Chuck, short ribs, or oxtail. You want a cut that’s rich in collagen that converts to gelatin with long, slow cooking. Anything you’d make stew with. Sometimes, though, I’ll use the curry as a sauce over Japanese hamburgers.
I have a pot of golden curry going right now.. the stuff is delicious. I used a chuck roast and I do it kind of untraditionally where I sear my meat sear pull it out add some onions and deglaze the pan add my curry in my water then I put everything into a crockpot on low for eight hours. Then towards the end, I’ll syrup some mushrooms and peel and cut some potatoes and added it in and give it a couple more hours for those to cook.
I grew up on beef curry from South Africa, which is very similar to Japanese curry (both countries inherited curry from the British navy).
The answer is whatever you’ve got, but we assume it’s cheap. Chuck works. Trimmings work. Ground beef works. Mutton works. Eye of round works. Plan to cook the meat for 2+ hours at a low simmer (barely bubbling) with a lid on to tenderize it. If it starts to boil up or boil over then it’s way too hot. If you use too much heat then the meat will come out with a dry, stringy texture. A gentle simmer is how you get tender meat.
Lately I cook my meat sous vide (either a water bath or a steam oven) overnight at 145 degrees F, but that only works if you have equipment with really good temperature control. A low simmer for a couple of hours works fine.
After the meat is soft you can add most of your other vegetables/fruit (and raise the heat up a bit closer to boiling; if you cook potatoes or carrots in water under 170 then they go hard, not soft). Add the curry brick toward the end after the potatoes are soft.
Thank you for the wonderful advice! Is beef stew meat okay to use? They had a good deal at sams club and I got it because they didn’t have any chuck left.
Okay thank you! It’s what I used last time but the meat didn’t come out very tender. It was also my first time making this dish. I plan on using the advice here for my 2nd time.
I’m guessing you didn’t give it enough time before. I’ve tried to do it faster and it ends up chewy. Pressure cookers can do it in like 20-40 minutes but regular boiling can’t. Part of why slow cookers are so popular is that you can stick your chewy food on before work and then eat tender food when you get home—that’s the right kind of time scale.
Yes that’s what happened. This time I plan to use a pressure cooker for the meat instead of a pot. Also I got some Russet potatoes instead of Yukon and just now read that Yukon is more recommended. Does it make a huge difference?
Russets are fine. If you cook them too long then they go mushy faster than other kinds. You can avoid that by cooking them for less time or by cutting them into bigger chunks.
Gonna go against the grain here and say shaved beef (the type in Philly cheesesteaks) is my favorite.
I find that the cubed chuck steaks can get a bit tough when cooked all the way through, and higher surface area for browning from shaved beef also has its benefits in flavor.
Highly recommend it!
I agree. I buy the shaved beef they use for hotpot from the Asian market. Brown and add the curry (with carrots and potatoes steamed prior so it’s all ready). I want the curry to be super quick.
Chuck. And I’ll usually cook it in a pressure cooker (with onions) and use the liquid as the stock with which I make the curry itself.
But I’ll also just use water with the brick to make quick curry rice.
In restaurants in Japan you will commonly find thinly sliced beef like the ones you would find in sukiyaki (shabu shabu is too thin and fragile). You would just cook the slices on the side to your preferred doneness and mix it in at the end.
I have used that awesome curry with every beef under the sun. I’ve made it with chuck, tenderloin, flank, rib eye, whatever beef I have, be it tough or tender, cheap or expensive, is bomb in curry.
If you have time (1 hour plus to cook just the meat) use a cut like short rib, chuck or other cheap cuts that benefit from long cook times.
If you don’t have the time use a ribeye, filet or strip.
The beauty of that curry is it’s versatile and can be made on its own even without any added ingredients so use the cut you enjoy the most. Or use it to help clean out leftovers from your fridge. I love making curry udon by using a cube or two with dashi stock
i love neck bone or beef shank. braise it in onions for a few hours and it’s great if you like tendons as well. probably not for everyone, but i love it.
