Japanese Chicken Curry (36g Protein)

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Japanese curry is comfort food first and nutrition second. The boxed roux cubes are mostly palm oil and flour, which is why a single serving from the box runs heavy for not much protein. This version builds a quick roux from 2 tablespoons of butter, loads in extra chicken, and lands at 36g of protein per serving before you even add the rice.

It tastes like the curry house version. Mild, a little sweet, thick enough to hold its shape against the rice.

Why this works

Curry cubes are convenient because the roux is premade, so the fix is just making the roux in the same pot. Toasting the flour and curry powder in butter for a minute or two cooks out the raw flour taste and blooms the spices in fat, which is where most of the aroma lives. The soy sauce, ketchup, and honey trio sounds odd but it is the standard homestyle move in Japan; it builds the savory-sweet depth the cubes fake with MSG and sugar.

Ingredient notes

S&B curry powder in the red tin is the flavor of Japanese curry; regular Madras curry powder works but tastes noticeably different. Breast keeps the numbers lean, though thighs are more traditional, so swap them in and add 5 minutes of simmering if you do not mind a few extra grams of fat. Waxy potatoes hold their shape; russets dissolve and thicken the sauce, which some people actually prefer.

Japanese Chicken Curry

Homestyle Japanese curry built on a quick homemade roux instead of the boxed cubes, with extra chicken to push the protein up.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 350

Ingredients
Method

Ingredients

  

• 650 g chicken breast about 1.4 lb, cut into large chunks
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 carrots about 200g, cut in chunky rolls
• 300 g potatoes waxy type, large chunks
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp Japanese curry powder S&B is the standard
• 700 ml chicken stock about 3 cups
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp honey

Method

 

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion with a pinch of salt for 8 to 10 minutes until soft and golden at the edges. Add the garlic and ginger for the last minute.
2. Season the chicken with salt, push the onions aside, and sear the chunks for 2 minutes per side. They do not need to cook through yet.
3. Add the remaining butter, then sprinkle in the flour and curry powder. Stir for 1 to 2 minutes so the flour cooks and everything turns into a sandy paste coating the chicken. This is the roux, made in place.
4. Pour in the stock gradually, stirring so no lumps form. Add the carrots, potatoes, soy sauce, ketchup, and honey.
5. Simmer uncovered for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring now and then, until the potatoes are tender and the sauce coats a spoon. If it gets too thick, loosen with a splash of water.
6. Taste for salt and serve beside short grain rice, with fukujinzuke pickles if you have them.

Tips and storage

Curry is famously better on day two, after the sauce settles into the chicken. It keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes well for 2 months, though the potatoes go slightly mealy after freezing, so fish them out first if that bothers you. The nutrition is for the curry only, so portion your rice to suit your macros. For more rice bowl dinners in this lane, the oyakodon chicken and egg bowl is the 15 minute option, and the Hainanese chicken rice bowls are the project for a weekend. If you want a curry-adjacent flavor with even less work, try the gochujang chicken thighs.

For a crispier protein to pair with this curry, try my air fryer chicken katsu, the leftover cutlets are excellent chopped straight into a bowl of this sauce.