While most Americans know Sapporo for the eponymous beer, it's also the 5th largest city in Japan, and the capital of Hokkaido. A stonesthrow away from Siberia, it snows six months out of the year, and is famous for the tasty things come out of the frigid waters.
Whether it's the bitter cold, or the historical Russian and Mongolian influences in the region, they do things a little differently up there. The country-side is a patchwork of potato and dairy farms that looks more like a scene from Denmark than what you'd expect from the northernmost island of Japan.
I've mentioned before that Japanese curry is the de facto national dish of Japan. With its sweet roux-thickened gravy, Japanese curry seems like just the type of dish to take the edge off sub-zero temperatures, and yet determined to buck the trend, Sapporo has come up with its own take on curry.
Soup Curry (スープカレー) is a light curry flavored soup served with some type of meat, and a rainbow of roasted vegetables. Although it's a relatively recent concoction, soup curry has blown up over the past decade, with shops specializing in the local dish almost as abundant as shops specializing in another local dish: miso ramen.
Despite its popularity, I've never been a huge a fan of soup curry. Closer to vegetable soup than a curry, It's surprising how little spice gets added to most restaurant versions of this dish. Another problem is that the vegetables are cooked independent of the soup, doing neither the veggies or soup any favors in the flavor department. Still, I love curry from all walks of life, and it was with this resolve that I set out to make a soup curry that tastes as good as it looks.
For the chicken I used a technique I learned while making Kabsah (chicken and rice). First I boil the chicken in a 50/50 blend of tomato juice and chicken stock. This not only tenderizes the chicken, it enriches the flavor of the soup. Once the chicken is cooked, I remove it from the liquid, seasoned it, and then roast it until the skin turns golden brown and crisps. This method gives you the best of both worlds, with tender moist chicken, a well browned exterior, and a deeply satisfying broth.
For the vegetables, I like to flash fry them, because it caramelizes the sugars, making them sweeter while preserving their vibrant colors. To ensure that they're just as flavorful as the curry itself, I dust all the fried veggies with a mixture of garam masala and salt. Be warned though, you may want to make some extra as it's hard to resist snacking on them as you dust them with the fragrant salt.
Like a traditional Japanese curry, the sweetness and depth of the soup is largely dependant on how diligently you caramelize the onions, garlic and ginger, which is why it pays to be patient and get them as caramelized as possible. Lastly, to round off the acidity of the tomatoes and give the soup a bit more richness, I like to add coconut milk to the soup at the very end.
I used S&B brand curry powder, which is the ubiquitous curry powder in Japan, that gives Japanese curry its distinct taste. If you can't find it near you, you can also try to make it yourself. As for the vegetables, I used bell peppers, okra, carrots, kabocha, lotus root, eggplant and small potatoes, but any vegetable that will fry well and is colorful will work just fine.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
Soup Curry
- 28 grams cultured unsalted butter (2 tablespoons)
- 15 grams garlic (3 large cloves, grated)
- 25 grams fresh ginger (½-inch piece, grated)
- 520 grams onion (2 medium s finely minced)
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 pods green cardamom
- 1 pod black cardamom
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tablespoons Japanese curry powder
- 2 cups tomato juice
- 2 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 620 grams whole chicken legs (2 large legs)
- chili peppers fresh (optional)
- 200 milliliters coconut milk
Vegetables
- assorted vegetables
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- vegetable oil (for frying)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium high heat and then add the garlic and ginger. Saute until fragrant and just starting to brown and then add the onions, bay leaves, green cardamom, black cardamom, and cinnamon stick.
- Turn down the heat to medium low and fry the onions, stirring periodically until they are a caramel color and have reduced to about ¼ of their original volume (30-40 minutes).
- When the onions are caramelized, add the curry powder and fry until fragrant.
- Add the tomato juice, chicken stock and soy sauce, and turn up the heat to bring the soup to a boil.
- Add the chicken legs and chili peppers (optional), cover with a lid, and turn down the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for 40 minutes.
- While the chicken cooks, prepare all the vegetables and mix the garam masala with 1 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl.
- When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the liquid and place on a wire rack over a sheet pan. Let the surface of the chicken dry out for a few minutes and then rub with a little vegetable oil and sprinkle all surfaces with the garam masala salt mixture.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Add 1-inch of oil to a heavy bottomed pot and heat to 340 degrees F (170C) and line a wire rack with paper towels.
