Summer Vegetable Curry Rice (Milk-Free)
夏野菜カレーライス（乳小麦なし）
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Curry rice is one of the best-loved dishes on any Japanese school lunch menu, and this summer version fills the pot with eggplant, kabocha squash, potato, carrot and onion alongside tender chicken. Instead of a store-bought roux, the sauce is built from ketchup, chuno sauce and curry powder, then thickened at the end with joshinko rice flour and soy milk, which gives it a gentle, creamy finish that little ones take to right away. Peeling the eggplant in stripes keeps the skin from turning tough, and cutting the vegetables into thick pieces means they hold their shape through a long simmer.
Added. Open the recipe helper (bottom right) → ☰ Menu → 🛒 Shopping list to see the ingredients for your family size.
Printing uses the number of adults and children set under Ingredients, so set those first.
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
- 82.5 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.
- 37.5 gchicken thigh
- 15 gcarrot
- 25.5 gonion
- 18 gpotato
- 13.5 geggplant
- 18 gkabocha squashSweet, dense Japanese pumpkin with dark green skin and orange flesh. Substitute: Butternut squash or another sweet winter squash.
Seasonings
- 3.8 gvegetable oil
- 150 gwater
- 0.4 gconsommé bouillon (allergen-free)Japanese-style consommé stock granules or cubes, used as a Western-style soup base. This kind is made without egg and milk, but most recipes on this site 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).
- 2.7 gketchup
- 3.8 gchuno sauce (Japanese medium-thick brown sauce)A sweet, tangy, fruit-and-vegetable-based brown sauce that sits between thin Worcestershire and thick tonkatsu sauce. Substitute: Tonkatsu sauce, or Worcestershire sauce mixed with a little ketchup.
- 0.6 gsalt
- 0.2 gcurry powder
- 12 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).
- 15 gsweetened soy milk (Japanese chosei tonyu)Japanese 'prepared' soy milk that is lightly sweetened and flavored to taste milder than plain soy milk. Substitute: Regular (original, lightly sweetened) soy milk from the supermarket.
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.
- kabocha squash (かぼちゃ)
- Sweet, dense Japanese pumpkin with dark green skin and orange flesh. Substitute: Butternut squash or another sweet winter squash.
- consommé bouillon (allergen-free) (コンソメ（アレルゲン不使用）)
- Japanese-style consommé stock granules or cubes, used as a Western-style soup base. This kind is made without egg and milk, but most recipes on this site 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).
- chuno sauce (Japanese medium-thick brown sauce) (中濃ソース)
- A sweet, tangy, fruit-and-vegetable-based brown sauce that sits between thin Worcestershire and thick tonkatsu sauce. Substitute: Tonkatsu sauce, or Worcestershire sauce mixed with a little ketchup.
- 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).
- sweetened soy milk (Japanese chosei tonyu) (調製豆乳)
- Japanese 'prepared' soy milk that is lightly sweetened and flavored to taste milder than plain soy milk. Substitute: Regular (original, lightly sweetened) soy milk from the supermarket.
Directions
- 1
Cut the chicken into 1 to 2 cm pieces. Cut the carrot and potato into thick quarter-rounds, and slice the onion thinly, then cut the slices in half. Peel the eggplant in stripes and cut it into thick quarter-rounds; cut the kabocha, skin on, into 1.5 cm cubes.
- 2
Heat the oil in a large pot and stir-fry the carrot, onion, chicken, eggplant, and potato, adding them in that order. Add the water and simmer thoroughly, skimming off any scum as it rises.
- 3
Once the vegetables are soft, add the kabocha, consommé, ketchup, chuno sauce, salt, and curry powder, and continue to simmer.
- 4
To finish, add the joshinko dissolved in water along with the soy milk, and stir well until the curry thickens. Spoon over cooked rice.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 489 kcal | 978 kcal | 489 kcal |
| Protein | 13.8 g | 27.6 g | 13.8 g |
| Fat | 10.6 g | 21.3 g | 10.6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 87.6 g | 175.2 g | 87.6 g |
| Fiber | 4.2 g | 8.4 g | 4.2 g |
| Salt equivalent | 1.2 g | 2.4 g | 1.2 g |
| Calcium | 31.5 mg | 63 mg | 31.5 mg |
| Iron | 1.4 mg | 2.7 mg | 1.4 mg |
| Potassium | 508.5 mg | 1017 mg | 508.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 489 kcal | 13.8 g | 10.6 g | 87.6 g | 4.2 g | 1.2 g | 31.5 mg | 1.4 mg | 508.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 978 kcal | 27.6 g | 21.3 g | 175.2 g | 8.4 g | 2.4 g | 63 mg | 2.7 mg | 1017 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.