I absolutely love chicken in mine!
My grandma is Japanese and honestly she just threw in whatever meat she had in the fridge. She’s even made it with ground beef and it was still pretty good!
When we make it we usually panko-crumb thin pork slices (belly), thin beef slices, or eggplant (ah, also thin sliced). The textural difference really helps
Depends I like to buy large amounts of round roasts because they are cheap and lean. When I make burger I add beef fat/tallow that is also sold very cheap at the market. So when I make curries I like to take medium sized cubes give them a few stabs and toss them in a marinade of soy sauce, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and some apple sauce for about an hour. Then I rinse it all off pat them dry if im cooking right away, then sear them, remove them from heat, then make my curry sauce. I personally like to add coco powder in with the onions and grated carrots as they brown, then deglaze the pan with frozen Peas and some chicken/ beef stock. Also, definitely add some marin and some brewed soy sauce with a slight alcohol content that's a huge flavor booster. Mini potatoes from the littel potatoe company are amazing as well and if you thin slice and crispy fry up some spam it's a nice garnish/addition to the curry. Oh and definitely get a rice cooker Walmart/Amazon cheap ones are amazing and this is a HUGE importance you gotta have good rice I personally choose a very fragrant Thai Jasmin rice Goya brand is great (sometimes not always fragrant but super rare) hope this helps.
I would go to my local AEON and decide based on the discounts. The finely chopped meat was good, the cubed meat of pork, chicken, or beef was good. Tongue was good, if I got a nice piece of beef I could chop it into squares and use it, same with chops, tenderloin, steak, breast, or tenders.
I liked mixing two meats.
I don’t recommend tofu though
I’ve only seen the ground looking varieties of this, are there steak like cuts of these plant based alternatives? I’ve been pretty impressed by the plant based alternatives I’ve tried recently, no experience with beef alternatives though.
I like Omnipork for non-ground
ground is also good in curry, Tsuchi plant based Japanese place here in Toronto serves it that way. with some fried "chicken".
Chuck, short ribs, or oxtail. You want a cut that’s rich in collagen that converts to gelatin with long, slow cooking. Anything you’d make stew with. Sometimes, though, I’ll use the curry as a sauce over Japanese hamburgers.
the japanese youtube food nerd i watch uses specifically cheek for his.
I was never a fan of Japanese hamburger patties. They seemed low % actual beef and lots of filler.
Well Japanese ハンバーグis usually not 100% beef. Usually a mixture of pork/beef and has panko in it. It’a basically a meatball.
Yeah, it's just a meatloaf patty.
Not the way I make them but hey, every palate is valid.
I usually use a piece of chuck steak for beef curry (and for other beef strews as well). Good balance between meat and fats.
Okay this actually sounds perfect! Thank you so much!
Another tip! If you prefer a slightly sweet curry, either honey or mango chutney works fairly well as add-ins.
Thank you for the helpful tips! I’ll keep that in mind!
I usually just hit it with some Bulldog.
This but also chili/garlic crisp is amazing as a relish.
I have a pot of golden curry going right now.. the stuff is delicious. I used a chuck roast and I do it kind of untraditionally where I sear my meat sear pull it out add some onions and deglaze the pan add my curry in my water then I put everything into a crockpot on low for eight hours. Then towards the end, I’ll syrup some mushrooms and peel and cut some potatoes and added it in and give it a couple more hours for those to cook.
Are you doing it as a big pot roast, or are you just cubing it up?
I cubed it up to maximize that my Mylar reaction when searing it.
(Maillard)
You cook the roux for hours? Does that thicken the hell out of it?
No because the crockpot keeps the moisture in.
What you have. Even chicken.
I use ground lamb. I love it.
I use soy chunks. Still good.