- Add the coconut milk to the curry and add salt as needed, keep it warm over low heat.
- Roast the chicken in the oven until the skin is golden brown (7-10 minutes).
- Fry each of the vegetables until they are tender but still vibrant in color. Keep in mind that some vegetables take longer than others to cook. For instance carrots will take a few minutes vs okra which will cook in a few seconds. Drain the fried vegetables on paper towels and sprinkle with the garam masala salt.
- To plate, pile the vegetables on the chicken and pour the curry soup around the chicken and vegetables. Serve with rice or bread.
Alyssa W says
I JUST went to Sapporo for the Yuki Matsuri. The food was so amazing! But I didn't know about soup curry; I'll have to try your version at home.
Victor Setiawan Hartanto says
now THIS I have to try, looks very appetizing, thanks a lot Marc!
I loved your Japanese curry recipe, made it and everyone in the house likes it, but some says the curry flavor is a bit too strong, so this should be a lot more to their tastebud 🙂
Leland Ellison says
Tried it this week - turned out amazing! My past curry-related attempts have fallen far short of the rich, savory flavors I was hoping for. But this one really hit the soul-warming, face-melting spot. 🙂 Thank you for the detailed and carefully crafted recipes!
Maggie says
This is so good. The simmering the chicken in the broth makes it melt in your mouth. And the coconut milk at the end does give it really good balance. Addictive. Hard to save some as leftovers for the rest of the week.
jp@filipinofoodrecipes says
Judging the dish from the ingredients and way of cooking curry seems so appetizing. I cook the Filipino way of cooking curry but I want to try this especially your kabsa procedure of cooking you chicken. It's a blend of Middle East and Japan cooking style.
paizley says
S&B is the way to go! I grew up on that stuff. My Japanese mother never bought the pre-packaged curry roux. She made her own. It was like magic watching the flour darken in her iron skillet. This recipe sounds delicious. I'm thinking of making this for two old (82 and 81) Japanese ladies. Both have dentures and can't bite into food like before. I don't want to take away from the presentation, but what is your recommendation for making the vegs easier to eat for them? I'd ask my mother but she passed away.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Paizley, dentures make it hard to take big bites of food and to eat hard foods, so this might not be the best dish to make for them. You could make the curry and instead of frying the veggies whole you could cut them up small and cook them in the curry until tender. Otherwise have you thought about doing my regular Japanese curry? https://norecipes.com/karei-raisu-japanese-curry-rice/ Hope that helps.
paizley says
They're Japanese so they make kare-raisu all the time. I grew up on it and make it often. Shoko is from Nagoya, Mineko is from Sado Island, my mother, Osaka, and I was born in Tokyo. I thought this might be something different for them. I think maybe if I steam the the bite-sized vegs, the vegs will be tender enough for them to eat and enjoy the soup. Thanks for responding!
Lyn Sato says
So happy I found this! Will make it tonite for my 2 Japanese sons. Love your ideas, love your writing. Thank you.
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Lyn, I hope your family enjoys it!
Kiersten says
So delicious! We were in Hokkaido last year and have been missing the comfort of soup curry. This recipe is spot on! Thank you Marc for bringing Hokkaido cooking to our kitchen, amazing recipe!!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Kiersten, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it, and thanks for stopping by to let me know! I have a lot of other Japanese recipes on the site, so I hope you're able to recreate some other favorites from your trip: https://norecipes.com/cuisine/japanese/
Alan says
Hey Marc, big fan here. Thanks for the great recipes. I was wondering what you do with the tomato broth you cook the chicken in as it is not specified in the directions. Do you add it to the onions at some point ?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Alan, I'm sorry if the directions were confusing, but the tomato stock is what goes on to become the "soup" for the curry. i.e. the liquids go into the caramelized onion mixture in step 4, the chicken and chilies get added to that in step 5, the coconut milk gets added to that in step 10.
Tim says
I've never tried S&B before, but I have definitely seen it on shelves. Good to know that Japanese curry still uses Garam, I guess the palate is special to white meat that seems popular . Plus I love the way the carrots and vegetables are chopped. Really looking forward to trying it out ! ! ! https://www.sbfoods-worldwide.com/products/images/img-15193-01.jpg
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Tim, the photo that you linked to is a pre-made ready to eat curry and won't work for this recipe. The S&B curry powder comes in a red and yellow can. Hope that helps!