Japanese Pork Curry & Rice

📝 Ingredients

• 500 g pork fillet
• 400 g potatoes
• 2 carrots (about 240 g)
• 1 brown onion
• 1 apple
• 260 g sushi rice
• 40 g unsalted butter
• 40 g plain flour
• 2 tbsp mild curry powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil

🍴 Utensils

• Flameproof casserole dish with lid
• Saucepan with lid
• Small saucepan
• Whisk
• Grater
• Colander

📖 Steps

1. Put the rice in the saucepan, cover it with cold water and rub it between your hands, then pour away the cloudy water. Repeat 3 or 4 times until the water is almost clear, then leave the rice to drain in the sieve for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, peel and slice the onion. Peel the potatoes and carrots and cut them into pieces of about 2 cm. Cut the pork into 2 to 3 cm cubes. Peel the apple and grate it finely. Dissolve the stock cube in 700 ml hot water.
3. Make the roux: in the small saucepan over a low heat, melt the butter, add the flour and stir for 4 to 5 minutes until the mixture turns golden and smells nutty. Add the curry powder and garam masala, stir for 30 seconds and remove from the heat.
4. Put the drained rice back in the saucepan with 320 ml cold water, cover and bring to the boil over a high heat. Immediately turn down to a very low heat and cook for 12 minutes without lifting the lid, then turn off the heat and leave to rest for 10 minutes, still covered.
5. In the casserole dish, heat the oil over a high heat and brown the pork cubes for 3 minutes, turning them, without trying to cook them through. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes over a medium heat, stirring, until translucent.
6. Add the carrots, potatoes, grated apple and stock. Bring to the boil, skim off any scum, then cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.
7. Gradually pour a ladleful of the hot stock into the roux, whisking to form a smooth, lump-free paste. Pour this mixture back into the casserole dish with 1 tbsp soy sauce and simmer uncovered for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring, until the sauce is thick and velvety.
8. Taste and, if the sauce needs more salt, add some or all of the second spoonful of soy sauce. Serve Japanese-style: the rice packed on one side of the plate and the curry poured on the other, without mixing everything together.