[Japanese Recipes] Authentic Vegan Curry (Gluten Free) (2024)

Learn how to make the best Vegan Japanese Curry with this easy recipe. Chunks of carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and soy curls stewed in a rich, thick and sweet sauce – it’s the perfect weeknight comfort dinner! (Gluten Free)

If I had to choose one comfort dish for the rest of my life, it would be Japanese curry. Ready for the best vegan Japanese curry recipe? This is the real-deal, friends!

WHAT IS JAPANESE CURRY?

Curry rice, or kare rice (カレ-ライス) is a dish that was introduced to Japan around the late 1800’s by the British, when India was under the colonial rule. It was originally a stew-style dish mixed with curry powder served to the Japanese Imperial Navy. It started to gain popularity and then the Japanese adapted the dish to suit their tastes, which is now known are kare rice. By the 1950s, more and more restaurants served curry and commercial curry roux cubes were easily accessible in supermarkets for home cooks.

Curry rice is now considered a staple, national dish that everyone across Japan is familiar with and enjoyed by both adults and children. Nowadays, you’ll also find it served in other ways such as soups, with udon, soba, ramen, buns, tempura, fried rice, yaki curry and more!

WHAT DOES JAPANESE CURRY TASTE LIKE? (JAPANESE VS. INDIAN OR THAI CURRY)

Japanese curry is much thicker and stew-like in consistency– kind of like hayashi rice. It’s also distinctively sweeter, much less spicy than Indian or Thai curry. There is also a lot of other seasonings added that you typically would not find in Indian or Thai curry such as apples or pickles. Originally, curry was always only served with rice.

WHAT IS JAPANESE CURRY ROUX?

Japanese curry roux is a mixture of flour, butter and curry powder. In Japan, it’s sold in cubes that look like a chocolate bar for convenience.

Japanese curry is highly popular for two reasons: 1) it tastes SO GOOD and 2) it’s very (VERY) easy to make. What makes it so easy? The curry roux cubes. Instead of using a bunch of spices, Japanese people rely on store bought curry roux.

99% of the time, I’d say homemade is better but honestly you can’t beat the boxed stuff. Maybe I’m a little bias because I grew up eating it and its nostalgic but I think many people can agree on this one with me. If you’ve never tried Japanese curry using the roux cubes, I highly suggest trying it first before making a homemade.

If you can’t find curry roux or want a healthier version, I have a homemade curry cube recipe as well as instructions to make it with just curry powder down below.

LEVELS OF SPICINESS

Each brand of curry roux blocks comes with 3 levels of spiciness: mild, medium, and hot. However, because these are made with Japanese taste in mind– the hot is not really that spicy. To make your curry spicy without affecting the flavour, add a touch of cayenne pepper and black pepper.

IS JAPANESE CURRY ROUX VEGAN?

Before, there was never such thing as ‘vegan’ curry cubes. However, in recent years S&B has come out with a meat-free curry roux. Torokersu curry cubes are also vegan.

Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Mushrooms
Carrots
Potatoes: Yukon gold potatoes are best because they won’t melt into the curry.
Soy curls: or any vegan meat substitute of your choice
Apple
Vegetable broth
Curry roux: store bought (S&B Golden Vegetarian or Torokeru brand) or homemade.

Straight out of the box, you have a good curry but adding other condiments and flavourings is the key for really delicious Japanese curry.

Both my grandma and mom would mix two different brands with different spice levels of curry roux for a more complex flavour (Torokeru & Golden Curry were our go-tos). Then they would add kakushi aji ingredients, which are ‘hidden flavours‘ that come from all kinds of condiments. The most common you’ll see Japanese people use are apples, ketchup and honey. In our household, we always added Worcestershire or Tonkatsu sauce! Here are more ingredients you can try adding (bolded are ones I’ve tried):
Apples
Banana (yes, really)
Ketchup
Worcestershire sauce
Tonkatsu sauce
Soy sauce
Coffee
Chocolate (yes, reaaaallly x 2)
Cocoa powder
Mirin
Caramelized onions (store bought or homemade)*
Sake
Rice vinegar
White or red wine
Yogurt

I always like to make a big batch of caramelized onions (see photo above) and keep it in a jar of caramelized onions in the freezer or fridge to save time. To make caramelized onions, simply dice the onions finely and cook over medium low heat with a bit of oil until super soft and jam-like consistency.

HOW TO SERVE & SIDE CONDIMENTS

There are so many ways you can serve the curry (udon, soba, katsu… etc) but for the classic curry rice, simply serve with a bed of fresh cooked Japanese white rice.

One last ingredient I want to highlight to experience true Japanese curry is f*ckujinzuke. f*ckujinzuke is picked vegetables (usually daikon) in soy sauce and umeboshi (sweet plum) vinegar. You can find this at any Japanese grocery store and some Asian markets in the refrigerator section.

HOW TO MAKE IT IN AN INSTANT POT

Select sauté option on the instant pot. Once it’s hot, fry the onions, garlic and ginger for 1-2 minutes. Add in the carrots, potatoes and soy curls, and mix. Add 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth.
Add the curry cubes on top and do not mix. If using homemade cubes, add them while they are still frozen. If they are at room temperature, add it after the instant pot is finished to prevent it from burning.
Cancel saute, cover and lock the lid and ensure steam release is set to sealing. Pressure cook on manual high for 8-10 minutes, depending on how ‘firm’ you want your vegetables.
Set steam release to venting and let the steam out or let it release naturally. Unlock the lid, set to sauté (low heat) and mix in your flavourings. Taste and adjust flavour accordingly (salt, pepper, etc). Lastly, stir in the roux until melted and then serve.