Curry udon

Curry dishes are popular in Japan; curry was introduced by the British during the nineteenth century, when Britain ruled India. Unsurprisingly then, Japanese curry is mild in terms of flavour and Japanese cooks prepare it using a pre-bought mix that comes in the form of a solid block. It’s often referred to as “curry roux”.

Credit: Sharyn Cairns

• serves

  4

• prep

  35 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1.5 L (6 cups) water
• 1 tbsp dashi powder
• 2 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, cut into 2.5 cm pieces
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 350 g (about 6) baby Desiree potatoes, cut into 2.5cm pieces
• 120 g Japanese curry roux, broken into pieces (see Note)
• 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
• 2 ½ tbsp cooking sake
• 800 g pre-cooked udon noodles
• 600 g pork fillet, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 2 green onions, very finely shredded

Instructions

Bring the water to the boil in a large saucepan. Stir in the dashi powder then reduce heat to low and cover the pan.

Heat half the oil in a large saucepan over medium, add the onion, carrot and potato and cook, stirring, for 8 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Add the dashi stock to the pan, bring to a simmer then cook for 6-7 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat, stir in the curry roux, soy sauce and sake then return to the heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, covered, over low heat for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add the noodles and cook, stirring gently to separate noodles, for 2 minutes or until softened. Drain well then add to the curry mixture.  Heat the remaining oil in a wok over high, add the pork and stir fry for 5 minutes or until just cooked then add to the curry mixture. Divide among bowls, top each with some of the shredded green onion then serve.

Note

• You can easily buy curry roux from Asian food stores and it comes in a range of ‘mild’ and ‘hot’ versions and for this recipe you can use whichever one you like.

Photography by Sharyn Cairns. Styling by Lee Blaylock. Food preparation by Tiffany Page.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.