japanese beef curry attempt #2

so while my first attempt at japanese beef curry was good, i knew there must be a way to make it better and taste less out-of-the-box. what secrets do petite japanese moms have to doctor up pre-packaged, quick-weeknite, but oh-so-manufactured-tasting bars of readymade curry base?

i did a quick google search on the keyphrase "beef curry japanese" and came back with justhungry's excellent blog post on making japanese curry from scratch. while a little more involved in prep time than i wanted, justhungry's recipe looked solid and layered with flavor. she also conveniently provided notes on recipe variations, including how to substitute readymade curry bases. just the ticket for me. here's my adaptation of her recipe.

i first set about browning about a pound of beef chuck steak, cut into large chunks, in some canola oil in my largest dutch oven.

once that was nicely browned, i transferred the meat to a bowl to hold while i set about slicing up 4 large brown onions thinly.

into the pot the onions went to slowly saute in a bit of canola oil and sea salt. typically you want to sweat the onions down over low heat so the moisture evaporates and what you're left with are the natural sugars of browned onions. i was hungry, so i cranked up the flame to medium and stirred the onions down every few minutes. mind you, this still takes a good 20-30 minutes. but i knew this would be worth it. if you've ever had and loved french onion soup, this is how you get that sweet, oniony soup base.

once the onions have softened and started to caramelize, as in the picture below, you can move forward. letting it go another 10-20 minutes will only concentrate the sweetness and flavors, so it's your choice. into the pot went 3 minced cloves of garlic and an inch of grated ginger.

i then added a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, 3 carrots peeled and chopped into large chunks, 6 cups of water, a cube of beef boullion, 1 star anise pod, a couple of bay leaves and the browned beef with any reserved juices. now the surprise ingredient: 1 fuji apple, peeled and grated, which you see piled in the middle of the stew in the photo below. per justhungry, this provides depth of flavor. sounds good to me.

this savory concoction simmers over low heat for about 30 min or so, until the connective tissues in the chuck beef have broken down and the meat is fork-tender. by this time you basically have a great-smelling beef stew that isn't curry just yet.

you'll notice i haven't really seasoned the stew aside from the salt used to sweat the onions. readymade curry base is chock full of spices and seasoning to begin with. any extra salt and you'd end up with a inedible mess. in this step, i fished out the bay leaves and star anise pod and broke up a full package of "hot" curry base cubes into the pot...

and simmered over low heat until the cubes dissolved and the broth thickened into a rich, creamy consistency. this is the point i tasted for seasoning and decided a few cranks of the peppermill would do nicely.

time to plate! a mound of japanese short-grain white rice and a ladle or three of the japanese beef curry.

wow. much better and much more homemade tasting. the onions have broken down into a silky mess, giving the curry a rich, svelte texture and loads of sweetness and flavor. really standout. and while i can't say i could taste the grated fuji apple, there was a real depth of flavor that puts the box recipe to shame. combining caramelized beef, acidic tomatoes, spicy ginger and piquant star anise really lifted the flavor profile of this curry.

while it definitely took a bit more time in the kitchen than i expected, the benefit was a huge pot of curry that could feed a small army, and indeed fed me for almost a week! i'm considering japanese beef curry attempt #2 a smashing success. oishii!!