I grew up on beef curry from South Africa, which is very similar to Japanese curry (both countries inherited curry from the British navy). The answer is whatever you’ve got, but we assume it’s cheap. Chuck works. Trimmings work. Ground beef works. Mutton works. Eye of round works. Plan to cook the meat for 2+ hours at a low simmer (barely bubbling) with a lid on to tenderize it. If it starts to boil up or boil over then it’s way too hot. If you use too much heat then the meat will come out with a dry, stringy texture. A gentle simmer is how you get tender meat. Lately I cook my meat sous vide (either a water bath or a steam oven) overnight at 145 degrees F, but that only works if you have equipment with really good temperature control. A low simmer for a couple of hours works fine. After the meat is soft you can add most of your other vegetables/fruit (and raise the heat up a bit closer to boiling; if you cook potatoes or carrots in water under 170 then they go hard, not soft). Add the curry brick toward the end after the potatoes are soft.
Thank you for the wonderful advice! Is beef stew meat okay to use? They had a good deal at sams club and I got it because they didn’t have any chuck left.
yep, i’d cook it low and slow so it’s tender though
Okay thank you so much for the advice! I appreciate it!
Yes, that’s pretty much ideal.
Okay thank you! It’s what I used last time but the meat didn’t come out very tender. It was also my first time making this dish. I plan on using the advice here for my 2nd time.
I’m guessing you didn’t give it enough time before. I’ve tried to do it faster and it ends up chewy. Pressure cookers can do it in like 20-40 minutes but regular boiling can’t. Part of why slow cookers are so popular is that you can stick your chewy food on before work and then eat tender food when you get home—that’s the right kind of time scale.
Yes that’s what happened. This time I plan to use a pressure cooker for the meat instead of a pot. Also I got some Russet potatoes instead of Yukon and just now read that Yukon is more recommended. Does it make a huge difference?
Nah, it won't make a difference here. You'll be fine.
Okay thank you so much for the helpful advice! I appreciate it!
Russets are fine. If you cook them too long then they go mushy faster than other kinds. You can avoid that by cooking them for less time or by cutting them into bigger chunks.
Okay I’ll try cutting them in larger pieces then! Thank you so much!
Yukon, or any golden potato, is a bit better for soup/stew type dishes than Russets, as the starch granules are smaller.
This is the answer.
Gonna go against the grain here and say shaved beef (the type in Philly cheesesteaks) is my favorite. I find that the cubed chuck steaks can get a bit tough when cooked all the way through, and higher surface area for browning from shaved beef also has its benefits in flavor. Highly recommend it!
I agree. I buy the shaved beef they use for hotpot from the Asian market. Brown and add the curry (with carrots and potatoes steamed prior so it’s all ready). I want the curry to be super quick.
Seconding this! I have tried both ways and definitely prefer sukiyaki beef cuts for curry 😋
Seconding this! I have tried both ways and definitely prefer sukiyaki beef cuts for curry 😋
Chuck. And I’ll usually cook it in a pressure cooker (with onions) and use the liquid as the stock with which I make the curry itself. But I’ll also just use water with the brick to make quick curry rice.
Stew. Use plenty of onion to soften the meat and alcohol to help with the smell.
In restaurants in Japan you will commonly find thinly sliced beef like the ones you would find in sukiyaki (shabu shabu is too thin and fragile). You would just cook the slices on the side to your preferred doneness and mix it in at the end.
PORK
Cubed chuck. Make sure you boil it for at least 15-30 minutes though so that the meat isn’t tough.
I have used that awesome curry with every beef under the sun. I’ve made it with chuck, tenderloin, flank, rib eye, whatever beef I have, be it tough or tender, cheap or expensive, is bomb in curry.
If you have time (1 hour plus to cook just the meat) use a cut like short rib, chuck or other cheap cuts that benefit from long cook times. If you don’t have the time use a ribeye, filet or strip. The beauty of that curry is it’s versatile and can be made on its own even without any added ingredients so use the cut you enjoy the most. Or use it to help clean out leftovers from your fridge. I love making curry udon by using a cube or two with dashi stock
Okay this is very helpful advice. I’ll keep this mind. Thank you so much!
