How to Make Japanese Katsu Curry: Easy Flavorful Recipe - FeedMi Recipes (2024)

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Japanese katsu curry is a delicious combo of crispy fried pork cutlet and rich savory curry served over rice. It’s a super flavorful and easy-to-make meal!

How to Make Japanese Katsu Curry: Easy Flavorful Recipe - FeedMi Recipes (1)

What is Japanese Katsu Curry?

Indian curry was introduced to Japan by the British. Over the years, it has become a super popular dish in Japan, modified to their taste, and distinct from Indian curry.

Japanese curry is thick and often served with rice or udon. It can consist of a variety of vegetables and meats such as carrots, potatoes, beef, chicken, or pork.

My favorite variation is Japanese katsu curry. Katsu is a breaded and fried cutlet.

I love the textural contrast of fried katsu with curry. It’s a super flavorful meal and fairly easy to make with a little shortcut!

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Protein to Use for Katsu

Katsu is most commonly made with pork or chicken. Pork katsu is also known as tonkatsu.

I typically like to use chicken breast or boneless pork chops for making katsu.

The thickness should be about 1/4″ to 1/2″ depending on your preference. Thinner cuts will have more crispy breading to meat ratio while thicker cuts will have more meat to breading ratio. I prefer thicker katsu.

You can purchase the cutlets to your desired thickness, cut it yourself, or pound it until thin. Pounding will also help to tenderize the meat.

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How to Make Katsu

To make a crispy katsu, dredge the meat in flour, eggs, and panko. Panko are Japanese breadcrumbs which give katsu that irresistibly light crunch.

First, create a dredging station by placing flour, eggs, and panko each in its own separate plate/container.

Then lightly season each component (pork or chicken cutlet, flour, eggs, panko) with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and ginger powder.

Next cover the cutlet completely on all sides in the following order: flour, egg, and panko.

Once the cutlets are dredged, deep fry until they are golden and crispy. It takes about 2-5 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of the cutlet. Use a neutral oil with a high smoke point like canola or vegetable oil. The heat should be on low to medium for a continuous bubble. Be careful not to have the heat on too high to avoid burning the oil.

Lastly, remove the fried katsu from the oil and place on a wire cooling rack or on top of paper towels to soak up excess oil.

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How to Make Japanese Curry

Japanese curry is made with curry powder, flour, oil, and other spices to form a roux. It thickens as you simmer with broth, water, vegetables, or meat.

However there are lots of great Japanese curry mixes and pre-made roux that you can use at home as a shortcut to make this a super easy meal without sacrificing any flavor.

My favorite brand to use is Golden Curry’s Japanese Curry Mix. It comes in different spice levels. The green “Medium Hot” has a little tingle but not very spicy at all. I usually get the 7.8 oz package which comes with 2 containers that have 4 cubes each, 8 in total.

I start by sautéing onions, garlic, baby gold potatoes, and carrots. If you like a touch of natural sweetness with your curry, I recommend also grating in about one half to a full Fuji apple.

Then add in water and the Golden Curry Japanese Curry Mix. I usually do a ratio of 1 cup of water to 1 cube of the curry mix. You can also use chicken broth instead or add chicken bouillon if you want a little more salty and savory flavor.

The Golden Curry Japanese Curry Mix by itself has a ton of flavor so you don’t really need to add anything to it.

Simmer the curry until it is thick, almost like a gravy consistency, and the vegetables are fork tender.

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Serving Japanese Katsu Curry

Cut the pork tonkatsu or chicken katsu into strips right before serving. Then serve the curry with rice. Lastly, top with the katsu strips, green onions, and enjoy!

Store leftovers of katsu and curry separately in sealed containers in the fridge. I recommend reheating the katsu in an air fryer or oven and reheat the curry on the stove or microwave.

Did you make this recipe? I would love to see! Tag me on Instagram @feedmi_ or TikTok@feedmi

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Japanese Katsu Curry

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Katsu:

  • 4 pork chops, boneless (or 2 chicken breasts, butterflied & halved)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 eggs, whisked
  • 1 cup panko
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • garlic powder to taste
  • ginger powder to taste
  • onion powder to taste
  • neutral oil

Japanese Curry:

  • ½ onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 baby gold potatoes, quartered
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 4 cubes (3.9 oz) Golden Curry Japanese Curry Mix
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • ½ – 1 Fuji apple (optional)

Instructions

Katsu:

  • Cut and pound pork into ¼"-½" thick slices.

  • Place flour, eggs, and panko each in its own separate plates/containers.

  • Season pork, flour, eggs, and panko with salt, pepper, ginger powder, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste.

  • Coat the pork in the following order: flour, eggs, and panko.

  • Fry pork in oil for ~2-5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness, until it is golden and crispy.

  • Remove and place fried katsu on a wire cooling rack or on top of paper towels to soak up excess oil.

Japanese Curry

  • Sauté onion, garlic, potatoes, and carrots until onions are translucent.

  • If you like an touch of natural sweetness, grate in half or a full Fuji apple.

  • Add water and the curry mix cubes.

