For me, a good bowl of curry udon always hits the spot on a cold winter’s day. This stewed beef version is flavorful and decadent, and marries well with the lightly flavored chewy udon. The meat needs to be stewed for a long time to achieve a melt-in-your-mouth texture, but your effort and patience will be rewarded when you take that first bite!
HOT Japanese Curry Mix
I highly recommend the HOT version of S&B Golden Curry Mix as it packs the most flavor with very little heat (spicy). Making it suitable for most people with varying levels of spice tolerance, including kids! There’s also an EXTRA HOT version, but I only recommend it to those who can handle high spice levels. Feel free to use other brands of curry mix, but I believe that Golden Curry Mix is the one that’s most commonly found in Asian grocery stores across the US.
Super Secret ingredient: Dark Chocolate
It will be weird initially, but trust the process and mix the dark chocolate into the curry! You definitely won’t want to miss this key ingredient, as chocolate brings extra depth and richness to the taste. Chocolate also helps to further thicken the curry allowing the flavors to stick better to the udon when you take a bite!
Searing the Meat for a Deeper Flavor
Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of searing meat is NOT to contain the meat juices. Searing meat over high heat triggers a chemical reaction called the Maillard reaction. This produces a complex caramel, nutty, rich flavor that adds depth to the taste of the stew. Be careful when searing the beef, as the high heat produces smoke that might trigger your apartment’s smoke detector alarm to go off. And yes, I’m speaking from personal experience in my tiny NYC apartment.
Mix, Mix, and Mix the Curry Mix
When stirring in the curry mix, you will be tempted to add more curry mix blocks as the consistency will seem thin initially. Don’t be deceived; keep stirring for another 3-4 minutes. The curry mix does take time to fully break down and combine with the liquid, so patience is critical for this step.
Chop beef into 2inch size cubes, pat dry with paper towels, and coat with vegetable oil.
Set your pot on the stove over high heat. Allow the pot to heat up for 2-3 minutes before adding cubed beef. Leaving an inch of space between each piece. Let each side sit for 30 seconds, flip and repeat until all sides are seared. Transfer all meat to a clean plate.
Dice yellow onions and cut carrots into bite-size pieces. Add oil to the pan that was used to sear the meat. Place onions in the pan and saute over medium heat until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.
Return meat (with any juices) back into the pot along with water, cooking wine and soy sauce.
Bring to a full boil over high heat, cover the pot with a lid, and reduce to a simmer.
Simmer at low heat for 90 minutes, add carrots and let simmer for another 45 minutes
Stir in curry mix, dark chocolate, soy sauce, and sugar, and mix until smooth and thick.
Follow packaging instructions to prepare udon.
Place cooked udon in a serving bowl and pour a generous amount of curry over it. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Directions
Chop beef into 2inch size cubes, pat dry with paper towels, and coat with vegetable oil.
Set your pot on the stove over high heat. Allow the pot to heat up for 2-3 minutes before adding cubed beef. Leaving an inch of space between each piece. Let each side sit for 30 seconds, flip and repeat until all sides are seared. Transfer all meat to a clean plate.
Dice yellow onions and cut carrots into bite-size pieces. Add oil to the pan that was used to sear the meat. Place onions in the pan and saute over medium heat until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.
Return meat (with any juices) back into the pot along with water, cooking wine and soy sauce.
Bring to a full boil over high heat, cover the pot with a lid, and reduce to a simmer.
Simmer at low heat for 90 minutes, add carrots and let simmer for another 45 minutes
Stir in curry mix, dark chocolate, soy sauce, and sugar, and mix until smooth and thick.
Follow packaging instructions to prepare udon.
Place cooked udon in a serving bowl and pour a generous amount of curry over it. Enjoy!
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