Summer Vegetable Curry Rice (Milk-Free)
夏野菜カレーライス（乳なし）
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 packs in the season's vegetables: eggplant, kabocha squash, carrot, potato and onion alongside tender chicken thigh. Instead of a store-bought curry block, the roux is made from scratch by slowly toasting flour in oil and stirring in curry powder, so you control the seasoning and keep it mild for little ones. A splash of soy milk at the end gives the sauce a gentle, creamy finish without any dairy. Ketchup and chuno sauce round out the flavor with a touch of sweetness that kids love.
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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
- 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 goil (for stir-frying)
- 7.5 gflour
- 6.8 goil (for the roux)
- 0.2 gcurry powder
- 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
- 13.5 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.
- 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 1-2 cm pieces. Cut the carrot and potato into thick quarter-rounds, and halve the onion crosswise before slicing it thinly. Peel the eggplant in stripes and cut it into thick quarter-rounds, and cut the kabocha, skin on, into 1.5 cm cubes.
- 2
Make the roux. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the flour and cook, stirring so it doesn't burn, until it turns loose and smooth (about 10 minutes as a guide; for a small batch of around 10 portions, about 5 minutes). Turn off the heat and stir in the curry powder.
- 3
Heat the oil in a pot and sauté the carrot, onion, chicken, eggplant, and potato, in that order. Add the water and simmer thoroughly, skimming off any scum. Once the vegetables are tender, add the kabocha, consommé, ketchup, chuno sauce, and salt, and continue simmering, taking care that the kabocha doesn't fall apart.
- 4
Add the soy milk and the curry roux from step 2, then heat over low heat, stirring, until everything comes together.
- 5
Serve over cooked rice.
For children aged 3 and over, 4.5 g of oil per child is used for the roux.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 532.5 kcal | 1065 kcal | 532.5 kcal |
| Protein | 13.7 g | 27.3 g | 13.7 g |
| Fat | 17.3 g | 34.5 g | 17.3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 83.7 g | 167.4 g | 83.7 g |
| Fiber | 4.4 g | 8.7 g | 4.4 g |
| Salt equivalent | 1.2 g | 2.4 g | 1.2 g |
| Calcium | 33 mg | 66 mg | 33 mg |
| Iron | 1.2 mg | 2.4 mg | 1.2 mg |
| Potassium | 504 mg | 1008 mg | 504 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 532.5 kcal | 13.7 g | 17.3 g | 83.7 g | 4.4 g | 1.2 g | 33 mg | 1.2 mg | 504 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 1065 kcal | 27.3 g | 34.5 g | 167.4 g | 8.7 g | 2.4 g | 66 mg | 2.4 mg | 1008 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.
