Japanese Curry Pot カレー 鍋 (日式咖哩鍋)

Japanese Curry Pot カレー 鍋 (日式咖哩鍋)

The Japanese curry pot is my go- to quick fix for a cold winter night. Wholesome flavors of the vegetables and pork belly melt into the curry sauce which makes it and my side of rice a happy union on my taste buds :)

The preparation time for this recipe is about 30 minutes. This recipe is very easy to make.

Ingredients

• Sliced pork belly
• 2 organic carrots (Organic food doesn't always carry a hefty price tag. I got my organic carrots from Trader Joe's for 79 cents a bag. You will find out I prefer organic vegetables especially for root produces.) 
• 5 stems of organic oyster mushrooms
• 1 pack of enoki mushrooms 
• 2 pieces of Japanese rectangular fried tofu pockets
• 4 Japanese aged fish balls
• 1 pack of Japanese yam jelly aka konnyaku (This is a great source of fiber)
• 1 tablespoon of grated garlic
• Some greens of your choice (I use organic spring mix)
• Some chopped green onions
• Bowls of steamed rice

Seasonings

• 3 tablespoons of bonito seasoning soy sauce (This item can be found at Chinese or Japanese supermarkets. The soy sauce I use in this recipe also contains kombu also known as kelp.)
• 2 tablespoons of Mirin, a Japanese sweet cooking wine with no alcohol content
• 2 of your favorite Japanese curry cubes (I use House mild curry with honey and apple. I haven't learned how to appreciate spicy food yet. You can find Japanese curry sauce mix in any Chinese and Japanese supermarket.)

• Pinches of salt

Tools

• A clay pot
• A portable gas range if you would like to make the curry nabe/ hotpot style

Preparation

1. Rinse all the vegetables, yam jelly, and mushrooms thoroughly. Slice the oyster mushrooms and the yam jelly. Cut the carrot into pieces. Cut off the base of enoki mushroom cluster. We do not use the wood-like part of the enoki mushrooms. *It is important Not to split the enoki mushrooms into straws; leave them in sizable bunches. This will make getting them out of the pot much easier.* 
2. Cut the rectangular fried tofu pockets into halves turning them into squares. Then, cut the tofu squares diagonally into triangles. Remove the aged fish balls from the package. 
3. Grease the clay pot with oil and heat it. Put in the grated garlic and let them brown. When you can smell the aroma, put in the curry cubes. Move the cubes around so that they won't burn. Don't worry about the cubes not turning into a paste, we will add water to it and it will dissolve nicely. We want to infuse the garlic into the curry cubes at this point. 
4. Fill the 2/3 of pot with water. If you don't have a clay pot, pour in about 700 ml of water into your pot. Add soy sauce, mirin, and salt to the mixture. Bring the broth to a broil.
5. Add in the carrots and yam jelly for they take longer to cook. Next add the tofu triangles, sliced oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, pork belly, and fish balls. Add the greens last. Top the pot with green onions for garnishing. 
6. If you can going for the curry pot nabe style, you can save some ingredients on the side for that. Just add water to the pot when the sauce gets too thick for your liking. Otherwise, make sure all the ingredients are cooked thoroughly and serve as a curry sauce with rice. 
7. *Porridge Option for Curry Nabe* Once you have finished all the delicious food in the pot, you can add the rice to soak up all the goodness in the pot. Just put the rice in the pot and bring it to a boil.  

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much I did :)