other recipes too. 🙂
Excellent dish! My son was supposed to visit Japan in May, but with COVID it couldn’t happen. To make him feel a little better this Italian mom took on Japanese cooking. This was delicious and not hard to make. I made the homemade roux, which came together in a snap. Delicious – a keeper!
Hi Maria! I’m so sorry to hear your son couldn’t make it to Japan. 🙁 But wow, you’re such a sweet mom!!! Thanks so much for trying this recipe. I’m sure he was super excited that you made this dish for him! Thank you for your kind feedback. Hope your son can visit Japan soon… we’re waiting too.
This is the second time I’ve ever posted about a recipe because this recipe is AMAZING! I’ve tried lots of different curry recipes because my husband loves curry and I wanted to find out what he loves about it. Neither one of us liked my previous attempts, but this one, this one was and is a winner! He specifically said that this recipe is a keeper. The only problem I had was in making the roux from scratch. It never got the dark color it was supposed to and it never got quite as thick as it should have, but that I’m pretty sure I know what I did wrong and it had no bearing on the final product. I am a fan of you! Thank you!
Hi Amanda! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and I’m glad to hear you and your husband enjoyed this recipe. 🙂 As for the curry roux, the flour and butter mixture will “burn” and that becomes dark color. Any substitute? How about the heat? Maybe it was a bit too low so the mixture never had a chance to cook?
I’ve been seeing Japanese curry ALL over my social media recently, and my parents made it for me a few times when I was younger, so naturally I had to find a new recipe! This tasted so, so, so, amazing and looked just like the picture! For mine, I added a few choice spices, mirin, a pack of sliced mushrooms, extra carrots, and used 1 lb of beef instead of chicken. My dad and brother loved it as well!!
Hi Allison! Thanks so much for trying my recipe! So happy to hear your family enjoyed it too! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
I’ve never made japanese curry before but I got my hands on some SB curry blocks. One package contains two blocks and I wondered if I’m really supposed to use both for this recipe when the back of the package says it’s for 900 grams of meat.
Hi Emma! Yes, I use both (basically a whole box). You can increase the amount of meat if you like. 🙂 Since you never made this before, when you add curry roux, don’t add the whole roux. Add a few pieces at a time to see the taste and consistency (thick/thin) before you add more. 🙂
I’m making this for the second time, but I was out of a few things so I made some changes and I’m nervous but hopeful! I had to use chicken breast and I had no stock, but I loved the flavor so I added two teaspoons of chicken bouillon instead. I’m thinking the chicken breast will be okay, but I’m terrified of ruining such an awesome recipe. Totally in love and if my changes dont work, I’ll be sure to make sure to stock up on all the supplies to make this perfect dish.
Hi Shayane! This recipe is pretty forgivable (?) so you should be okay! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I had tried the recipe. The curry chicken turns out super nice. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Geoffry! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Omg just finish this curry and is really good, love the apple touch and honey . Thank you
Hi Kat! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Not sure I’ll ever make the homemade version since I’ve been eating Vermont Curry since I was a child. I finally got The Husband to try it with kizami shoga. Now he wonders what the heck he was so scared of! LOL!
I’ll read the comments, but I have a question: The Husband is a Type 2 diabetic and white rice sends his blood sugar skyrocketing. What else can I serve with Japanese curry? He dislikes brown rice, but I might try udon. Any other ideas?
Hi Tea! You should totally use Vermont Curry! Japanese curry is comfort food so whatever works! 🙂 Hmm… besides udon, which is a delicious choice, you can eat it with Somen noodles, konnyaku noodles, glass/vermicelli noodles… Mr JOC didn’t like brown rice before too, but it really depends on how it’s cooked and type of brown rice too. He now enjoys it. I buy Akita Komachi (Japanese short grain brown rice).
Chicken curry is the go-to, but it’s even more flavorful with pork. We buy the weird cuts (they’re like large, flat chops with the bones in odd places) to save a few bucks. Honestly, try it! It’s *so* delicious!
Hi Tea! We eat beef, pork, and seafood curry too to change up things! 🙂
This took a bit of work but it was very worth it! Super flavourful. I used two different brands of boxed curry roux, and added ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Great tips!
Hi Dani! Glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for your kind feedback!
I’ve made this in the past following your recipe and it’s excellent!
I want to make this for my girlfriend but she dislikes the texture of the onions but likes the taste. Normally I just substitute the onion for onion powder in recipes that call for onion, do you think that I could do this and still have similar results flavor wise?
Hi Mary! So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Sure, I think that will work (but I haven’t tried it before…). Or mince it and caramelize it (cook a bit longer than I specified here) to get that delicious naturally sweet taste. If minced, you won’t see the trace of onion when it’s cooked. And the flavor should be amazing, a bit different from what onion powder can provide. 🙂 Just a thought. Hope you two will enjoy the meal!
