There have been quite a few birthdays at The Chopping Block recently. One of my favorite things to learn about people is their “Birthday Dinners,” or the meal that they look forward to each birthday as a mark of another year passing. The answers were interesting in that most of them involved restaurants or experiences they were looking forward to trying for the first time. My experience of a birthday dinner is a bit different, in that I always crave the same meal every year.
My mom cooked very rarely when I was young, but each year during me and my sister’s birthdays, she would pull out all the stops and cook curry. This isn’t your average curry. Japanese curry is thick in an amazing way -almost gravy-like. Think pot roast, but make it extra spicy and creamy, and pour it over rice. When I was growing up, my mom would make it with dense blocks of S&B Curry, chicken breast, and ton of veggies. It was, and continues to be my favorite meal to share with my family.
After being inspired by the Japanese Homestyle Cooking class we recently held, I tried to recreate a bigger batch of this curry. I used the same S&B brand, but I used their powder instead of their blocks, and added garam masala to the roux. The result was a similar gravy-like consistency to the block curry, but didn’t leave the film that sometimes comes with processed or quick versions of an item.
In short, this curry was reminiscent of my childhood birthday dinners while being cleaner, more vegetable forward, and (don’t tell my mom!) so much better than the boxed stuff.
If you’re feeling extra spicy, fry up some pork katsu to serve on top.
Japanese Curry with Pork Katsu Cutlet
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Start to Finish: 1 hour 15 minutes
For the curry:
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup S&B curry powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
8 oz mixed mushrooms
1 large onion, medium dice
2 medium carrots, sliced on a bias
3 celery stalks, sliced on a bias
3 garlic cloves, fine dice
1” piece of ginger, fine dice
6 cups vegetable or chicken brother
10 oz winter squash, seeds removed and diced
1 Tablespoon honey
Salt and pepper, to taste
For the pork katsu:
3 boneless pork chops or loin, pounded thin
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 whole eggs with a splash of water
2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
For the curry:
1. Melt butter in a saucepan.
2. Whisk in flour and allow to cook until the roux turns light brown.
3. Stir in curry powder and garam masala until fragrant, remove from heat and set aside.
4. Heat oil in saucepan and add torn/ sliced mushrooms and season with salt, continue to cook until golden and set aside.
5. Add additional oil to saucepan and add onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until soft and onion is translucent.
6. Add garlic and ginger and cook about 30 to 40 seconds.
7. Add broth and bring to a boil.
8. Reduce to a simmer, add mushrooms and squash.
9. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Add honey and curry mixture and stir until curry is smooth.
11. Cook curry for about 10 minutes.
12. Serve over rice, garnish with scallions.
For the pork katsu:
1. Prep dry ingredients, and set up dredging station with three bowls, containing flour, egg and water mixture, and Panko breadcrumbs.
2. Heat high heat neutral oil in a large pan.
3. Dredge pork in flour, then egg wash, and then in Panko.
4. Once oil is hot, carefully add breaded cutlets in oil, leave until first side is brown, flip and repeat on the other side.
5. Remove and place on a wire rack, and once all cutlets are fried, quickly repeat for a second fry.
6. Cut into slices and serve on top of the curry bowl.
For more Asian-inspired dishes, don't miss these upcoming classes:
- Hands On Date Night: Taste of Thailand Saturday, March 15 6pm
- Hands On Ramen Workshop Monday, March 31 6pm
- Teen Cooking Class: Hands On Asian Adventure Monday, March 24 10am
Japanese Curry with Pork Katsu Cutlet
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup S&B curry powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 8 oz mixed mushrooms
- 1 large onion, medium dice
- 2 medium carrots, sliced on a bias
- 3 celery stalks, sliced on a bias
- 3 garlic cloves, fine dice
- 1” piece of ginger, fine dice
- 6 cups vegetable or chicken brother
- 10 oz winter squash, seeds removed and diced
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 boneless pork chops or loin, pounded thin
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 whole eggs with a splash of water
- 2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a saucepan.
- Whisk in flour and allow to cook until the roux turns light brown.
- Stir in curry powder and garam masala until fragrant, remove from heat and set aside.
- Heat oil in saucepan and add torn/ sliced mushrooms and season with salt, continue to cook until golden and set aside.
- Add additional oil to saucepan and add onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until soft and onion is translucent.
- Add garlic and ginger and cook about 30 to 40 seconds.
- Add broth and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer, add mushrooms and squash.
- Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Add honey and curry mixture and stir until curry is smooth.
- Cook curry for about 10 minutes.
- Serve over rice, garnish with scallions.
- Prep dry ingredients, and set up dredging station with three bowls, containing flour, egg and water mixture, and Panko breadcrumbs.
- Heat high heat neutral oil in a large pan.
- Dredge pork in flour, then egg wash, and then in Panko.
- Once oil is hot, carefully add breaded cutlets in oil, leave until first side is brown, flip and repeat on the other side.
- Remove and place on a wire rack, and once all cutlets are fried, quickly repeat for a second fry.
- Cut into slices and serve on top of the curry bowl.
