← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 600 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 Onion, sliced into thin wedges
• 2 Carrot, cut into chunks
• 450 g waxy potatoes (about 3), cut into large chunks
• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 2 cloves Garlic, grated
• 1 tsp Ginger, grated
• 900 ml chicken stock or water
• ½ Apple, grated (optional)
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 1 tbsp Ketchup
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 200 g Japanese curry roux blocks, broken into pieces
• 450 g Japanese short-grain rice, cooked, to serve
• fukujinzuke or pickled ginger, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring now and then, for 8–10 min, until soft and lightly golden. This sweetness is the base of the sauce.
2. Add the garlic and ginger, then the chicken, and cook for 3–4 min until the chicken is no longer pink outside.
3. Add the carrots, potatoes, stock and grated apple. Bring to the boil, skim off any foam, then cover and simmer gently for 15–20 min, until a knife slides easily into the potatoes.
4. Turn off the heat. Add the roux pieces and stir until they dissolve completely (dissolving off the heat stops lumps).
5. Stir in the honey, ketchup and soy sauce, then simmer over low heat for 5–10 min, stirring often so it does not catch, until thick and glossy. The chicken should be cooked through (75°C / 165°F).
6. Serve ladled next to a mound of rice, with pickles on the side.

Tips

• Most curry roux blocks contain wheat and often milk; check the packet if you have allergies.
• Curry tastes even better the next day. Cool leftover curry and rice quickly and refrigerate within 1 hour; reheat until piping hot.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Just One Cookbook Chopstick Chronicles