Japanese Beef Curry

Ingredients

Total Time: 1.5 Hours

2 – 3 onions (yellow preferred, white as a secondary, not sweet. 2lbs about)
3 carrots
2 russet potatoes
Up to 8 shiitake mushrooms (I don’t like to eat shiitakes, but they are good to bring additional umami flavorings, so I leave them whole to pick out later. If you like mushrooms, cut them up)
2lbs shaved ribeye / bulgogi beef (you can use whatever beef you want, but shaved ribeye / bulgogi is the best)
Salt
Ground black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Butter
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 inch ginger (grated or minced)
1 Tbsp curry powder
2 Tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
1 cup dry red wine
6 – 8 cups of beef broth
2 bay leaves
1 whole box of Japanese curry roux (I prefer SB Golden Curry Medium. It’s easier to put the curry roux in the freezer for 20 min or so, then grate the entire block with a food processor or cheese grater to putting in the pot)
1⁄4 cup milk or heavy cream
1Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1⁄4 – 1⁄2 Fuji Apple, grated
cooked Japanese rice

Instructions

Cut the onion into chunks. Typically I cut the onion in half, then cut each half into three sections crosswise, then cut in half again to end up with roughly 1.5inch squares.
Peel and cut the carrots. Cut the carrots on a 45 degree angle, rotating the carrot a quarter turn each cut. This type of cut is called rangiri in Japanese.
Peel and cut the potatoes. Half, then quartered and cut in half again. Rinse and soak in a pot of cool water for 10 min. to remove the starch.
If you are going to eat the mushrooms, slice them.
In a large cast iron dutch oven, or a large pot (12qt), heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat.
Once heated, add the beef and onions, 1 tsp salt, and saute until the onions have wilted and are starting to turn translucent. About 10 minutes.
Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, and tomato paste, and saute for 2 or 3 minutes.
Add the wine and cook until the alcohol evaporates (about 3 minutes)
Add all remaining vegetables, and pour in the beef broth. Bring to boil over high heat.
Once boiling, reduce to low-med heat, skim any scum off the top, and add the bay leaves.
Simmer over low-med heat until the carrots and potatoes are tender to poke through with a fork.
Once the vegetables are tender, add the entire box of grated curry roux. Add in smaller portions at a time and stir until dissolved, then add more until the entire box has been dissolved.
Add the milk, Worcestershire sauce, and grated apple. Continue stirring on low heat until the curry becomes thick. Make sure you don’t burn the curry at this point as it will easily burn if left unattended, so continue to stir. Once thick, turn off the heat.

Serve the curry along side short grain, Japanese rice. (if you dont know how to make sticky rice, check here.) If you like, you can add a few strand of pink pickled ginger or daikon radish to the top of the rice as a garnish.