The One-Pot Japanese Dinner You Can Make In Your Rice Cooker
Japanese curry topped with tofu katsu
I'm a food editor and recipe developer. I'm also a human who is more often than not too tired to cook dinner. When I want to make a "set it and forget it" type of meal, I turn to my favorite countertop appliance: the rice cooker! I've been known to use the handy appliance to steam a couple of sweet potatoes to stuff with chicken and pesto or cook a batch of oatmeal when I want to have breakfast for dinner.
When I can't bear the thought of standing over my stove, my rice cooker will effortlessly steam a salmon filet or chicken breast for me. And obviously, it makes a mean batch of rice. I find more reasons to love my rice cooker by the day and the most recent is this genius tip from @18hens on TikTok. Thanks to her, I now know that I can add Japanese curry to my rice cooker recipe rotation.
Related: What’s the Ideal Rice-to-Water Ratio When Using a Rice Cooker?
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The process for making Japanese curry has been engineered with convenience in mind, thanks to the blocks of roux you can easily find at your local Asian grocery store. (My go-to roux blocks are made by Vermont Curry.) You typically bring a pot of water to a boil, throw in vegetables, like potato or carrot, plus your choice of protein. Then you break up the curry block and add in your desired amount (the general rule of thumb is one cube per person you're serving).
This rice cooker version of the classic Japanese comfort food, make the dish even easier. The steam in the rice cooker combined with the moisture from the tomatoes and onions as they cook down generates enough liquid to turn the roux cube into a silky sauce, so you don't even have to add any water. How easy is that?
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How to Make Japanese Curry in the Rice Cooker
If you can throw things into a pot, press a button and wait a few minutes, you have the culinary skill for this recipe. Place some onions, tomatoes (Henna uses cherry tomatoes), butter, your protein of choice, a shot of espresso (the bitterness deepens the flavor of the dish) and your desired amount of curry cubes into the bowl of a rice cooker, then set your rice cooker to the multi-cook setting for one hour.
Once the hour is up, give the curry a stir, making sure to "give the ingredients a good squish" as Henna of @18hens puts it in her video. At this point, you can season with pepper and add more curry cubes to taste. Switch your rice cooker to the regular setting (depending on your rice cooker model, this will take about 20 to 30 minutes) and shortly after your Japanese curry is ready to serve.
Sides to Serve With Japanese Curry
Rice is pretty much a given with Japanese curry, but there are lots of other sides and toppings that you can play around with. Here are some ideas.
