This Japanese Chicken Curry with Spinach and Mushrooms is the perfect way to spice up your regular recipe repertoire in the kitchen when you're ready to level-up from those store-bought instant curry roux blocks. We're making it from scratch with curry powder and a secret ingredient that adds that subtle sweetness that is so characteristic of Japanese curry. Shall we?
Explore More
- What is Japanese Curry?
- Japanese Curry as Opposed to Indian or Thai Curry?
- What Ingredients You Need for Japanese Curry with Spinach and Mushrooms
- What is the Best Curry Powder to Use for Curry?
- How to Make Homemade Japanese Chicken Curry WITHOUT Curry Roux Blocks
- Is Japanese Curry Healthy?
- How to Eat Japanese Curry
- Japanese Curry Variations
- Japanese Curry with Spinach and Mushrooms Recipe
What is Japanese Curry?
Japanese curry at its most basic definition is a thick, mildly spiced, subtly sweet stew served over rice and sometimes noodles. The curry can range in texture, from more liquid like smooth gravy that gets ladled over rice or protein, to chock full of protein and vegetables. In this house, Japanese curry is always an excuse to shove more vegetables into a bowl.
Japanese Curry Relies on Roux
The foundation of Japanese curry lies in the curry roux, which is a mixture of butter or oil, flour, and curry powder cooked together until dark and fragrant. Curry roux thickens the sauce and gives the curry its signature spice flavor. The sweetness comes from adding straight up sugar, honey, and in my from-scratch recipe, naturally from fruit, and from added root vegetables like carrots.
If you're already familiar with Japanese curry, you may know the "instant" curry roux blocks that you simply dissolve into water to make the curry base. These curry roux blocks were a staple in my kitchen in my early years of cooking on my own! Though it is tempting to rely on the convenience of store-bought blocks, it's not that much of a step up to start with your own roux.
Japanese Curry as Opposed to Indian or Thai Curry?
Though they all have dishes we call "curry" in English, Japanese curry, Indian curry, and Thai curry couldn't be more different. Apologies in advance for the oversimplification for the sake of explanation! Indian curries are a huge category of food. But in general, though they have similar spices to Japanese curry, Indian curries have more heat and are thickened with dairy or coconut milk. Thai curries generally have a totally different flavor profile that comes from herbs, citrus, and umami from seafood, are also spicier with what I call a "high-toned" heat, and are thickened with coconut milk.
What Ingredients You Need for Japanese Curry with Spinach and Mushrooms
Fresh/refrigerator ingredients:
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 1½ pounds
- Onion, ½, thinly sliced lengthwise
- Garlic, 2 cloves finely minced or grated
- Ginger, 1 teaspoon grated fresh or use ¼ teaspoon dried
- Apple, ½ large like Fuji or Honeycrisp
- Mushrooms, 12 ounces fresh, any kind I like shiitake and cremini
- Spinach, 5 ounces
- Chicken Bone Broth, 4 cups or other rich broth or stock
Dry/pantry ingredients:
- Avocado oil, 2+2 tablespoons
- Flour, 2 tablespoons all-purpose, gluten-free blend, or sweet rice flour (mochiko)
- Japanese curry powder, 2 tablespoons
- Sea salt, 1-3 teaspoon
- Soy sauce, 1 teaspoon
- Gochugaru or other hot chile pepper powder, 1 tablespoon optional
For serving and garnish:
- Rice, 4 cups cooked
- Green onions, thinly sliced for garnish
- Kimchi, or other pickled vegetables like Japanese fukujinzuke
What is the Best Curry Powder to Use for Curry?
tl;dr Use a Japanese style curry powder. The one I use is S&B Curry Powder, pictured above.
