Japanese Ground Beef Curry

Did a curry craving hit you out of the blue? This Quick Ground Beef Curry, Japanese-style, comes together in about the time it takes to cook a pot of rice to go with it. No fancy equipment or complicated technical skills are required here, just some easy cooking tips. But this recipe isn't just a shortcut version; the flavor of this ground beef Japanese curry is just as deep and satisfying as my longer Japanese Curry from Scratch.

Although it isn't a traditional Japanese dish, Japanese Curry, or Kare Raisu, has become a home cooking staple here since its introduction about 150 years ago. One popular brand is labeled "Vermont Curry." Its rich, savory, and spicy tastes are balanced by a mild sweetness that makes it a favorite among kids and adults alike, and it has spawned an entire sub-genre of popular dishes and snacks seasoned with Japanese curry powder.

The problem is that preparing a proper Japanese curry (even using "instant" roux blocks) can take a few hours. Most of this time is spent caramelizing onions, which is the key to making this flavorful dish. Through years of experimentation, I've found a few kitchen hacks that can significantly speed up the process. Combined with a few shortcuts, it takes the cooking time down from three hours to around thirty minutes. That's fast enough to make this Ground Beef Japanese Curry an option for a weeknight dinner!

Why This Recipe Works

• Ground beef not only adds tons of richness and umami, but it also cooks quickly, reducing the simmering time usually required. It's also a budget-friendly and family-friendly option.
• Grating the aromatics reduces the caramelization time from 1 hour to 6 minutes. It also thickens the sauce without preparing a roux, simplifying the cooking process.
• Adding baking soda to the aromatics also plays a part in caramelization by rapidly breaking down the grated vegetables and raising their pH, which speeds up browning.
• Pre-cooking the carrots and potatoes in the microwave significantly reduces the simmering time for this ground beef Japanese curry.
• A touch of cocoa powder adds a subtle earthy flavor that makes the sauce taste like it's been cooking for hours.

Ingredients for Ground Beef Japanese Curry

• Aromatics - The basis for Japanese curry is caramelized aromatics, and this quick ground beef version also relies on them for depth. This gives the curry some of its sweetness and distinctive, addictive flavor. It typically takes about an hour of constant stirring with sliced aromatics, but grating them into a puree significantly speeds up the process, only taking about 6 minutes. I use a mixture of onions, carrots, garlic, and ginger.
• Baking Soda - Baking soda does two things here. The first is that it helps break down the cell walls in the aromatics, making them release water faster. It also raises the pH of the mixture. These lead to faster caramelization times, reducing the usual 1 hour to properly caramelize sliced onions, to around 6-7 minutes.
• Ground Meat - Using ground meat significantly reduces the simmering time. I used ground beef for mine, but ground pork or ground chicken will also work. To make this plant-based, you could sauté various flavorful mushrooms (button, shiitake, maitake, etc.) instead.
• Japanese Curry Powder - Japanese curry powder contains many of the spices in more familiar curry blends, such as garam masala, like cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, and black pepper. But it also includes some unique spices, herbs, and aromatics not typically found in spice blends from other parts of the world, like Mandarin orange peel and dill. This gives Japanese curry its trademark taste, so I highly recommend searching for it at a Japanese grocery store or online. If you can't find it in stores near you, I have a recipe for making a very good Japanese Curry Powder (it's the recipe from a major Japanese spice brand). If you make your own, you can easily adjust the level of spiciness to suit you. Even if you don't make your own, the recipe can help demystify the difference between Japanese curry and curry blends from other cuisines.
• Stock - using a flavorful stock adds a ton of flavor without simmering the meat for a long time. Chicken, beef, or vegetable stock will work here. I used powdered vegetable stock from Kayanoya, which is available online in the US.
• Soy Sauce - Because of the short cooking time, it's important to add umami to this ground beef Japanese curry withevery opportunity. Soy sauce is loaded with naturally occurring glutamate and is an excellent source of umami.
• Worcestershire Sauce - I usually use a Japanese condiment called Chunou sauce in my longer Japanese chicken curry rice recipe. To keep the list of ingredients as simple as possible, I've substituted Worcestershire sauce, which has a similar flavor profile.
• Ketchup - Together with the Worcestershire sauce, the ketchup is the other half of the substitute for chunou sauce, which has a sweet, fruity flavor. Ketchup is also an umami heavyweight, which is why it's such a popular condiment.
• Honey - In my longer from scratch recipe, I use banana to add sweetness, but it needs to be cooked for a while to get the banana flavor to meld with the other ingredients. Since this quick version isn't simmered for long, the banana flavor will remain, so I've switched it to honey.
• Cocoa Powder - It may sound like a surprising ingredient, but it's a key piece of my 3-hour Japanese curry recipe, lending depth and complexity to the dish. To reduce the number of components in this recipe, I tried omitting it in early versions, but it made such a big difference in the flavor. I ended up adding it back to the recipe. It makes this quick ground beef Japanese curry taste like it's been simmering for hours, so don't skip it.
• Vegetables - You can add any vegetables you like in this recipe. The key is cutting hard vegetables like potatoes and carrots into small pieces and then pre-cooking them in the microwave. This cuts the simmering time from 30-40 to 10 minutes. I've also added some peas for color, but this is optional.

How to Make Ground Beef Japanese Curry

Make the sauce

Prep the sauce mixture by stirring the vegetable stock, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, honey, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl. It's okay if you have some lumps of cocoa powder, as these will dissolve in the pot; just make sure the honey and salt are dissolved.

Microwave the vegetables

Add the cut potatoes and carrots into a glass bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a lid. Pre-cook the vegetables in a microwave oven set to 800 watts for four minutes.

Caramelize Aromatics

Use a grater, blender, or food processor to purée the onion, remaining carrot, garlic, and ginger. Whatever method you use, the vegetables must be fully puréed (it should have the texture of apple sauce); otherwise, your sauce won't thicken properly. Add these to a pot, along with the baking soda and vegetable oil, and then mix everything together. Put the pot on the stove and boil off the excess liquid over high heat.

When the liquid is gone and the mixture starts to sizzle, turn down the stove to medium heat and start stirring it constantly to keep it from burning. You want to reduce the mixture to about a third of its original volume while caramelizing it.

When the puréed vegetables are golden brown, stir in the curry powder and fry this mixture for twenty to thirty seconds or until the mixture is very fragrant. Be careful not to burn it.

Brown and Simmer

Add the ground meat and break up any clumps as you brown it. When the meat is cooked, add the sauce mixture and the potatoes and carrots you pre-cooked. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Be sure to stir it periodically once it starts thickening to keep it from burning to the pot.

When the sauce is nice and thick, and the vegetables are tender, stir in the green peas to heat them through. Serve this ground beef Japanese curry with a side of short-grain white rice.

How to serve Japanese Curry

Kare Raisu is usually accompanied by Japanese short-grain rice, but you could make it lower carb by serving it over steamed cauliflower. Leftovers are delicious packed into a bento box. Or, try stuffing it into a bun. As with all Japanese curries, the flavors improve with time.

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