Vegan Japanese Curry Rice

Hi guys! Sorry this isn't a beauty-related post, but I'm just so pleased with myself... one of my favorite things to eat when I lived in Japan was Japanese-style curry rice.  I went vegan shortly after returning to the U.S., so I haven't had one of my favorite foods of all time for 6 years because I was too lazy/intimidated to make a Japanese curry rice recipe from scratch (most people make it with store-bought sauce mix which isn't vegan).  However, after my most recent company BBQ where I was tortured into smelling my coworker's delicious curry rice while pregnant, I decided enough was enough and I had to give a vegan version a go.  My first attempt wasn't perfect, but it taught me some minor tweaks to make this delicious meal available to me again!

Best served over real Japanese glutinous rice <3

My first attempt, leftovers, shown with instant brown rice... not as good as the Japanese rice, if you can get it!

Vegan Japanese Curry (feeds 4)

Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 sliced onion

3 Boca Original Vegan Burgers micro-waved and diced (or cook Chik’n patties, slice into strips, and place on top like katsukare)

1 lb. diced potatoes (about 8 small-to-medium Yukon gold potatoes)

2 diced carrots

1 minced clove of garlic

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 tbsp Earth Balance Margarine

¼ cup of flour

3 tbsp S&B Curry Powder

(I read in several other from-scratch recipes that any other curry powder won't do... look to an Asian/Japanese grocery near you for the best price, or find easily on Amazon.com)

3 cups water

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Seasoning Mix

2 cups or 1 can of vegetable broth

1 tsp. of Better than Bouillon – Vegetable (or vegan vegetable bouillon cube, if you can find them)

2 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp A-1 Steak Sauce

1 tsp instant coffee

1-2 tsp sugar (depends how sweet you like your Japanese-style curry rice)

 

How to:

1)      Pre-mix the Seasoning Mix ingredients and set aside.

2)      Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in your pan.  Stir-fry onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add garlic and ginger until they are browned (not burnt) and there is no liquid.

3)      Turn heat to low and add the flour, followed by the margarine.

4)      Add the curry powder and mix well. Let cook until fragrant.

5)      Add a cup of the water to dissolve the paste.  Then add the remaining water and the Seasoning Mix.

6)      Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7)      Heat the other 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan.  Stir-fry the potato and carrot, adding salt and pepper to taste, until the potatoes are translucent.

8)      Add the contents of the frying pan (and Boca Burger pieces, if using) to the Roux mixture that has been simmering, and bring to a light boil for 15-20 minutes.