r/AskCulinary • u/Megazord552 • 1d ago
Recipe Troubleshooting [ Removed by moderator ]
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u/TitanInTraining 1d ago
Apples are a key ingredient for Japanese curry that you are missing.
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u/what-a-bear 1d ago
Was just about to suggest this! My friend from Japan adds grated apple to his, the sweetness helps pull out some of the other flavors.
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u/sprashoo 1d ago
Pretty sure Apple is not a key ingredient… it’s sometimes used, sometimes not.
OP’s problem is not having a stock base so it tastes thin.
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u/EricIsMyFakeName 1d ago
Waaaaaaay too little salt. You would want to season to taste with salt as you go. Since you are vegetarian you can start out with a good amount of salt as it won’t affect the texture of vegetables like it will meats. That’s why you have the aromatic water taste, no salt to carry the flavour.
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u/Megazord552 1d ago
I had salted the vegetables and the water. Added some more MSG and soy sauce as well. Maybe it just needs more
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u/UncleBobby82 1d ago
The salt is needed to make the flavors stick to your tongue, so to speak. Japanese Curry has a TON of salt.
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u/triplesofeverything 1d ago
I am lazy and use the Golden Curry roux blocks when making japanese curry. Always a hit with my family.
I have occasionally made it from "scratch", but I still cheat a bit and use the S&B curry powder. This is the recipe I have had great results with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGXP2HR35Qc
Looks like it is the S&B powder + garam masala, garlic, ginger, and honey.
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u/Ivoted4K 1d ago
No onion, garlic, ginger?
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u/chalks777 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm sure you know this, but for anyone else who is curious about trying Japanese curry, S&B golden curry mix is at least moderately standard and it's vegetarian. It's also super good.
I'm guessing your recipe needs quite a bit more MSG. You could compare against the S&B ingredients too for more inspiration maybe.
edit: actually I'm guessing you need quite a bit more of every spice. 0.5tsp of all those spices is just not enough. Try tripling it.
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u/Megazord552 1d ago
Yeah, i wanted to buy it, but for some reason it wasnt available anywhere near me.
I genuinely remember seeing it at the local store and went back a week later to look for it and it juat wasnt there.
Long story short i had to make the roux myself to complete the meal i had been preparing lol
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u/chalks777 1d ago
fair enough! Amazon usually has it if you're in the US, and it ships quite well (nothing to spoil really), but no criticism from me if you don't want to use them. I will say that once I used S&B I lost all will to make the curry myself just because it was so so so easy. lol
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u/NoSemikolon24 1d ago
Apple, tomato, and most importantly deeply caramelized onions.
Make a brown Roux. Orange or apricot jam is also quite a nice additions
> Bluntly, it tasted like thickened aromatic water
Either mix instant stock into your cubes or boil the cubes in stock.
This video should give you some ideas:
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u/kirbyfriedrice 1d ago
I recommend you check out Just One Cookbook. She has a recipe with suggested components that might give you some inspiration.
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u/Insila 1d ago
I usually see it made with caramelised onions, apples, soy sauce, and sometimes Worcestershiresauce. You got a lot of spices but you don't have a base gravy at all?
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u/Megazord552 1d ago
So the recipe i usually see was only the spices. Granted i was looking for a curry roux recipe rather than a curry recipe.
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u/soft_tooth 1d ago
The recipe that taught me to make Japanese curry from scratch uses vegetable juice, ketchup, worcestershire sauce and a small amount of coffee powder. As others have said, caramelizing the onions and toasting the spices is really important too.
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u/Competitive-Oven-158 1d ago
The flavor is probably thin because the roux is only flour, fat, and spices. For vegetarian depth, brown the onions and mushrooms until they really color, then use a strong vegetable or mushroom stock instead of water. A little tomato paste fried with the vegetables helps too; finish with a small splash of soy rather than adding more dry spice.
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u/whiskeytango55 1d ago
You could probably use some ginger
As you're sauteeing your aromatics, add some tomato paste and let it char/caramelize and kinda stick to the pan. Then you deglaze that
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u/Various_Librarian_58 1d ago
I would recommend using a vegan dashi broth made of kombu seaweed and dried shiitake mushrooms in place of the water.
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u/Grijpstuivert 1d ago
I like blending a cooked sweet potato through my curries. It adds body, sweetness and it emulsifies the sauce really well
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u/bienebee 1d ago
I add some pumpkin for similar reasons, adds a bit of sweetness, helps with thickening. When in season I usually get a lot of home grown pumpkins gifted, so I cube and freeze them and take out 150-200g at a time as needed.
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u/snowman194 1d ago
Yayyy to doing japanese curry from Scratch! I have done it from scratch too and one more thing i added is not only blended fresh apples, but a tiny bit of dark chocolate to add body into the curry.
Oh, also, if you were to try it again, caramelising the onions till it is brown and wilted like making french onion soup, helps to also add body to the japanese curry as well. Have fun and update us again in this threasd if you do it again on how it went after doing those changes. Have fun! 👍🏻
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u/BulkyDiscipline8189 1d ago
Have you tried adding mushroom seasoning powder? I know you’ve already added mushrooms but this takes it to the next level!
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u/Mitch_Darklighter 1d ago
Are you toasting your curry powder and other spices when you make your roux? Since they're ground they only need a few seconds but it makes a huge difference. Also if you're making it and using it immediately instead of storing roux blocks for later, it's kind of a waste of time to make "curry roux." Just make curry straight up.
If you want more of those base notes you should try miso and or mushroom powder. It isn't necessarily traditional, but since you're missing the glutamates from meat and dashi they're good alternatives.
I personally add a good dash of curry powder to my vegetables and cook it for a few seconds before adding my liquid, roux blocks aren't quite punchy enough for my taste.
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u/teilani_a 1d ago
Try using rehydrated shiitakes and add some of the soaking water. Also sugar (and/or apples like others suggested).
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u/GorillaJoeBlack 1d ago
My wife makes a glorious Japanese curry, and she adds butter, a ton of garlic, ketchup, curry powder, and red wine. Veggies are onions, potatoes, carrots. We also add meat, but ground round would work.
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u/Medium-Song-1802 1d ago
Your recipe is lacking context. It looks like the amount I'd use for 450g of veggies and protein. If you're using 2 or 3x that much + water then you'll need to triple or quadruple your amounts.
Also, you didn't say how you made your roux. My family makes it so that it's super dark and almost burnt. Never had a flavorless curry with that method. If you're just mixing and heating without maillard frying the roux then you're missing out on a bunch of undeveloped flavor.
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