Japanese curry is a hearty and satisfying comfort food, enjoyed not only in Japan but all around the world. You can get beef varieties, chicken varieties, pretty much any variation that can be made with curry sauce and ladled liberally over fluffy white rice. My all time favourite is Chicken Curry Katsu Don. This is a delicious thick curry containing vegetables, always chunks of potato and carrot but other vegetables can also be added and topped with a cutlet of crumbed and fried chicken. Of course, the dish is delicious because of the crumbed chicken on top but it is the curry sauce that gives it a distinctive and thoroughly Japanese taste. The Japanese were introduced to curry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century via British visitors from what was then the British Raj or colonial British India. Like other British/Indian hybrid creations, think kedgeree, chutney, Worcestershire sauce and Clive of India or Keen’s Curry Powder, the curry introduced to Japan was not an authentic Indian recipe but a recipe filtered through Western palates. The curry is milder and less complex than Indian recipes and often has quite a sweet flavour.The major difference between Indian and Japanese curry is in the cooking method and the spice blend. Indian curries are generally made from a base of fried onions, chillies, ginger, garlic and other aromatics with a complex and individual blend of spices added depending on what type of curry you are making. Japanese curry is made from fried onions, blended commercial curry powder and flour cooked with oil to make a roux. Most Japanese don’t bother with this process anymore and just buy the already mixed curry cubes that are readily available all over the country and make for a quick and satisfying meal on the run.

Japanese Curry Cubes

The curry cubes are also easily found in most Asian grocers here in Melbourne and in most other Western cities. The first time I made Chicken Curry Katsu Don I found some in my local KFL supermarket in Sydney Road, Coburg. My latest batch I made with my son using curry cubes he brought back with him from his recent trip to Japan.

Hearty and delicious Japanese comfort food

Chicken Curry Katsu Don

Ingredients

2 large skinless free range chicken breasts

Seasoned flour for coating

Egg and milk for dipping

Japanese Panko breadcrumbs for coating

Sunflower oil for frying

4 large potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)

4 carrots (peeled and cut into chunks)

1 litre of water

4-5 Japanese curry cubes

Cooked white rice for serving

Method

Halve the chicken breasts and butterfly each half. Using a meat mallet gently beat out the pieces of chicken until they are approximately 1cm thick. Coat with flour, dip in the egg mixture and finish with a coating of the Panko breadcrumbs. When all pieces are crumbed place on a plate and refrigerate to ‘set the crumb’. Meanwhile, place the vegetables in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 10 minutes or until the vegetables are about half cooked. Break the curry cubes into the water and reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove the crumbed chicken breasts from the refrigerator and heat 1.5-2cm sunflower oil in a heavy based frying pan until bubbles form around a wooden spoon handle when inserted. Gently fry the chicken cutlets two at a time until golden brown on both sides. Remove and drain well. Continue cooking the curry and vegetables until the sauce thickens. To serve, place some white rice in the bottom of a bowl, ladle over the vegetable curry and top with the sliced chicken cutlet.

Hint: Serve with Japanese pickles, tonkatsu sauce and half a hard boiled egg