Curry powder is not a single spice, but a general term for a highly aromatic blend of spices used to add depth, warmth, and a subtle kick to recipes. The exact mix varies by culture, region and purpose, with some blends including upwards of 20 different individual spices! For example, Indian-style curry powders tend to be robust and earthy with cumin, coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, and mustard seeds. Japanese curry powder, derived from Indian curry powders, is milder and slightly sweeter, with the similar turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and fennel, but may include spices associated with sweetness like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
When choosing a curry powder for this recipe, it's usually easiest to simply look for a Japanese curry powder like S&B and House Foods brands. However, you can also use a any blend that simply says "curry powder" as long as it has at least turmeric, coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, ginger, and chile pepper. This will get you started, and you can add pinches of additional spices like cinnamon as you taste.
Additional Ingredients Notes, Resources, and Substitutions
Chicken Breast vs Thigh. This recipe starts with cooking boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which have more flavor and don't dry out. However, you can also use chicken breast. Slice the chicken breast against the grain into ½-inch wide strips and cook until brown. The cook time will be about the same, depending on how thick the pieces are.
Leftover Cooked Chicken. If you already have leftover cooked chicken (or turkey!), skip the first few steps of cooking chicken, and start the curry with browning the onions and garlic. Stir leftover cooked chicken into the final curry, and let it warm through, about 5 minutes.
Chicken Bone Broth. I will always recommend that you make your own bone broth or stock, but like the Barefoot Contessa says, store-bought is fine. Read the ingredients list and get one with chicken as the first ingredient, and without added sugar. You can also substitute with turkey bone broth, a rich vegetable or mushroom stock, and to be honest because there are so many rich aromatics in the curry, you can get away with using just water.
Flour. Traditional roux is made with all-purpose flour. If you'd like a wheat-free option, use a gluten-free flour blend or sweet rice flour, aka mochiko, which is what I use.
Apple. One of the hallmarks of Japanese curry is its sweetness. In this version, subtle natural sweetness comes from grated apple. You can also use the equivalent amount of grated pear or even pureed persimmon in the fall. If you don't feel like grating an apple, you can use about 2 tablespoons of a sweetener like maple syrup, honey, or even sugar.
How to Make Homemade Japanese Chicken Curry WITHOUT Curry Roux Blocks
Is Japanese Curry Healthy?
Depending on your health needs and dietary considerations, this Japanese Curry with Spinach and Mushrooms made from scratch can be healthy! Especially if you load it full of protein and fresh vegetables. The curry base uses fruit and root vegetables for natural, subtle sweetness, a small amount of healthy avocado oil, and no chemical flavor enhancers. This Japanese Curry is a healthier choice over versions made with store-bought instant curry roux blocks, which contain refined sugar, palm oil, and chemical flavor enhancers (which increase sodium content). And because you're making Homemade Japanese Curry from scratch, you can control how much salt you add.
To be honest, I can't really think of a case in which Japanese Curry would not be healthy, unless maybe "hot" spices like black pepper and chile pepper cause heartburn or other gastric issues for you.
Nutritional Highlights
Let's break down some of the nutritional highlights, starting with the most obvious nutrition hero, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger (not to mention all the other spices).
Turmeric is universally known as an anti-inflammatory, so much that people take whole turmeric supplements! But like I always say for health an nutrition, food first, supplements after. I take both a turmeric supplement and another supplement for auto-immune that has turmeric as its first ingredient!
Ginger like its cousin turmeric, is an anti-inflammatory. In addition, ginger provides digestive support and some studies suggest that it has metabolic benefits as well.
Cinnamon can help regulate blood sugar, has anti-inflammatory effects, and some studies suggest that it can improve heart health by lowering the bad LDL cholesterol and trigylceride levels.
Mushrooms!
Spinach!
Japanese Curry Recipe Health and Diet Considerations
This recipe Japanese Curry is:
- dairy-free
- refined sugar-free
- gluten-free adaptable is you use gluten-free flour in the roux and tamari
- anti-inflammatory
How to Eat Japanese Curry
Japanese Curry Variations
In addition to some of the substitutions included in the Additional Ingredients, Notes, and Resources section above, there are infinite ways you can customize this Japanese Curry to your personal preference, taste, and mood! Here are some of my favorites:
- Noodles. Instead of serving with rice, ladle Japanese Curry over whatever kind of cooked noodle you like, e.g. bouncy springy ramen noodles, thick and chewy udon noodles, hell if all you have is spaghetti, use it!
