Curry Gohan With Options!

Curry is one of the more popular staples found on Japanese TV and in many eateries.

Now we’ve made curry before in the traditional manner served with a bed of rice. And we are sure you might have seen this done or tried it yourself too.

But it was one day while walking in the Japanese Village in Little Tokyo that we came across something that caught our eye. It was what looked like a plate of spaghetti sitting in the middle of a display rack of sushi dishes and Donburi’s. Nani???? Chotto-matte kudasai! Did we just say spaghetti? As a matter of fact we did!
 
Now what’s this all have to do with Japanese curry? Believe it or not we found a few Nisei that swear by this. And now we’ll we will show you!
 
As with any dish you’ll need the following ingredients:

1. Curry Mix – Available in Medium or Mild - (If you are familiar with Thai or Korean "HOT"- Don't push your luck!)
2. 1 lb of ground beef
3. ½ Onion
4. 1 Carrot
5. 3 Potatoes - I reccomend small white or yellow dutch potatoes.
6. 1 Spaghetti pkg.
7. Cooking Oil

Now every cook has their own way or preparing meals. To save my sanity I like to make sure I have everything I need out and ready.

First, you’ll want to dice or cube your onions, carrots, and potatoes.
Second, you’ll want to get that pot of Spaghetti boiling.

While the Spaghetti cooks you’ll want to get the ground beef cooking.

Use only a small amount of cooking oil. Now when I mean a small amount I mean somewhere between 2 & 3 tbsp. When a recipe doesn’t call for Sesame Oil I like to use Olive Oil. That’s just a matter of personal preference but you can use whichever works for you.

Once the meat is sufficiently brown enough throw in the rest of the vegetables and simmer on a medium to low heat and occasionally stir.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Now if you bought the premixed Curry you can find in Japanese markets throw that into the meat.
 
But if that is not the case and you have the curry in cube form then you will want to have that ready. This may take some work - try adding water.
 
If that’s the case pour your curry into the skillet with your meat and stir for at least 2-3 minutes before serving. By now your spaghetti should be ready to drain and ready to serve.
 
 
 

Now you can do this one of two ways.
 
Serve the curry with meat & vegetables over the curry.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Or you can mix it all together.
 
This is optional.
 
Should you be in Japan, low on funds, bored of the same old-same old, or simply out of rice this method of making a Curry Gohan is a viable alternative.
 
But if the concept of using Spaghetti doesn’t fly with you,
Then when in doubt....Go Traditional!
 
 
Now to make traditional curry use the same fore mentioned methods but use:

1. 1lb Stewing beef – cubed
2. 1 Rice – 1 cup - I reccomend long grain white rice but you can use any rice.
3. ½ Onion
4. 1 Carrot
5. 3 Potatoes - I reccomend small white or yellow dutch potatoes.

Follow the same cooking methods as before and your meal should look like this:

 
Curry consistancy is up to you.
 
In eateries curry is served aside from the rice. However this does not stop you from doing things your own way as seen by my example.
 
Reccomended side : Potato Croquet
You can find those in Japanese Markets.
(See Market Links)
 
Enjoy!