  • Simmer for ~15 minutes until curry thickens almost like gravy and the vegetables are fork tender.

  • Serve curry with rice, katsu, green onions, and enjoy!

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How to Make Japanese Katsu Curry: Easy Flavorful Recipe - FeedMi Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What gives Japanese curry its flavor? ›

Japanese curry is relatively mild compared to its Asian counterparts because it is made of an harmonious blend of curry powder and spices in which no particular ingredient stands out. Slightly sweet ingredients such as sautéed onions, grated apples, carrots or honey are also usually added to add sweetness and umami.

What is the Flavour of Katsu curry? ›

The Katsu curry bears little resemblance to Indian curry's in terms of flavour. It's a sweeter, richer flavour thanks to the variety of spices used and the soft onion and garlic flavours. The sweet flavours are enhanced by using soy sauce, bringing a delicious more-ish flavour to the dish.

What is the difference between Japanese curry and Katsu curry? ›

Along with the sauce, a wide variety of vegetables and meats are used to make Japanese curry. The basic vegetables are onions, carrots, and potatoes. Beef, pork, and chicken are the most popular meat choices. Katsu curry is a breaded deep-fried cutlet (tonkatsu; usually pork or chicken) with Japanese curry sauce.

What are the spices in Katsu? ›

Katsu curry powder is a blend of spices commonly used in Japanese cuisine to make Katsu Curry sauce. It is a popular dish in Japan, typically used with breaded and fried meat or vegetables. This Katsu curry blend is made up of coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, fennel, garlic, chillies and more.

What makes Japanese curry so good? ›

While curry is prevalent in multiple countries, Japanese curry is usually thicker in texture, sweeter, and less spicy than its Thai or Indian counterparts. That sweetness often comes from the addition of an apple and/or some honey.

What is Katsu curry sauce made of? ›

This one combines the sweet taste of onions and carrots, with lots of garlic and chicken stock. With a touch of honey and soy sauce. That's it – really! Sweet, tangy and delicious, you won't ever look back once you've tried it at home.

What does Katsu curry sauce contain? ›

What is katsu curry made from? The curry sauce is the combination of curry powder, turmeric, chicken stock, coconut milk, and soy sauce, along with onions, garlic, and ginger. Served with basmati white rice and breaded chicken.

What is the pink thing in Katsu curry? ›

Love these Sakurazuke - pink pickled daikon mooli radish slices - really unusual sweet & sour / tangy flavour with a satsifying crunch. I tend to pop them on a Katsu curry, stir-fried noodles or ramen noodles with a Yutaka instant bonito miso soup broth (very lean but un-authentic!) or to accompany sushi.

Why is Japanese curry so addicting? ›

The stand-out feature of a Japanese curry is its thick, rich sauce. The thickness of the sauce which can only be found in Japanese curry is supported and beloved by many. The rich and indulgent sauce mixes with rice so perfectly, you will find it difficult stoping eating.

What meat goes best with Japanese curry? ›

Recommended beef cuts for Japanese curry: Beef chuck or shoulder: These cuts are commonly used in Japanese curry due to their balance of tenderness and robust flavor. They break down beautifully during cooking, infusing the curry with their rich taste.

Does Japanese curry have turmeric? ›

A hearty amount of fenugreek adds sweet elements, and the inclusion of cumin combined with the turmeric adds the colour and aroma often associated with the popular idea of curry.

How to make curry taste like restaurant? ›

Simple suggestions for restaurant good quality curries:
  1. Fry your onions till they are golden brown.
  2. Fry your spices but don't burn them. ...
  3. Use good quality spices. ...
  4. Seasoning. ...
  5. Use fatty yoghurt (greek style works) in curries to make them richer. ...
  6. Patience. ...
  7. Use a neutral vegetable oil. ...
  8. Experiment.
Jun 24, 2018

What vegetables to put in Japanese curry? ›

The triad of vegetables most commonly found in Japanese curry are onion, potato, and carrots, but you can use almost any combination of vegetables and protein. Here, I've added celery, green beans, and corn to the mix, and use chicken thighs as my protein.

What makes Japanese curry different? ›

The typical Japanese curry is generally thicker in texture and tastes sweeter but less spicy than its Indian counterpart. The meat of choice is more often pork or beef. Survey results suggest that pork is the most popular meat for curry in eastern Japan while beef is more common in western Japan.

How is Japanese curry different from other curry? ›

One aspect of Japanese curry that sets it apart from other cuisines is the use of a roux (made of spices, flour, and oil or butter) which gives Japanese curry a distinct brown color and a thicker, stew-like consistency.

What is Japanese curry spice made of? ›

A mix of traditional South Asian spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, and fenugreek with East Asian spices like star anise and mandarin peel along with Western herbs like dill, sage, and thyme gives this curry powder a complex flavor profile that balances sweet and savory aromas with herbal and citrus notes.

Why does Japanese curry taste better the next day? ›

Traditional Japanese stewed dishes are often left to cool down once made, to allow the ingredients to soak up the flavors — which is why people also leave curry out overnight. The sweet and savory flavors of the meat and vegetables also seep out into the sauce, so everything blends together.

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