Hello, i love this recipe but have recently developed an allergy to apples. What could I use as a substitute for the apple in this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Laureen! I’m sorry about the allergy to apples. Apples are added for natural sweetness. If you want to add some sweetness, you can add honey, mango chutney, mirin, etc. 🙂 Other common adds-on condiments to Japanese curry is listed in the blog post. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/simple-chicken-curry/
Hi, I am planning on making this for dinner tomorrow, I’m going to be making my own curry roux from scratch using your recommended recipe.
Was just wondering, what is the best substitute for garam masala?
I looked all up and down the spice aisle at the grocery store today and couldn’t find it anywhere.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Torey! You can make it yourself BUT it has a lot of spice in there that is kind of a waste to buy so many individual spices… I would skip it and see if you like it okay with just curry powder. It is also a mixture of spices too. The result will be less “depth” in flavor (lacking garam masala) but should be okay having other flavors from chicken and veggies. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I keep coming back! I enjoy it with many more veggies and a less meat.
I always forget the apple – but it comes out great anyway.
My boxed curry is Vermont Curry – I mix half Mild and half Med Hot.
Keeps excellently in fridge for a few days
Never forget the egg!
Hi Caroline! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
I tried it, I forgot to put the ketchup but still taste amazing. My partner who loves asian dishes looked worriedly as I was grating the apple but it turned out amazing. Will definitely make this again. Highly recommended. I skipped the soy sauce though as it has enough salt. maybe next time I will skip the salt and put the soy sauce instead.
Hi Jerry,
Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! I’m so glad to hear you and your partner enjoyed the dish. As Nami mention in her blog, you can personalize your Curry by using a few combinations of the ingredients like Butter, Chocolate, Coffee, Grated apple, Honey, Ketchup, Mirin, Oyster sauce, Red wine, Sake, Soy sauce, Tonkatsu sauce, or Worcestershire Sauce, Yogurt too. It will enhance the flavor and give some complexity to the curry! Enjoy!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Made it for dinner tonight and its SOO good .. looking forward to my left overs for the week. The only thing I tweaked was adding tofu instead of using chicken and it’s still mouth watering!!
Hi Kiara,
Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. We’re so glad to hear you enjoyed the curry.
Adding tofu sounds very yummy too! 😋
I fucking hate this website. It kept freezing on my pc and as soon as I tried my phone, a million ads popped up. Fuck all of this shit 🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻
I love this recipe! Always tastes great and I’m not experimenting with adding different ingredients to change the depth and flavor of the curry. I was wondering what you think about adding cocoa powder to it? Perhaps a teaspoon or less? I’ve heard of chocolate but not sure how cocoa powder would do instead.
Hi JO,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Cocoa powder also works personalizing your curry and recommend adding 1 tsp at a time to see if you like the taste. 😊
I made this after trying Japanese curry at a restaurant and this was just as good! I couldn’t find garam masala at my local grocery store to make the roux homemade, so I bought the only brand of store bought roux available, which was Golden Curry in mild. I put a little cayenne and red pepper flakes to make it a little spicier, and I put in half of a honey crisp apple because I wasn’t sure how much to add, but I am very happy with the results and will definitely be making it again!
Hi Helena,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
The Garam masala is an Indian spice. If you can’t find it, you may want to substitute with 2 3/4 teaspoons of cumin with 1/4 teaspoon of allspice to make 1 tablespoon. It will give you a pretty close taste.
We hope this helps!
I can’t make my curry thick, it’s just like water. Why is that? Any suggestion? The taste is great tho
Hi Destri,
Thank you for trying this recipe! We are glad to hear the taste was great!
Did you use homemade curry roux? If you did, probably your flour did not have much gluten.
You can make an extra curry roux and add to your curry or add extra potato.
We hope this helps!☺️
Thank you so much for this recipe! Until recently, I’ve always made Japanese curry using the store-bought roux, and I never realized how easy it is to make from scratch. Not to mention that it tastes SO much better this way! I’m never going back~
I moved to Italy 2 years ago, and it has been very difficult to find good Japanese ingredients where I live, and Japanese restaurants are very rare.
This recipe, among so many others that Nami has posted, has really saved me. I was missing Japanese food so much, but now I don’t have to, and I’m so grateful!
It has also been fun sharing authentic dishes with my Italian family and friends and introducing them to Japanese dishes other than sushi.
Give this recipe a try. You wont’ be disappointed. 🙂
Hi Brittney,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We couldn’t be happier to hear how much joy and excitement Nami’s recipe has brought to you, your family, and friends in Italy!
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.💞
Can I cook this on a slow cooker?
Hi El,
Yes, you can. However, we recommend sautéing the onion and chicken first, add the curry roux 30~40 minutes before you finish cooking.🙂
That will be great. Thanks for your advice! Look forward to make this.
It’s our pleasure! We hope you like this curry.☺️
I’ve been making this curry for years now and it’s a great family favorite! So tasty and flavorful! 😋 yum 😋 Thanks so much for posting this – am enjoying and ever so grateful!!!
Hi Linda!
We are so happy to hear this is your family’s favorite curry!
Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!😊
One of the best curry recipes I’ve had. Thanks for sharing and the detailed instructions! My wife and I loved it.