- Other Greens and Vegetables. In this house, Japanese Curry is a soft and spicy landing place for vegetables that have to get used up. Broccoli? Squash? Peas? Add them! I use spinach because that is what I always have on hand, and inevitably, it's about two days away from hitting the compost. Kale is a GREAT substitution or addition. In fact, Squash and Kale Curry makes an appearance on the Delicious Life as soon as all the fall and winter squashes become available.
- Make it Spicier. Japanese curry powder already has a little bit of heat from the chile pepper included in the blend, but you can make your curry even spicier by maxing out the optional gochugaru or other hot chile pepper in the recipe! If you happen to have gochujang, you can stir that into the curry, which will add a deeper, sweeter heat.
- Thanksgiving leftovers. One of the BEST times for curry are after Thanksgiving when your kitchen is full of bone broth made from roast turkey bones and leftover vegetables. Turkey Curry is the place to put all of it.
Japanese Curry with Spinach and Mushrooms Recipe
Ingredients
- 2+2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 pounds chicken thighs boneless, skinless and sliced into ½-inch wide strips
- ½ onion thinly sliced lengthwise
- 2 clove garlic finely minced or grated
- 10-12 ounces mushrooms sliced
- ½ apple grated, something sweeter like Fuji or Honeycrisp
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced, or use ¼ teaspoon dried ground ginger
- 4 cups Chicken Bone Broth or other rich broth or stock
- 2 tablespoons flour all-purpose, gluten free blend, or sweet rice flour (movhiko)
- 2 tablespoons Japanese curry powder
- 5 ounces spinach
- 1-3 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon gochugaru or other hot chile pepper powder, optional
For Serving:
- 4 cups cooked brown rice
- sliced green onions for garnish
Instructions
Cook Chicken and Mushrooms ~ 25 minutes
- Heat 2 tablespoons of avocado oil in a pot over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned with some darkening around the edges, about 8 minutes. Remove chicken to a separate plate. Leave the rendered fat and oil in the pot.
- Turn down heat to medium-low. Add onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, another 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until tender, stirring continuously so they don't stick and burn. Add avocado oil a teaspoon at a time if the mushrooms start to stick too much.
- Add 4 cups Chicken Bone Broth and the grated apple and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Make Curry Roux, while vegetables are cooking
- In a separate smaller pan or pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-low heat.
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons flour over the oil. Using a small spoon, mini whisk, or a pair of chopsticks, stir continuously for 10 minutes while the flour bubbles and absorbs the oil. The roux will turn a light golden brown if using all-purpose flour, but will white/cream if using sweet rice flour.
- Once the roux is cooked, immediately turn the heat to low. Sprinkle the curry powder in and stir until combined.
- Slowly add 2-3 ladlefuls of the broth from the curry pot to the roux pot and whisk well until the roux is dissolved into it. Add the broth slowly as it will bubble quite energetically at first. Turn off heat under the roux pot.
- Pour the contents of the Curry Roux pot into the larger curry pot. Add spinach to the pot. Stir, and let cook until spinach wilts, and the curry has thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon soy sauce to start. Taste and add more salt to taste. The amount of salt you need will depend on how salty your bone broth is and your taste preference. I usually add the full 3 teaspoons of salt.
- Ladle curry alongside steamed rice. Garnish with sliced green onions.
Notes
Nutrition
Food for Afterthoughts
Here's a little secret: I wasn’t a sorority girl in college.
Most people are surprised by what would seem to be a natural next step after discovering a different, precursor secret that throws them into shock and wonderment: I was a cheerleader in high school.
