Cook with Kayoko: online cooking class with our Japanese lecturer Part 2

On Wednesday, 14 October, our Japanese lecturer Kayoko Enomoto held an online cooking class for staff and students.

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups Uncooked rice – Follow the instructions on your rice cooker. *1
• 1/2 a large packet of Curry Roux *2
• 9 oz your preferred protein *3
• 1 brown onion
• 1 large potato *4
• 1 carrot *5
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup grated apple
• 1 tbsp honey
• Pinch of salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups water approximately 500 ml
• Fukushinduke and/or Rakkyo to accompany condiments *6 optional
• Worcestershire sauce optional

Instructions

1. Start to cook rice. *7
2. Cut the meat into bite size pieces and set aside
3. Peel and cut the potatoes, carrot, and onion into large bite size pieces and set aside.
4. Peel and slice the garlic.
5. Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat and add garlic
6. When the garlic is fragrant, add the onion to cook.
7. Add the chicken to cook and when they change into whitish colour, add potato, carrot, and onion and stir with a wooden spatula.
8. When the oil has coated evenly on all the ingredients and the outer-edge of the potatoes have become transparent, add the water, honey, and grated apple.
9. Bring it to boil and then turn the heat down to low to simmer until the potatoes become soft. and all the other ingredients are cooked. (Takes about 15 minutes)
10. Turn the heat off, break the curry sauce blocks apart and add to the pot.
11. Make each piece of curry roux dissolve into the cooking water in ladle with a pair of chopsticks *8
12. Turn the heat back on low and bring to simmer to thicken the sauce.
13. Serve cooked plain rice in a shallow bowl and pour the curry over the rice.
14. Garnish with Fukushinduke and Rakkyo if you like. *Optional

Notes

*1 Cooking rice instruction and time are not included in this recipe.

*2 Commercial curry roux usually comes in two sizes. The larger packet is about 8 oz (230g) and the smaller packet is about 4 oz (115g) 

*3  The meat can be replaced with any protein like chicken, beef, pork, prawn, etc. I used chicken for the photos of this post. 

*4 You need potato about 10 oz (300g) 

*5 You need carrots about 3.5 oz (100g)

*6 Fukshinduke is pickled radish, eggplant, and other vegetables that are commonly used as condiments for Japanese curry rice. You can purchase them in a jar. Rakkyo is also pickled scallion also commonly used as a condiment for Japanese curry rice and this can be purchased in a jar as well.

*7 Cooking rice takes time which varies with how you cook it. My rice cooker takes about 40 minutes. So set it first and while the rice is cooking, you can make the curry. 

*8 Because we don’t want to find undissolved chunks of curry roux later.