Hi Fish!
You have no idea how much your kind words meant to us!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I make this at least once a month because it takes us a week to finish. I have a question, how do you get it to stay in a liquid form like when it’s made the day of? After a day once the fridge, it doesn’t have much of a liquid form. Thank you for your time!
Hi Jo!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
To enjoy the leftover curry the next day, we recommend adding a little bit of water or chicken broth and reheat the curry on low heat.
You can also add Dashi to the leftover and make it into Curry Udon noodle soup too. It’s also tasty too.😉 https://www.justonecookbook.com/curry-udon/
Enjoy!
Hi Nami
How do we store the store-bought curry roux? The words are all in Japanese.
Do we store the left over cubes in the pantry or in the fridge?
Thank you.
Hi B,
Please store it in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
We hope you enjoyed the Curry!🙂
Hey, you mentioned Mirin which I have in my cupboard, when should I add it? Thanks
Hi Elliot!
You may add the Mirin in Step 13.
Thank you for trying this recipe!🙂
Thank you I made this for my family and they loved it. I never thought about mixing the curry blocks. I had bought a large amount online of a type that was tad too spicy. And had some around that was too mild. mixing them came out to the perfect level of spice.
Hi Nicole!
We are so glad to hear you found the tips to make your favorite curry from this post!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.
Thanks! I made this last night and added the mirin at step 7, still tasted good, will remember to add it later next time
I made this for my mother who loves curry but hasn’t been feeling up to spiciness lately. She absolutely loved it and I ended up with no leftovers.
Hi Luna,
Aww. We are so happy to hear she enjoyed it!
Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.☺️
Pretty good recipe, I found it a bit salty though so I wouldn’t recommend adding 1 litre of chicken stock.
Hi Juslin,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
May I ask if you use boxed curry roux or homemade curry?
I’ll be honest but I didn’t expect you to reply to every comment haha. Personally, I used Vermont Curry Roux, is there a problem?
Hi Juslin!
No. no… not the problem. Thank you for answering our question.
We wanted to find out why you thought it was salty. We think some brands use more salt than others and might make it salty for this recipe. Thank you for letting us know.
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your feedback.🙂
I was looking to recreate my favorite Japanese curry takeout meal, so I came in with an idea of what I wanted it to taste like. This recipe is WAY stronger on the curry flavor, which isn’t a bad thing, but not what I was looking for. Love the photo steps and how everything was laid out for me in terms of timing (no “darn I should’ve done this first” moments!).
Just for personal preference, I’d half all the spices in the curry roux and take out the cayenne pepper + onions in the base. I made it with vegetable stock and tofu, so perhaps the spices were more pronounced since there was little fat/umami to balance out the curry-ness. Thanks for the great recipe anyway, and I’m looking forward to making it again to customize it to my preferences 🙂
Hi Sofia,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and sharing your cooking experience and tips!
We are so happy to hear you were able to customize this recipe for your preferences.
Thank you for your input and your kind feedback!😊
Fantastic!!! I used your roux and since my weird family doesn’t like carrots I used shitake mushrooms, and this is still better than any of the restaurants around here ( knoxville tn area) ! So thank you very much. ありがとうございます‼️
Hi Frank!
Aww…Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed homemade curry roux!
Thank you for trying this recipe.😊
I made a 5x recipe of your curry roux the other day and froze individual blocks of it. Used one of those blocks today to make this chicken curry, and I have to say, this turned out precisely the way I remember the boxed roux tasting. The kids loved it, and this is totally going into our weeknight repertoire. Fantastic recipe.
Hi Aaron,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe with homemade curry roux!🥰
I just made this and while the flavor is amazing I did end up with a bit of a watery curry. Any advise?
Hi Sophia!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
If you use homemade curry roux, the recipe yields 1/3 cup roux is enough for your curry recipe that requires 4 cups of liquid.
However, everyone prefers different curry consistency, and you may like it thicker, then we recommend using more curry roux (homemade or store-bought).
You can also add more potatoes to make it thicker as well.
We hope this helps!
Thank you so much for this recipe and the curry roux recipe! I’ve wanted to try Japanese curry for a long time, but have severe problems with gluten, so making my own was the only way to go. I am making it right now and it smells amazing! I can’t wait, thank you so so much!!
Hi Nadine,
We are so glad to hear you made gluten-free Japanese curry!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Made this recipe today and it was amazing! Very hearty and made my house smell delicious. Will definitely be making again. I used 1 medium hot and 1 hot hot curry block and it was the perfect level of spice.
Hi Megan!
We are so glad to hear you enjoyed the Japanese curry!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.
I can’t wait to try this over the weekend. I have a question…. if I am using your homemade roux recipe do I use the entire amount or just part of it? Thank you!!
Hi Marge,
Homemade roux 1 Yield (1/3 cup roux) is enough for your curry recipe that requires 3-4 cups liquid. If you prefer a thicker consistency, please make more roux and add it to the curry as everyone prefers different curry’s consistency. https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-curry-roux/
We hope this helps!