Watch enough anime and eventually it happens. You want to eat something you saw. Let’s be honest. That animated goodness can make you drool!

That’s what happened to me.   The culprit?  Japanese curry.

It’s a fairly common dish in Japan, so it’s in a lot of anime and manga. In Say I love you, Megumi uses curry to lure Yamato to her apartment. There was even an arc in Naruto called the “Curry of Life”. Heck, there’s a manga called Addicted to Curry and the plot revolves around (you guessed it) curry!

Honestly, my craving it was inevitable. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a nearby restaurant to help me fulfill this tasty need, so I had to make it myself. I am a good cook, but with two kids and tons of pets I always go for the shortcut.   When researching my options, I discovered “instant curry,” which comes in roux blocks (that’s what I used below).   However, we all know that boxed stuff usually suffers compared to homemade. Thankfully, Addicted to Curry was once tackled this very issue.   In that chapter they shared a list of curry helpers! Since then I’ve been using that list and what’s around the house to make my curry.   I have never made two curries that taste the same, but I assure you they’re always delicious.  My most recent curry was this one:

Box Suggested Ingredients
1- 1 ⅓ lbs. Lean Beef (or Chicken, Lamb, Shrimp)
17 oz. Onions
2 Tbsp Cooking Oil
2 ½ cups Water
3.5 oz. S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix

My Ingredients
1.45 lbs Chicken
17.3 oz. Onion, Celery, and Carrot
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Cup Water + 1 Cup Coffee + ½ cup Red Cooking Wine
3.5 oz. S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix
Two Potatoes
To Taste: Garlic, Sriracha, Ketchup, Fresh Ginger, Soy Sauce
Freshly Cooke Rice (still hot)

Instructions
Box Step 1 Cut lean beef (or chicken, lamb, shrimp) into cubes and chop onions finely.
My Step 1 As above. Additionally I took sliced and chopped the celery, carrot, and potatoes.

Box Step 2 Stir-fry meat and onions in oil or butter in a large skillet until onions are lightly browned, approx. 3 min. If you wish add carrots, celery, bell pepper, or other vegetables.
My Step 2 Yeah, it isn’t until the instructions that they mention optional ingredients on the box. Anyway, this was when I broke out the butter and fried everything I had sliced/chopped/cubed in the first step.

Box Step 3 Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender, approx. 10 min.
My Step 3 I replaced the amount of water with my liquid combo. To be honest, should have probably added the soy sauce at this stage instead of later.   Thing is, I didn’t find it in my refrigerator until after this step, but this proves how forgiving instant curry can be!

Box Step 4 Remove from heat, break S&B Gold Curry Sauce Mix into pieces and add them to skillet.   Stir until completely melted.   Simmer 5 min., stirring constantly.
My Step 4 Turn heat way down, but don’t take it off heat. I find otherwise it takes forever for the block to melt away and mix in.   Along with the curry block, add in the stuff that’s “To Taste.” I simmered it probably for another 10-15 minutes to marry in these additional flavors.

Box Step 5 Serve hot over rice or noodles.
My Step 5 Serve next to hot rice. That way the person eating can decide if they want it saucier or rice heavy as they eat.
Megumi’s Step 5 Serve over steamed cabbage, because she was low carbing it. Though, personally, I prefer riced cauliflower to lower the carbs in this meal.

See? It’s far from hard, so I encourage you to give instant Japanese curry a try. Share your anime food cravings and Japanese curry recipes/add-ins in the comments below!