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Japanese-style curry

Updated recipe (2023-03-25)

I use pre-packaged stewing beef from the grocery store. This package is about 1 pound, which works well for a double batch.

Cut the beef into smaller bite-size servings, then season with salt, freshly ground pepper, and garlic powder.

Vacuum seal. Cook in the sous vide for 3 hours at 131°F.

Let cool for 15 minutes in a bowl of cold water.

Peel and small dice 1 small yellow onion or half of a large one.

Peel and dice 2 carrots.

Dice 2 stalks of celery.

Core, seed, and dice a small green pepper or half of a large one.

Peel and dice 8 oz. of gold potatoes.

Add olive oil to a pot over medium heat.

Add the cooked beef and sear for a few minutes on medium-high heat (8 on my induction hotplate).

Add the onions and cook for a few minutes.

Add the carrots and celery and cook for a few minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low (4 on my induction hotplate).

Add the green pepper and cook for a minute.

Add 20 oz. water to the pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam.

Add the potatoes, bring to a boil, then lower the heat (3.5 on my induction hotplate) and cook for 15 minutes.

If you're serving it right away, cook longer (20 to 25 minutes) and you will probably want to add more water. I found it freezes better with less water, then you can add more when reheating it.

Add the S&B golden curry paste. The box pictured is a 12-serving box, and I used half. The inside of the package is split in half so you can use half without breaking the seal on half of the inner package.

Cutting into cubes makes it dissolve faster. Add to the pot, wait a minute for it to soften, then mix to create a smooth sauce.

Add soy sauce to taste.

Cook for 5 minutes.

If vacuum sealing and freezing, cool the pot in a sink full of cold water.

Vacuum seal and freeze 7.0 to 7.5 oz. servings. It should make 5 servings.

Next time I think I'll make 6 servings of 6.2 oz. since the 7.5 oz. serving was a little large.

To reheat, put the frozen package in the sous vide at 140°F for 30 to 45 minutes.

Transfer to a sauté pan and heat and stir periodically until the sauce returns to normal consistency. Add water as necessary, usually around 2 oz. per serving.

Serve with rice.

Original recipe

The dish reheats well from refrigerator temperature on the stove or in the microwave.

It can also be frozen, though the best way to freeze it is to vacuum seal it. To reheat, bring a pot of water to a boil, add the frozen vacuum sealed bag, bring back to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

The easiest way to divide it is to refrigerate it. The sauce solidifies which makes portioning it much easier. Here are my four servings all divided out into their vacuum-sealed servings.

I've started adding celery and green bell pepper - I really like it that way and it adds a little more vegetable to the dish.

Update 6/7/2012: It's also good made with lamb. I started with a lamb shoulder blade chop, about 0.75 lbs. and cut out the bone and finely diced it.

And the same veggies, though I forgot the celery.

Update 4/5/2014: I forgot to note that I have reduced the serving size to 6.5 to 7.0 oz., which is 5 servings per batch. Sometimes there's less meat, as well. This seems like a good size now, and reduces the calories further. I can't believe how large of a serving I used to eat!

Update 12/27/2015: If made with beef chuck stewing meat as above, sometimes the beef can be tough because it's not really cooked long enough to tenderize. My solution is to cut the beef into bite-sized pieces, season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and granulated garlic, vacuum seal and sous vide for 3 hours at 131°F. This worked great. The meat was super-tender and still moist.

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