Instant Pot Japanese Curry

Instant Pot Japanese Curry is a sweet, spicy curry, and one of Japan's classic comfort meals. It is versatile, served with rice, or udon noodles, or curry buns. Most important, It is easy to make in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Buy some Japanese Curry Mix tablets, and cook them with beef, potatoes, carrots, and onion for 15 minutes at high pressure.

Jump to:

• What is Japanese Curry?
• Ingredients
• How to make Instant Pot Japanese Curry
• Japanese Curry Sauce Mix
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• Scaling
• Storage
• What to Serve with Japanese Curry
• FAQ
• Instant Pot Japanese Curry Recipe
• Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

What is Japanese Curry?

Japanese curry is pacific rim fusion cuisine from before anyone had ever heard of "fusion cuisine."

Curry came to Japan with the British Navy in the 1860s, and the Japanese Navy took notice. They saw the meal's value on ships: nutritious, easy to prepare, and great with white rice. "Great with white rice" was necessary for the Japanese Navy. White rice was (and is) the staple of Japanese food, but if all you eat is white rice, you get beriberi due to Vitamin B1 deficiency. Japanese curry includes beef and flour, loaded with Vitamin B1, so it was a meal to keep sailors healthy. The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces, the modern version of the Japanese Navy, still serve it every Friday.

My first taste of Japanese curry was in a curry bun on a Kyoto market tour. The tour guide said she makes curry all the time. She likes to cook up a big batch, and serve it the first night as Curry Rice, then later in the week as Curry Udon, with thick udon noodles. If there is any left, she wraps it in dough and makes Curry Buns.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-inch piece of ginger, grated or minced
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 large carrots (6oz), peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
• 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1½-inch chunks
• 4 cups chicken broth (homemade or low-sodium store-bought) or beef broth
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (if using homemade broth)
• 6.4- to 7.8-ounces Japanese curry sauce mix (2 small boxes or 1 large box)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

How to make Instant Pot Japanese Curry

Sauté the aromatics

In an Instant Pot set to sauté mode - high, heat the vegetable oil until it starts to shimmer. (Use medium-high heat with a stovetop PC). Stir in the onion, garlic, and ginger, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon fine sea salt. Sauté until the onion softens, about 3 minutes.

Everything in the pot

Sprinkle the beef cubes with ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt, then stir the beef into the pot. Stir in the carrots, potatoes, chicken broth, and ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt (if using homemade broth). Set the curry roux tablets on top of everything in the pot, and do NOT stir them in - let them float on top. (If they sink to the bottom too soon, you will get a burn warning.)

Pressure Cook for 15 minutes with a Natural Release

Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 15 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC (use "Manual," "Pressure Cook," or "Pressure Cook - Custom" set to 15 minutes) or for 12 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes. (You can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes if you're in a hurry.)

Finish the curry, serve, and enjoy!

Remove the lid from the pressure cooker, tilting it away from you to avoid scalding steam. Stir until the curry paste is mixed evenly into the pot, then stir in the soy sauce. Ladle the curry into bowls, and serve with rice or cooked udon noodles. Enjoy!

Japanese Curry Sauce Mix

The key to this recipe is the Japanese curry sauce mix. They are pre-mixed blocks of curry spices and roux, a mix of flour and fat, and come in varying heat levels, from mild to hot. (My favorite is medium-hot, with the green label). At my local stores, they come in two sizes, smaller 3.2-ounce/92g boxes and larger 7.8-ounce/220g boxes. S&B Golden Curry is the most common brand in my area, but I can also find Vermont Curry and Kokumaro Curry at some of my local Asian markets. For this recipe, you want 6 to 8 ounces of curry sauce mix, one large box (7.8 ounces), or two small boxes (3.2 ounces) of S&B Curry.

Don't get vacuum-sealed pouches of Curry Sauce

You might find these vacuum-sealed pouches of curry sauce at your store. They're not what you want for this recipe. They are ready-made curries, ready to eat once you open the pouch.

Substitutions

• Kinds of beef: I recommend beef chuck for this Japanese curry, but the beef round will also work, as will beef "stew meat," pre-cut at your grocery store.
• Other meat: If you want to use chicken, I recommend chicken thigh over chicken breast, though both will work. Cut the Pressure Cooking time back to 10 minutes. Otherwise, the recipe is unchanged.
• New potatoes: Instead of peeling and cubing potatoes, buy baby potatoes, either baby red or baby Yukon gold potatoes. They don't need to be peeled or cubed, you can put them straight into the pot.
• Vegetarian: If you want a vegetarian curry, look for a box of curry mix that says "No meat contained" or something similar. (S&B Curry Mix in the US is vegetarian). Skip the meat in the recipe, and double the carrots and potatoes. Also, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.
• Heat level: You can buy varying heat levels of Japanese Curry Mix. I prefer medium-hot, which has just a hint of heat. "Medium-Hot" is not hot; I'd call it low heat. (Japanese curry is much less hot than Indian or Thai curry.)
• Add an Apple: Apple is a common addition to curry in Japan, especially if cooking for kids. Peel and core two Granny Smith apples, cut them into 1½-inch chunks, and add them to the potatoes and carrots.
  

Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker

Scaling

You can double this recipe if you have an 8-quart pressure cooker. Cut all the ingredients in half, and this recipe will fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker. The cooking time does not change; it takes the same time to cook the beef.

Storage

Japanese curry stores well. You can refrigerate it for up to 3 days or freeze it for 6 months.

What to Serve with Japanese Curry

Curry rice (Kare raisu) is the Japanese classic, so white rice should be the first side dish you try. Curry Udon is another popular version - get thick udon noodles and cook them according to the package directions. And, if you want to get fancy, make Curry Katsu, which is Japanese curry and rice, served with a breaded, deep-fried cutlet of pork (tonkatsu) or chicken (tonkatsu) sliced into bite-sized pieces. 

FAQ

What is the difference between Japanese Curry and Indian Curry?

Japanese curries are descended from Indian curries by way of the British Navy, and both are made of blends of dry spices. Japanese Curries are sweeter and less spice-heavy, and are thicker, and more like a gravy. (Japanese curry blocks have the roux mixed in with the spices.)

What is the difference between Japanese Curry and Thai Curry?

Thai curries are made from fresh ingredients  and dry spices pounded into a paste, while Japanese curry is made of a mix of dry spices. Thai curry has more heat - one of the key fresh ingredients in a Thai curry paste is hot peppers. Japanese curries can have some heat, but the hot version of Japanese curry is about the same heat as a mild Thai curry.

Why shouldn't I stir the curry into the pot?

This is a tip I picked up from the fantastic Japanese food blog Just One Cookbook, and is something I've done in the past with tomatoes. Pressure Cookers have a tendency to burn thick, sugary ingredients that settle to the bottom of the pot. (If you've ever had an Instant Pot burn warning, this is the cause. What you're cooking is too thick and is burning at the bottom of the pot.)

Recipe inspired by Just One Cookbook and the many curries I ate in Japan.

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