Beef Brisket Curry (Final Japanese Curry Recipe of 2013)

There are quite a few curry-related posts since 2007, when I first started blogging. While the basic ways of making Japanese curry remains the same, some preparations and ingredients have evolved over the years; hopefully towards a much yummier direction. This recipe was created tailored to my dad's preferences, who loves beef brisket (牛腩) and demands for soft potatoes in his curry.

Beef brisket curry 牛腩咖哩 -

Ingredients (for a big pot of curry)?

• 1.5 lbs beef brisket
• 2 carrots
• 2 potatoes
• 2 onions
• 1 big shallot
• 1 box of S&B Golden Curry (spicy level 5)
• 7 to 8 cups of hot water
• Some olive oil
• Some sea salt

How?

Prepare a pot of water and add in the beef brisket. Bring the water to a boil and keep it simmer about 5 more minutes, this will help drawing out the dirty brownish bits from the meat.

Once done, discard the water and wait till the brisket is cool enough to handle by hands. Chop into large bite size pieces and set aside for later use.

Peel and finely chop the shallot -

Also peel and thinly sliced the onions. Peel and chop the carrots and potatoes into cubes.

Drizzle just enough oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Turn to medium high heat and toss in chopped shallots. Cook till the shallots turned translucent, about 20 seconds then add in sliced onions along with some sea salt.

Cook till the onions start to turn golden browned on the edges -  

Add in the carrot cubes and give it a quick stir. Cook for about 2 minutes.

Add in the beef chunks and sear the sides till slightly browned. Pour in about 7 to 8 cups of hot water along with 2 Japanese curry cubes. Make sure to gently stir the mixture till the cubes have been fully dissolved. Remember to scoop out any brownish floating bits during the process. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to keep it simmer. Cook for about 2 hours, make sure to check on the pot and scoop out the dirty bits during the first hour.

We are trying to cook the brisket till fork tender during these two hours. Instead of just cooking the meat with plain liquid, I added 2 curry cubes during this step to flavor the water, making sure some of that spices can "permeate" the meat first. Don't overdo it and use all the curry cubes too early, otherwise you might find yourself with a pot of gooey, possibly burned bits on the bottom after couple hours.

Add in the potato cubes after 2 hours and cook for another 30 minutes. You can add in the potato cubes later if tougher texture is desired. Remember, my dad loves soft and fluffy potatoes in his curry.

Lastly, add the remaining curry cubes to the pot, two at a time. Making sure the cubes have fully dissolved before adding another batch. Stir gently during the process.

It's not hard to make Japanese curry at all with the help of pre-made curry cubes. After trying out so many brands with different types of flavors, S&B Golden Curry with spicy level 5 remains my top choice after all these years -

Trust me, level 5 is not that spicy at all especially the cubes will be diluted in a big pot full of ingredients and liquid. You'll know what a really spicy curry is when trying out pre-made Thai curry packs.

You won't find any onion slices left after nearly 3 hours of simmering. Instead, the sweetness of the onions have already melted and flavored the whole mixture, creating an almost butter-like aroma to the curry. You can add even more onion slices during half of the simmering process if some real onion bites are preferred in the end.

Next time I'll try to make Indian curry from scratch! Wish me luck!