Japanese-Style Chicken Curry: Think Outside the Box

Japanese-style chicken curry is a staple in our household - easy to make and the spice mix is widely available in most supermarkets (you don't have to make that special trip to an Asian market to get the goods).

The box instructions generally say to chop all your ingredients and saute everything together before adding the water and eventually the spice mix. And, depending on the brand, not all call for potatoes and carrots in addition to the chicken. Soooo, what's a gal to do? Here's my version, after years of tried and true testing, which makes a killer, savory curry served over fluffy white rice:

Ingredients

2.5-3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat & cut into 1" dice (approximately 2 pkgs.).

1 large yellow onion, cut into 1" dice

2 lbs. carrots, peeled and cut into 1" dice (keep the veges about the same size as the chicken)

3 lbs. Yukon or Sierra Gold potatoes, peeled & cut into 1" dice

2 T. Canola or other vegetable oil

7.8 oz. Japanese-Style Golden Curry mix (Medium Hot-my preference, but you can go with mild or really hot if that's your cup of tea)

3.5 oz. Japanese-Style Golden Curry mix (Hot)

20 C. Water

Cooked white rice (if you don't know how to cook rice, I highly recommend you get a rice cooker. Ratio is always 1:2 (1 C. raw rice to 2 C. water). 

Directions

1. Heat 2 T. oil in large stock pot over high heat. Saute chopped onions about 5 minutes until translucent. Add diced chicken and cook another 6-8 minutes, until chicken is browned. 

2. Add diced carrots and potatoes, and stir in with chicken. Cook about 1-2 minutes. 

3. Add 20 cups water, and bring mixture up to a boil. Lower heat (to probably low) and simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. 

4. Add one 7.8-oz pkg plus one 3.5-oz pkg of curry mix to the pot. Make sure you break the spice mix up into pieces before adding (they actually come sectioned, sorta like a Hershey's chocolate bar).

5. Stir well, and continue cooking on low heat/simmer (uncovered) another 20-30 minutes. Turn off heat and let rest 10 minutes. 

6. Serve curry over white rice. Btw, this will easily serve 6-8 people, depending on their appetite.

Package says 'Java Curry,' but it's really Japanese-style curry. I use one of their large (7.8 oz.) packages along with a smaller 3.5 oz. ('Golden Curry' brand) in my stew. Doesn't really matter what brand it is, just the size. 

'Golden Curry' is the most popular brand of Japanese-style curry.

Spice mix in the package.

Spice mix out of the package.

Adding the Hershey's chocolate nuggets (I mean, the curry nuggets) to the stew.

The final product over a bed of rice. Yum. It's all good and tastes even better the next day.