A high school cheerleader?!?! Yeah. Get over it. I was also class president, newspaper AND yearbook editor, honor society, and a thespian.
During college, I think I might have stepped foot into a fraternity house once or twice, maybe three times if mistakenly walking into a frat party thinking it was an unusually loud meeting of my Friday night Bible study counts. I was just a different person in college from the person I am now. Back then, I was quiet, shy, introverted, conservative, and a little bit anti-social.
So technically, I am exactly the same person! I just didn’t have a blog on which to perpetrate my loud, gregarious, outgoing, deliciously glamorous alter ego.
Because I wasn’t involved with anything Greek during college – not even food since my first taste of a real gyro was after I moved back to LA – the only real idea of what fraternities are like is what I got from Beverly Hills 90210 in those pathetic years when the show was clinging desperately to the last four viewers who actually wanted to follow Brandon and Brenda in college. I swear, I wasn’t one of them; they lost me once Emily Valentine went psycho on Brandon.
Curry House
The reason I bring up fraternities is, well, nothing. I really have no reason to bring up fiscally manipulated social systems other than its being an opportunity to off-handedly mention Beverly Hills 90210. It goes like this: Fraternity > Steve Sanders and the KEG house > Beverly Hills 90210 > Beverly Hills > Curry House. The first place I ever tried the Japanese version of curry in a restaurant was Curry House. At that time, Curry House was on La Cienega in Beverly Hills where Gyu-kaku is now.
(By the way, if anyone can guess why Gyu-kaku, and in particular, that location of Gyu-kaku, might be important to me, I will invite you over for curry at the Delicious castle – but I am pretty sure no one will guess).
I thought Curry House was genius in the form of cheap Japanese “home” food being sold at a deceptive premium because here, curry, particularly because it was served with ohsoexotic Italian spaghetti noodles, was considered “exotic.” It is the same as opening up something exotically American like MacNCheese House in Tokyo and charging upwards of $9 for a bowl of Kraft, and throwing in a few sun-dried tomatoes. It can’t be homemade – the mac n cheese, or the curry, has to be from a package. Curry House is a division of the parent company House Foods which makes packaged Vermont Curry. I cannot say with authority and certainty that Curry House serves packaged curry, but who’s to say that’s a bad thing anyway?
Curry Row
If you happen to know the packaged Japanese curry world, and what a world it is, you know that it is competitive playing field with many players. However, the real game is between Vermont Curry and S&B Golden Curry. If this were economics, the packaged Japanese curry world is basically an oligarchy. If this were November on the UCLA campus, the packaged curry world would be fraternity rush. If this were Sawtelle Boulevard, Curry House would be Alpha Beta and Hurry Curry would be tri-Lambda.
Wow, how does she contrive these all-too-perfect parallels?!
I'm reaching. I know.
It was only very recently that I went back to Curry House after a long hiatus that was the result of an inevitable affair with Hurry Curry. In essence, Curry House and Hurry Curry are the same restaurant, but for one reason or another, people will pledge undying, unwavering allegiance to one or the other. I happened to fall in lust with Hurry Curry for a ridiculous reason -- Sawtelle is closer than La Cienega. Curry House opened up in the cursed second floor location of the plaza directly across the street from Hurry Curry a while ago, but I didn't feel the need to go right away. Of course, when you live on the Westside long enough, dining options on Sawtelle will get stale. A "new" old restaurant was still "new."
Hurry Curry House
And now I can say that my preference for Hurry Curry no longer has to do with the superficial reason of proximity. Hurry Curry isn't necessarily the best damned curry in Los Angeles, since it is just curry after all (and it always tastes better made at home), but Curry House was pretty bad. I am always amused by Japanese restaurants' serving a Denny's side salad of iceberg lettuce and shredded carrots. Curry House's salad went a little more upscale with a curly parsley garnish. Fancy. I mean really. Come on. At least go with Italian flat leaf parsley.
