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Japanese Curry Beef Udon Recipe

How to make Japanese Curry Udon

Delicious Japanese Curry Udon recipe for a great weekend dinner! Simple ingredients and super easy to make. Tender beef and variety of toppings! This recipe is a must try!
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Asian, Japanese
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

Ingredients for Curry

  • 1 pack of Udon per person
  • 4 Japanese Curry cubes (eg. Glico, S&B brand)
  • 1 lb Beef stew
  • 1 Russet potato
  • 2 Yukon gold potato
  • 1/2 Carrot
  • 1 Yellow onion
  • 2 cloves Garlic
  • Water
  • 5 Brown mushrooms
  • Cooking oil
  • 7 grams Dashi powder (optional)
  • 1 tbsp Ketchup or 1/2 diced tomato or apple (optional)

Seasoning for Stewed Beef

  • Soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • Grounded black pepper
  • Corn starch

Toppings (Optional)

  • Corn
  • Soft boiled egg per person
  • Seaweed Flakes (aonori)
  • Fried tempura bits (tenkasu)
  • Green onion

Instructions
 

Part 1 – Prep Work

  • Wash and peel the potato skin on both the russet and Yukon gold potatoes. Cut the russet potato into 6 evenly cube shapes. Cut each of the Yukon gold potatoes into 4 evenly cube shapes.
  • Wash and peel the carrot and then cut into round slices.
  • Cut onion into strips and finely dice the garlic.
  • Wash and cut the mushrooms into slices.
  • Wash and dice tomato or apple (optional)

PART 2 – Seasoning the Beef Stew

  • Pat the beef stew cubes with paper towel to soak the excess moisture. (This makes it easier for the seasoning to soak into the beef).
  • Put the beef stew cubes in a bowl and slowly mix soy sauce into the beef cubes until the beef cubes are lightly coated with soy sauce (Adjust soy sauce portion to liking).
  • Add 1 tbsp sesame oil onto the beef cubes and mix well until it’s lightly coated in oil.
  • Add grounded black pepper and mix well.
  • Slowly add cornstarch to the beef cubes and mix well until beef cubes are lightly coated.

Part 3 – Making Curry & Udon

  • In a large pot, turn the heat to high and add 1 tbsp of oil on medium heat.
  • Add diced garlic. Once the garlic begins to sizzle, add beef stew and onion and mix well. Sear the beef until its golden brown. Continue to mix to prevent the beef stew from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  • Add water until it covers the ingredients. (Optional – Add dashi powder to the water and mix well. This adds extra flavor.)
  • Cover the lid and turn the heat to high until boil. Once boiled, start skimming the beef scum with a skimmer (or spoon if you do not have a skimmer). I suggest having a bowl of water to place the scum in and to wash your skimmer. Continue to skim off the scum every 5-10 mins.
  • Occasionally mix the pot to prevent any ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pot as well as checking on the broth level. If the ingredients are no longer submerged, add additional water.
  • Once the beef stew starts to get tender (taste test to confirm), add carrots, russet and yukon gold potatoes, mushrooms and mix well.
  • Add one curry cube at a time. Place a curry cube on a soup ladle and place the ladle on the surface of the water in the pot. Break down the cube with chopstick/spoon/fork and mix it into the broth (This step makes it easier for the curry cube to dissolve and thoroughly mix in the pot).
  • Continue to add curry cubes one at a time until curry flavor is to your liking (I suggest taste testing the curry each time after adding an additional curry cube).
  • Continue to stir and mix well until the russet potato has fully dissolved and the Yukon gold potatoes are soft (test by poking a piece of the Yukon gold potato with a knife. It is ready when the knife smoothly cuts into the potato with no force needed).
  • Once the ingredients are tender, turn the heat off. Generally the beef stew takes the longest to get tender so taste test to confirm.
  • The final secret ingredient is to add sweetness to the curry, you can grate an apple, or add diced tomato or just a tbsp of ketchup to the curry (taste test and adjust portion to your liking).
  • Boil a pot of water on the side for the udon. Once the water is boiling, add udon into the pot and cook for 1 min (or to desired firmness) Then place udon in serving bowls.
  • After udon has been cooked, use the same pot and bring the water to a boil. Place entire egg into the boiling water and let it cook 6-7 mins for a soft boiled egg (do not place pot lid on the pot). Then place egg in cold water to stop the egg from overcooking.

Part 5 – Toppings & Plating

  • In the serving bowl with the udon, pour curry on top of the udon.
  • Crack and peel the egg shells off and place egg on top of the curry udon.
  • Add corn, seaweed flakes, fried tempura bites, and green onion (And any other toppings you like) as toppings.
Keyword Beef Noodle Soup, Beef stew, Curry Chicken, curry lover, Easy, Easy Curry Recipe, Homemade Japanese Curry, Japanese cuisine, Japanese Curry Beef Udon Recipe