As in many Japanese families, we had curry regularly when I was growing up. It was the standard Japanese curry of potatoes, onion, carrot and pork, usually thickened with S&B Golden Curry blocks. It made a weekly appearance in our house, and now I regularly make it for my own family, too. However, my kids are a little fussy: one likes it with tonkatsu on top and the other doesn’t want any meat at all. So I now make curry with no meat in it, and more vegetables, which means that I have to make only one version (and whoever wants to add tonkatsu can do so!).
Vegetable udon curry (yasai kare udon)
Udon curry is a great dish if you have (as I often do) impatient people who cannot wait the extra 20 or so minutes it takes to make rice (and, if you have fresh or frozen noodles, it’s even faster). You could also serve this with rice, but if you do, use only half the quantity of dashi, because this curry is made slightly soupier to go with the noodles. If you don’t have a Japanese grater (oroshigane) for ginger, use a microplane.
Prep 15 min
Infuse Overnight (optional)
Cook 35 min
Serves 4
For the dashi
2 x 12cm pieces kombu
1 litre cold water
For the curry
2 tbsp butter
4cm knob fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 onion, peeled and sliced
½ aubergine, diced
A pinch of salt
1 carrot, peeled and chopped into chunky slices
200g potato (floury will be softer, waxy will be firmer), peeled and chopped
1 tbsp Japanese curry powder
2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp mirin, or sake
1 litre dashi (see above and method)
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ green bell pepper, seeds and pith discarded, flesh thinly sliced
2 tsp potato starch, or cornflour
2 tbsp miso
4 servings udon noodles
First, make the dashi, which you can do in one of two ways. For the lengthier, cold infusion method, put the kombu and cold water in a container or jar, cover and leave in the fridge overnight to infuse. The next morning, lift out and discard the kombu, and the dashi is now ready to use. If you don’t have time to make the cold infusion, simply put the kombu and water in a saucepan over a low heat, so it warms up and draws out the flavour as slowly as possible. Just before the liquid starts to boil, take off the heat, remove the kombu and your dashi is ready.
Now for the curry. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan or donabe on a medium heat, then stir in the ginger, onion, aubergine and salt. Stir to coat everything in the buttery ginger for about two minutes, being careful the onion doesn’t burn, then add the carrot and potato. Tip in the curry powder and garam masala, and stir to coat the vegetables.
Pour in the mirin, followed quickly by the dashi and soy, then bring to a simmer and leave the vegetables to cook for about 10 minutes, until tender. Add the green pepper and cook for a couple of minutes more.
Meanwhile, make a slurry by mixing the potato starch with a splash of water until dissolved, then stir this into the curry along with the miso, and leave to bubble and thicken for a minute.
Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then drain and rinse under cold water – this will give them a bit of spring. Distribute the noodles between four bowls and pour the vegetable curry over the top.
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This recipe is an edited extract from The Japanese Pantry, by Emiko Davies, published by Smith Street Books at £30.
