A friend of ours gave us two boxes of this Japanese curry mix, one is “mild” and the other is “medium hot”. She left it on our porch without any instructions. Wondering if anyone has experience cooking with it - any advice? Is it always used with beef? Based on the recipe on the back of the boxes, we bought 1 lb. of steak tips, and have onions, carrots and potatoes. I assume it’s served with rice. Not sure whether to start with the mild or the spicier version. There’s only two of us, so I’m only going to use half of the box. Apparently I should store the other half in the refrigerator. Thanks for any help!
1 Like
(post deleted by author)
I used to use that or the other brands of curry roux until I began to make curry somewhat from scratch. The mild is just that…quite mild. If you choose to make that one first and it’s too mild for you, you could add additional curry powder if you have some. If you don’t have any, you could add chili powder or like I often do with my homemade curries, add some doubanjiang or similar spicy miso (they add spice as well as umami!)
Beef isn’t necessarily standard here in Japan. Some parts of Japan use pork instead for meat-based curry. Chicken and seafood are also common. In south Asia lamb or even mutton might be used, but are rare here in Japan (where S&B curry mix is from).
In regards to rice, that’s certainly the most common thing it’s served over, but curry udon is very common and popular as well.
Lastly, I would personally store the unused roux in the refrigerator as those roux mixes have oils (there was lard in the mix ages ago, but I’m not sure about that in the US) which can go rancid fairly easily without refrigeration.
Good luck and bon appetit!
3 Likes
(post deleted by author)
Also, the curry mix is divided up into pressed rectangles like a Hershey bar, so you could use a couple of the mild and one of the medium to spice it up a little. As @TokushimaCook mentioned the mild is really mild. It keeps in the fridge for a long time.
3 Likes
S&B curry bricks are mild no matter what the heat rating. Even the extra hot is pretty mild. The blocks are basically a curry roux from which you build your curry. Choose whatever protein you want or none at all. If your protein is beef, pork, chicken, or lamb, cut it into large bite (or two bite) sized pieces. Cut a medium to large onion into a medium dice. Additional veg is up to you, but I typically use carrots, potatoes, and sometimes bell pepper, peas, and/or pea pods. Saute your onions in some butter or vegetable oil. When the onions are translucent, add the terrestrial protein (but not fish or tofu yet - save those for later). When the protein is starting to brown, add about two cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the curry bricks and stir to dissolve. If you’re making a fish or tofu curry, add that after the bricks are completely incorporated. Bring back to a simmer. Serve with/over rice or udon. The leftover curry can be refrigerated and reheats well.
Note that this is for boxes of S&B that are 3.2 ounces (92 grams), which was enough at the ricepad pad when both the Spawns still lived at home. Now it’s enough for two dinners for Mrs. ricepad and me. If your friend gave you a larger box (S&B comes in at least two sizes, perhaps three), you’ll have to adjust for size, but the roux bricks should keep in the fridge for quite a while.
4 Likes
My husband loves these. I usually use leftover cooked chicken, but have tried it with leftover sliced steak, ground beef, and ground chicken. The mild is very very mild. I prefer the medium hot which isn’t hot at all. I use carrots, onions, and potatoes, and sometimes a cut up apple. An article I read a while ago recommended adding some ketchup, which I liked. It’s very flexible.
3 Likes
https://www.chopstickchronicles.com/japanese-curry-roux/ is almost exactly like the S&B without artificial ingredients. You just have to salt the final dish to taste. I use the same amount of homemade roux in weight as the S&B for curries. To make it easy to dissolve in liquid, I spread it out to cool, then refrigerate until solid, and then blitz it to a powder in the food processor. It gets stored in the freezer.
2 Likes
Thank you to all of you for your responses. I used half the package of the medium-hot curry mix with beef, onions, carrots and a potato. We had it with rice, and some stir-fried snow peas alongside. Except for the beef, we had all of those ingredients in the house. Last night was cold here and the curry was warming - we enjoyed it. We’re going to try using chicken the next time. It was a very easy supper.
6 Likes
Yep they make a quick and tasty Japanese Style Curry just as they are.
That said I do some Additions, I add grated Ginger, grated Apple to the Onions.
I cook the Onions till they lightly Caramelize and then add a couple of Shots of Sake.
It is nice to serve finely shredded Cabbage, Fukujinzuke (Pickled Veg, you can buy canned) and Beni Shoga (shredded pickled Ginger) as a side of Add-ins for the Curry.
2 Likes
I realized that I didn’t specify when to add the veg! Add the potatoes and carrots when you add the water. Softer (quicker cooking veg) goes in later lest it turn to mush.
