Firstly I hope you had a wonderful holiday!
update – I wrote this over a week ago but am posting it today for you!

Yes I know you know this is one of my daughters recipes; I do that some times. Even though I had the week off last week and I should have spent time making new recipes. I failed and spent 3 days making cookies. For who exactly I am not entirely sure. I cancelled the Christmas party and I don’t go into an office with co-workers so it looks like there will be cookies in the freezer for sometime now.  The upside was I got to hang out with two of my favorite GF’s and had many laughs while decorating cookies and having chocolate martinis on a school night.

Are you ready for Christmas next weekend? I am going with sure why not. We have a tree, it is decorated and I ordered the Christmas prime rib just last night for pick up on Thursday. Oh and there are wrapped gifts under the tree and the croissants that I order from Williams Sonoma have arrived.  Some how no matter whether I plan a million things or just wing it, it always turns out being a great day.

This week will be spent going over what I need for Christmas morning breakfast and Christmas day dinner. Christmas eve is usually spent playing games and I don’t see any need to change anything now. I do know that if we order out the local pizza and Chinese places in town are asking everyone to pre-order and they will do their best.

Back to the soup curry Abbi made. She went to an Asian market in Worcester, MA for some of the ingredients. Hopefully you have an Asian market near you. Our usual one is about 35 minutes away but I love it. She spent a lot of time frying things and decided that when she makes it again she would rather peel, dice and slice and then roast everything in the oven. So if you want to check this out take that note into consideration. Roasted vegetables are delicious, better for you and mostly hands off so it’s a win win win.

Note:

Su-age is basically flash fry without coating any flour or batter. Su means natural or uncoated in this case and age (pronounce a-geh) means deep frying. Cooking time varies from 30 seconds (bell peppers) to 3 minutes (potatoes).

This traditional Japanese cooking technique is used to preserve or intensify ingredients’ original flavors, vibrant colors, and shapes. 

Japanese Soup Curry

dclarkabal

A lighter take on your idea of curry

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Ingredients

  

For Soup Curry

• 2 carrots cut into small pieces
• 1 rib celery diced
• 1 onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tbsp grated ginger fresh
• 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
• kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 cups chicken stock/broth
• 1 piece Japanese curry roux
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 cups white rice

For "Su-age" Vegetables

• 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 russet potato
• 1/2 eggplant
• sliced lotus root
• 1/2 kobocha or butternut squash

Instructions

 

For Soup Curry

• Start the white rice on the stove or in a rice cooker.
• Pat chicken with paper towel to remove any moisture. Season with kosher salt and black pepper. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Brown the chicken in batches, skin side down first.
• Add the diced onion and butter to the pot. Sauté until translucent, about 7-8 minutes.
• Add the garlic and ginger and mix all together. Sauté about 1 minute more.
• Add 1 piece Japanese curry roux, 1 Tbsp curry powder, and 1 tsp garam masala. Stir to coat the onion mixture in the spices. Add 1 Tbsp tomato paste and sauté until fragrant.
• Gradually add half the chicken broth, scraping the brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the honey and stir to incorporate it. Transfer the chicken back to the pot.
• Add the carrots and the rest of the chicken broth. (We added some leftover chicken gravy. You can also add mushrooms at this point.)
• Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Simmer for approx 30-40 min, until the chicken is cooked all the way through and the carrots have softened.

For "Su-age" Vegetables

• Lotus Root: slice thinly and soak in water for about 10 minutes. If pre-sliced, just pat dry.
• Kabocha / Butternut Squash: slice thinly
• Potato: cut into 6-8 wedges and soak in water for about 10 minutes to remove the starch.
• Eggplant: Right before deep frying (otherwise it’ll change color), cut the eggplant into wedges and cut the skin side in criss-cross pattern. This creates a nice design and helps to absorb more flavors.
• Make sure to remove moisture from the vegetables with a paper towel before frying.
• Add 1 cup of oil to a frying pan or pot. Deep fry the vegetables until they take on a crisp, slightly browned color, and drain the excess oil on a paper towel or wire rack. Times will vary per vegetable, the potatoes will take the longest.

To Serve

• Put the soup curry in a bowl and top with fried vegetables. Serve with steamed white rice on the side.