The Vegetable Curry looked like an odd mix of frozen Green Giant vegetables and fresh exotic mushrooms. Curry always comes out in a small crock pot or bowl separate from either the rice or noodles. Though the novelty of Japanese curry is the spaghetti, I cannot bring myself to eat curry with noodles. Of course, that is just about the most contradictory thing I could ever say since I don't like rice either, but I can't help it. I also proclaim my hatred for animal organs but have no problem sucking down uni. The vegetables didn't offend with any sign of freezer burn, but I was turned off by the flavor of the curry. It is very different from the flavor of S&B Golden Curry to which I am so accustomed at home. Curry House's curry was "earthy," and like I have said before with the definition of the word, the curry was faintly reminiscent of dirt. I picked out most of the vegetables, using sections of untainted rice to wipe off as much of the offending sauce as I could. I have never tried packaged Vermont Curry, but if that's what it tastes like, I am sticking to S&B.
The deal breaker on Curry House, however, was the "Special." I was worried about the Special from the picture in the menu and the overly-excited fonts and colors on the menu description, but I reminded myself that this is the cuisine of a culture that also gave us girls who actually dress like a pink and white mouthless Kitty. I can't even remember what the Special was supposed to be. It appeared to be some sort of stir-fried leftover casserole on a bed of rice, garnished with a hard boiled egg. I tried it. Strangely sweet in an awkward way, it was definitely "special."
Just call me Lambda Lambda Lambda. Or Omega Moooo.
RT says
Oh yeah, Hurry Curry absolutely crushes Curry Hous. Two coworkers and I go at least every other week, and I always order the same thing: lobster bisque instead of salad, and extra spicy chicken or beef curry with brown rice and hot oil on the side. Can't be beat.
Craig says
I remember the first time I went to Curry House and they serve spaghetti there too and I thought what a strange combo, though I do love the Katsu curry.
Sarah was also voted most likely to overthrow a small country, on the prom court and the secretary of the French club.
Anonymous says
homemade?!
ortholomeux. says
uhhmm...am i missing something?
when did the posts stop being about food?
mys t says
keeping along those lines: i just finished taking the bar...and geez, did i miss your blog!!! so glad to be back.
yoko says
I've never been to Curry House or Hurry Curry, but I can tell you that I've made both House Vermont Curry and S&B, and I like both for different reasons. S&B turns out a smoother sauce than House Vermont; House Vermont Curry is actually spicier and sweeter (it says it's cooked with fruit and honey), and not at all earthy, to my taste.
The Cooking Ninja says
I have once tried Japanese curry and it's the first and last time I will ever eat Japanese curry. Even my Japanese friend told me she didn't like Japanese curry. haahaha
The Cooking Ninja says
I have once tried Japanese curry and it's the first and last time I will ever eat Japanese curry. Even my Japanese friend told me she didn't like Japanese curry. haahaha
Androo says
I love Japanese curry and find most incarnations of it in America to be pretty boring. Then again, I'd rather have homemade anyday. 2 things from me:
1. Propers for the Revenge of the Nerds references.
2. Ironically, Coco's is the name of a curry chain in Japan (!!).
sarah says
rt: have you tried blue marlin in the same plaza as hurry curry? not a curr-only place, but supposedly their curry is pretty good, too. i went there and tried the other stuff, which wasn't too bad.
craig: i wasn't in the French club. I was a Mathlete. (just kidding)
anonymous: thespian?
ortholemeux: well, technically, i haven't really written about food as the main subject in about...never! LOL. i think i just use restaurants and food as a vehicle for therapy.
mys t: congrats on the finishing the bar!!!
and welcome back :)
cooking ninja: what about indian curry? or thai curry?
androo: wow. you're the first to call out the reference! nice job :)
hermz says
I had bratwurst and curry at Curry House once. It was a special. What was funny was that the server had no idea what I was saying when I ordered it. They're not used to German food words, I guess. Anyhow, it tasted pretty much like you'd expect bratwurst and curry to taste.