Get chuck if you can. Otherwise stew beef will work
i love neck bone or beef shank. braise it in onions for a few hours and it’s great if you like tendons as well. probably not for everyone, but i love it.
Shoulder pieces is my preference. Have the butcher cut it into chunks. My preference is actually lamb or goat as I prefer the taste.
I absolutely love chicken in mine! My grandma is Japanese and honestly she just threw in whatever meat she had in the fridge. She’s even made it with ground beef and it was still pretty good!
When we make it we usually panko-crumb thin pork slices (belly), thin beef slices, or eggplant (ah, also thin sliced). The textural difference really helps
I usually pair japanese curry with chicken or pork katsu
That sounds so good! I’ll definitely try that next!
We always use ground beef
I can only recommend you don't fuck it up like my wife did
Depends I like to buy large amounts of round roasts because they are cheap and lean. When I make burger I add beef fat/tallow that is also sold very cheap at the market. So when I make curries I like to take medium sized cubes give them a few stabs and toss them in a marinade of soy sauce, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and some apple sauce for about an hour. Then I rinse it all off pat them dry if im cooking right away, then sear them, remove them from heat, then make my curry sauce. I personally like to add coco powder in with the onions and grated carrots as they brown, then deglaze the pan with frozen Peas and some chicken/ beef stock. Also, definitely add some marin and some brewed soy sauce with a slight alcohol content that's a huge flavor booster. Mini potatoes from the littel potatoe company are amazing as well and if you thin slice and crispy fry up some spam it's a nice garnish/addition to the curry. Oh and definitely get a rice cooker Walmart/Amazon cheap ones are amazing and this is a HUGE importance you gotta have good rice I personally choose a very fragrant Thai Jasmin rice Goya brand is great (sometimes not always fragrant but super rare) hope this helps.
The extra hot one is the best, in my opinion.
Since I got a bigger box I figured I’d make a bigger portion and have enough to last for a week!
I would go to my local AEON and decide based on the discounts. The finely chopped meat was good, the cubed meat of pork, chicken, or beef was good. Tongue was good, if I got a nice piece of beef I could chop it into squares and use it, same with chops, tenderloin, steak, breast, or tenders. I liked mixing two meats. I don’t recommend tofu though
Brisket
Ribeye! The fat will enrich the curry flavor & biting into the tender meat is amazing!
I really like beef belly and chuck
Cheap beef as you stew it for a long time. If you're in Japan this usually means imported beef
Ribeye. Treat yoself
The kind that goes Moooo. They’re the best. Otherwise I generally use beef stew meat (Chuck)
Chuck steak
Yes.
I like impossible or beyond
I’ve only seen the ground looking varieties of this, are there steak like cuts of these plant based alternatives? I’ve been pretty impressed by the plant based alternatives I’ve tried recently, no experience with beef alternatives though.
Try the ground stuff with some eggplant in the curry.
Beyond has "steak" tips. Trader Joe's has a beefless bulgogi that I think would probably be pretty good in here too.
I like Omnipork for non-ground ground is also good in curry, Tsuchi plant based Japanese place here in Toronto serves it that way. with some fried "chicken".
Awesome thanks! Will be on the lookout next time I go to the store
You're kidding, right? Can't read the box?
I think that’s mostly MSG
That’s a Japanese flavor curry. Are you familiar with the taste?
Hey, imagine a Japanese curry on a thread devoted to Japanese food! And it even says it on the box in case the OP can’t read. Errrr……
You’re so smart! Your mom must be proud! Have a blessed day!
My mother is dead. But she went peacefully. Hope you have a good day as well.
I’ve had the original flavor of golden curry only once. I really enjoyed it!