{"id":170142,"title":"Yasai kar\u0113 – Japanese vegetable curry","modified":"2026-09-13T16:38:36+02:00","plain":"A homemade Japanese curry with ground pork and meltingly tender vegetables, thickened with a homemade curry roux and brightened with sweet-savory touches.\n\n\n\nPicture a bowl of steaming rice topped with golden curry, with pieces of kabocha squash, potato, and eggplant cooked until tender. The ground pork melts into the sauce, notes of ginger and garlic shine through, and sweet-savory touches \u2014 ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, apple, and chutney \u2014 round everything out.\n\n\n\nThis hearty, easy weeknight curry gets its body from a homemade roux. Serve it piping hot, spooned over rice.\n\n\n\nCraving the classic version? Try the Japanese curry\n\n\n\nWhat is yasai kar\u0113?\n\n\n\nYasai means \u201cvegetables\u201d and kar\u0113 comes from \u201ccurry\u201d via English. Most often served as kar\u0113 raisu \u2014 curry poured over rice \u2014 it belongs to y\u014dshoku, Japan\u2019s family of Western-inspired dishes. This thick, mild, homemade version is part of everyday Japanese cuisine.\n\n\n\n\u201cYasai\u201d puts vegetables front and center, but it doesn\u2019t mean vegetarian: many versions, like this one, add a little meat. Here, 140 g of ground pork pairs with five vegetables (onion, carrot, eggplant, kabocha squash, and potato).\n\n\n\nThe sauce starts with a homemade Japanese curry roux, made in a pan with oil, flour, Japanese curry powder, and a hint of garam masala.\n\n\n\nFor something more indulgent, katsu curry tops a crisp breaded cutlet with curry sauce\n\n\n\nA curry from the West\n\n\n\nJapanese curry came not from India but from England. Introduced when Japan opened to the West in the Meiji era, it spread through the navy, then through canteens and schools, before becoming a beloved home dish. Milder, thicker, and sweeter than Indian curry, it now comes in many homemade variations.\n\n\n\nThe main ingredients in yasai kar\u0113\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKabocha squash turns sweet and tender as it cooks. It joins diced potato, thinly sliced eggplant, sliced onion, and julienned carrot. Soak the potato and eggplant in water for a few minutes before cooking to keep them from discoloring. Used in a small amount, the ground pork adds depth and body without overwhelming the vegetables.\n\n\n\nMake the roux separately: heat the oil with the sifted flour over low heat until smooth, then stir in the curry powder and a hint of garam masala. This homemade roux thickens the sauce and carries the spices \u2014 no need for a store-bought curry block.\n\n\n\nTwo seasonings punctuate the cooking. Seasoning A \u2014 grated ginger and garlic with red wine \u2014 seasons the pork from the start; reserve half of the red wine for the finish.\n\n\n\nSeasoning B, added once the vegetables are tender, brings together the sweet-savory notes that give the dish its character: Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, stock powder, apple puree, and chutney. The stock is simply hot water mixed with stock powder; other Japanese preparations start instead from a seafood-based stock with dashi and kombu. Serve the curry over rice \u2014 see the rice guide to choose the right variety.\n\n\n\nSame spirit in a beef version: the bifu kar\u0113\n\n\n\nTips for success\n\n\n\nMake the roux ahead and set it aside: stir it in at the end of cooking, off the heat, then return to a gentle simmer to thicken without lumps. Soak the potato and eggplant in water while you prep the rest, and add just enough hot water to cover the vegetables.\n\n\n\nAdd seasoning B only once the vegetables are tender, then stir in the roux and finish with the remaining red wine to preserve its aroma. For more Japanese curries, try the katsu curry, curry udon, or bifu kar\u0113.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tYasai kar\u0113 - Japanese vegetable curry\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t140 g pork (ground)180 g onion60 g carrot40 g eggplant75 g kabocha squash100 g potatoCurry roux5 teaspoons oil5 teaspoons flour2.5 g curry powder0.2 g garam masalaSeasoning A0.5 teaspoon ginger, grated0.5 teaspoon garlic, grated1 teaspoon red wineSeasoning B1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce1 teaspoon dark soy sauce0.2 teaspoon sugarsalt and pepper (to taste)2 teaspoons ketchup1 teaspoon bouillon powder1 tablespoon apple puree2 teaspoons chutney\t\n\t\n\t\tCurry rouxHeat the oil with the sifted flour over low heat, stirring until smooth.Stir in the curry powder and garam masala and cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and fragrant.PreparationCut the potato into 2 cm cubes.Slice the eggplant into 5 mm quarter-rounds.Soak the potato and eggplant in cold water.Cut the pork into 2 cm pieces.Thinly slice the onion into half-moons.Cut the carrot into thin julienne strips.Cut the kabocha squash into bite-sized pieces.CookingSaut\u00e9 the pork in a saucepan with seasoning A, reserving half of the red wine for the finish.Add the onion and carrot and saut\u00e9 until softened.Add the potato and saut\u00e9 briefly.Add the kabocha squash and eggplant and stir to combine.Pour in enough hot water to just cover the ingredients and simmer.When the vegetables are tender, stir in seasoning B and remove from the heat.Add the roux, stir well to blend, then return to the heat.Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until thickened.Stir in the remaining red wine to finish.\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tPlat principalJaponaise","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}