Oni Keema Curry (Japanese Ogre Face)
鬼キーマカレー（乳小麦なし）
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Oni are the horned ogres of Japanese folklore, best known from Setsubun in early February, when children scatter roasted soybeans to chase them away. In preschool kitchens we turn that into lunch: a flat oval of rice becomes the face, mildly spiced pork keema curry becomes the hair, and quarter-round carrot slices and raisins make the horns and eyes. The sauce is thickened with joshinko rice flour rather than a flour roux, and the ketchup and raisins keep the curry gentle and a little sweet, so even cautious eaters dig in. It is egg-free and dairy-free, and the grumpiest oni face never lasts long on the plate.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 75 griceJapanese short-grain white rice (japonica), which cooks up soft and slightly sticky. The amount listed is for uncooked rice. Substitute: Sushi rice, or another short-grain or medium-grain rice such as Calrose.
- 30 gcarrot
- 30 gonion
- 9 ggreen bell pepper
- 52.5 gground pork
- 4.5 graisins
Seasonings
- 1.5 gvegetable oil
- 3.5 gjoshinko (Japanese non-glutinous rice flour)Fine flour milled from regular short-grain rice, used for chewy Japanese sweets like dango. Substitute: Plain rice flour (not glutinous/sweet rice flour).
- 0.3 ggarlic paste (tube)Grated garlic sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh garlic for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated garlic in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- 0.2 gcurry powder
- 8.3 gketchup
- 0.3 gallergen-free consommé powderJapanese consommé is a Western-style bouillon powder or cube. This kind is made without egg and milk, but the recipes that use it list wheat in their allergens, so check the label if you avoid wheat. Substitute: A chicken or vegetable bouillon powder or cube made without egg, milk or wheat (check the label).
- 0.2 gsalt
- 2.6 gWorcestershire sauce
- 37.5 gwater
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- rice (米)
- Japanese short-grain white rice (japonica), which cooks up soft and slightly sticky. The amount listed is for uncooked rice. Substitute: Sushi rice, or another short-grain or medium-grain rice such as Calrose.
- joshinko (Japanese non-glutinous rice flour) (上新粉)
- Fine flour milled from regular short-grain rice, used for chewy Japanese sweets like dango. Substitute: Plain rice flour (not glutinous/sweet rice flour).
- garlic paste (tube) (にんにくチューブ)
- Grated garlic sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh garlic for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated garlic in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- allergen-free consommé powder (コンソメ，アレルゲン不使用)
- Japanese consommé is a Western-style bouillon powder or cube. This kind is made without egg and milk, but the recipes that use it list wheat in their allergens, so check the label if you avoid wheat. Substitute: A chicken or vegetable bouillon powder or cube made without egg, milk or wheat (check the label).
- Worcestershire sauce (ウスターソース)
- Read the guide: Bull-Dog Worcestershire Sauce: Japan's Everyday Brown Sauce → Guide: japanese-school-lunch.com/articles/bull-dog-worcestershire-sauce/
Directions
- 1
Cut 2 small quarter-round slices of carrot per oni face and boil them; these will be the oni's horns. Briefly boil the raisins and drain them well.
- 2
Finely chop the remaining carrot, the onion, and the green bell pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and sauté the vegetables. Add the ground pork and cook, stirring, until browned.
- 3
Turn off the heat, sprinkle in the joshinko, and stir to coat everything. Add all the seasonings and the water, return the pan to the heat, and simmer.
- 4
Shape the rice into a flat oval to make the oni's face. Spoon the keema curry from step 3 over the upper part to make the hair. Poke the carrot quarter-rounds into the rice on either side of the hair for horns, then draw eyebrows and a mouth with ketchup. Finish with raisins for the eyes.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 442.5 kcal | 885 kcal | 442.5 kcal |
| Protein | 15 g | 30 g | 15 g |
| Fat | 11.3 g | 22.5 g | 11.3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 73.8 g | 147.6 g | 73.8 g |
| Fiber | 2.4 g | 4.8 g | 2.4 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.8 g | 1.5 g | 0.8 g |
| Calcium | 30 mg | 60 mg | 30 mg |
| Iron | 1.5 mg | 3 mg | 1.5 mg |
| Potassium | 450 mg | 900 mg | 450 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 442.5 kcal | 15 g | 11.3 g | 73.8 g | 2.4 g | 0.8 g | 30 mg | 1.5 mg | 450 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 885 kcal | 30 g | 22.5 g | 147.6 g | 4.8 g | 1.5 g | 60 mg | 3 mg | 900 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