As @BierMonk notes, fukujinzuke is a traditional accompaniment, which I didn’t learn until I was probably 50, despite growing up eating Japanese curry AND usually having fukujinzuke in the house. At the ricepad pad, we usually add a single umeboshi (pickled plum) to each serving.
2 Likes
These curry roux’s are a dinner cheat for me! I try to get the extra hot S&B, so there is at least a hint of spiciness to the dish. I prefer to use chicken, since the sauce itself can be quite heavy. I also enjoy it with just veggies. I like to add onions, carrots and potatoes too. If I’m in the mood to make katsu, it’s nice with katsu but I don’t like the curry sauce over my katsu and making it soggy.
Just a bit of advice - the curry can be very thick and a tad salty (for my taste). I usually find myself needing to add more water to make the curry more saucy. For myself, I make half a box, and that will give me 3-4 meals. The box instructions I think is for the whole box, but that is a LOT of curry.
2 Likes
We think we will get another 2 servings from it tonight but I’ll probably have to add a bit more water when I reheat it and will also have to make some more rice. This was a gift from a friend of ours - not sure I would buy it to make again but we did enjoy it and look forward to a repeat of it tonight. We have half of the box for another few meals, and a whole box of the “mild” flavor. We are more familiar with using Thai curry pastes and coconut milk for easy dinners - they can be quite spicy!
1 Like
By the way, if you don’t add potatoes to the dishes you make the curry mix with, the completed dishes tend to freeze very well. I bring up the potatoes because when added to such dishes, they defrost very poorly and become powdery.
If you do decide to freeze some, adding a bit of liquid (water or some sort of broth) should probably be added when reheating.
2 Likes
Thank you. When I make the next batch, I am going to serve it with udon as you suggested. It was almost too soupy for rice (tonight we’re going to eat it in bowls instead of rimmed plates). I also think I will make it with chicken and add another vegetable, or two. Mushrooms? Peas?
1 Like
You’re welcome. When I think it has come out too soupy for one reason or another (which is often because the vegetables I’ve added have released a lot of moisture), I’ll thicken in up with a potato starch slurry (corn starch isn’t used very often in Japan). Some instant potato flakes might work well, too.
Very often mushrooms are added and some people make curry with no other vegetables added at all. I LOVE eggplant in curry as well as kabocha squash.
And yes, in Japan it is most often served in bowls rather than flat plates and dare I say “always” eaten with a spoon, not a fork.
2 Likes
If it is too soupy just add another square of the curry. It took me a long time to realize that this is what my mom used to make her Post Easter egg curry. She served it on rice or toast. I thought it was a recipe she made up due to too many extra hardboiled eggs and a cupboard that held curry powder and cornstarch. Eggs are a good protein to add. It makes for a good breakfast. Quite a few years ago a friend of mine took me to his favorite restaurant in little Tokyo for a midnight snack. Turns out is was a curry similar to what my mom made.
Since then I have made Japanese curry from scratch. It is better than S&B and other brands (not by much) and very easy to make from basic ingredients, but I still use the blocks as an easy solution for nights I don’t really want to cook. I usually use chicken or pork tenderloin. I almost always add potatoes. I use the med or spicy version, so I sometimes add raisins to balance the flavors. I add whatever vegetables I have on hand. Onions, bellpepper and zucchini is a favorite combo for me. Served with steamed rice and steamed cauliflower.
1 Like
Thank you - we have some pork tenderloin in the freezer. I will experiment with additional vegetables, too. We had it tonight again leftover and enjoyed it as much as the first time.
1 Like
I don’t bother browning the tenderloin. I just cut it into thick matchstick pieces and add toward the end, once the potatoes are almost cooked. I do this because it is fast and easy but also because browning it first will make the meat overcooked. By throwing it in the curry raw, it has a chance to suck up the sauce.
2 Likes
I totally forgot to say/write something important! That is that no one I know here in Japan makes enough curry for just one meal. Some people, including myself will make it a day in advance of eating it because like many stew-like dishes, it tastes better the second or even third day.
I usually make at least 5 meals worth of it and in addition to eating it over rice, will sometimes slather it on thickly sliced bread, put some grated cheese on it and toast it. In Japan nearly every bakery sells “curry pan” (“pan” means bread in Japanese, a word they borrowed from Portugal…though others say it might have been a different country). “Curry pan” (sometimes called “curry doughnuts” in English) are hunks of dough filled with curry, covered in panko and deep fried. They are gut bombs and I rarely eat them because of that. In addition, IMHO, they are ONLY good when freshly fried.
Another way to use leftover curry is to put it in a shallow casserole dish and top it with cheese before broiling it to make the cheese melt and brown. That dish is known as “yaki curry” (broiled curry).
5 Likes
