![Skillet Chicken With Black Beans, Rice and Chiles](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/10/11/dining/ml-chicken-and-black-beans/merlin_160015383_4bd71410-dc4f-487f-92e6-c664995b50e0-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Kare Rice (Curry Rice)
![Kare Rice (Curry Rice)](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/12/11/multimedia/11EAT-kare-rice1-1-9fed/11EAT-kare-rice1-1-9fed-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons neutral oil
- 1½pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- Coarse kosher salt
- 2onions, thinly sliced
- 3garlic cloves, minced
- 1(1½-inch) knob of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1red pepper, chopped
- 2medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1½- to 2-inch pieces
- 1carrot, chopped rangiri style (see Tip)
- 1apple, peeled and coarsely grated
- 3tablespoons curry powder (preferably Japanese curry powder)
- 2plum tomatoes, chopped
- 3tablespoons potato starch
- 4cups dashi or chicken broth
- 2tablespoons soy sauce
- 2tablespoons tonkatsu sauce
- 1tablespoon honey
- Cooked Japanese short-grain rice, for serving
- Fukujinzuke (chopped Japanese pickles), for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place chicken pieces in pan, season with 1 tablespoon salt and cook until beginning to brown, stirring occasionally, 7 to 10 minutes, then remove chicken while retaining the fat in the pan.
- Step 2
Add the second tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and red pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Step 3
Add the potatoes, carrot and apple. Continue stir-frying, shifting ingredients constantly, until vegetables start to soften, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Step 4
Add curry powder to vegetables in the pan, stirring constantly to incorporate. Add the tomatoes and the browned chicken and any juices to the pan, then add the potato starch and stir.
- Step 5
Gradually stir dashi into the pan and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened to a gravy-like consistency and the vegetables are cooked through, 17 to 20 minutes. Season with soy sauce, tonkatsu sauce and honey, adjusting seasonings accordingly.
- Step 6
Divide rice among plates or bowls, then add curry and serve with fukujinzuke.
- Rangiri is a style of slicing cylindrical vegetables, turning each ingredient a quarter turn between diagonal cuts. The evenly cut surfaces make this a great method for simmering, as they are better able to absorb seasonings.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Tonkatsu sauce Ingredients Save Recipe 1/3 cup ketchup 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon mirin 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
My mom always makes kare rice with russet potatoes, which I found would sometimes distegrate when I made it because I wasn't as good on the timing. Gold potatoes are more forgiving. Once I switched to gold potatoes I haven't had an issue with them falling apart.
I add chopped rutabaga to mine, sometimes instead of potatoes. It's less likely to disintegrate than spuds.
I am glad the apple is listed, but you may want to use curry blocks instead of the powder listed here. You will have a better result with something like Golden Curry blocks.
Fukujinzuke is a very specific type of red Japanese pickle that is paired with curry. If you can find it, it elevates the dish in an appreciable way. ∂
Here is a recipe for Japanese Curry Brick. We make it all the time and keep it in the freezer. It's a little bit of work (more fiddly than difficult), but once you have it, you can make a curry dinner with very little effort. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020451-japanese-curry-brick
Japanese curry powder has a distinctive flavor, so I would say it is a must, rather than just preferable. S&B is my go-to brand.
Yukon gold are the right potatoes, but the size shown is too large. Recipe works better with pieces around ¾-inch cubes, maybe 20 grams. I make this dish with apple pieces just a little smaller than the potatoes.
My preference is always add curry powder while browning onions/garlic/ginger. Otherwise finished curry has discernible rawness & heat. In other words, don’t wait to add curry till you’ve started to cook potatoes and carrots.
Yum! I made this with a pack of S&B Golden Curry cubes instead of the powder and omitted the potato starch, as well with as my own home-made chicken stock which was already quite thick. Tastes much better than simply following the recipe on the pack of curry paste.
Second time I made this. Flavors are stupendous. I couldn’t find Japanese pickles but I did come up with pickled red ginger at Frontier in Hartsdale which was terrific sprinkled on top. Just make sure to cook the vegetables long enough so they are soft when it is served.
Several people have mentioned that the carrots and potatoes needed longer to cook. I read a chef's advice that carrots, and perhaps other root vegetables, take much longer to soften if they are cooked with salt. I've found this to be true in dishes like stews. I leave out the salt until after the carrots and potatoes are soft and it makes a significant difference. I also agree with adding the curry powder when you're cooking the onions and pepper.
I wasn’t a fan of this recipe. Using this much starch as a thickener results in a gloppy sauce. Some of the vegetables were woefully undercooked in the time allotted. It was perfectly edible but not a keeper.
Lots of prep for a weeknight meal, but worth it for the amount that it made. Used a combo of sweet and white potatoes; boxed bone broth; Madras curry powder. Tonkatsu sauce, soy sauce, and honey all absolute musts. May try adding mushrooms next time.
Found this quite bland. Would not make again.
Delicious but beware. It was a major hassle. Lots of ingredients (some hard to find or composites - tonkatsu sauce and dashi for example). The instructions aren't great. You end up stirring big chunks of raw potato mixed with a bunch of other half cooked vegetables - none of which are actually cooking because there is no liquid until later. Its enough for at least 12-14 people not 4-6 and takes 2 hours to make. Find another version. I will not be making recipes from Bryan Washington again.
My preference is always add curry powder while browning onions/garlic/ginger. Otherwise finished curry has discernible rawness & heat. In other words, don’t wait to add curry till you’ve started to cook potatoes and carrots.
I did not follow this recipe precisely but it inspired me to a vegetarian version, using the root veggies I had on hand - sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot, potato - and tofu, served over black forbidden rice (also a short-grain rice, and a few extra antioxidants never hurt anyone). Now that I have a small jar of Japanese-style curry powder and a larder full of root vegetables from my CSA, I'll be making some variant of this throughout the winter.
I used tamari instead of soy sauce to make it gluten free. And substituted corn starch instead of potato. Tofu for chicken, too. Better with pickles for sure but I’ve used also pickled ginger. And so wonderful that this recipe is Bryan Washington’s as I love his writing. ❤️
My family loved this recipe. I couldn't find tonkatsu sauce, so used Worcestershire sauce. Otherwise, followed the recipe as written and it was delightful! (My family always loves when I am inspired by the NYT.)
Amazing curry! My family and I will be eating this through the winter. Much more that the sum of its parts. Amazon has Japanese curry cubes.
I made a few substitutions snd left a few things out but after my first few bites I said CASHEWS! They were great in this dish.
would this be great with shrimp instead of chicken?
We made this recipe and everything was delicious! We recommend simmering the curry for an additional 20-25 minutes (if you have time) in order to let everything thicken and for the flavors to blend well. We also made it with Jasmine rice and it was quite good!
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