Big Island Local-Style Hamburger Curry
ひき肉カレー·(hikiniku karē)
The Backyard Ohana Potluck: Scaling for the Gathering
If you grew up in Hawaii, the smell of S&B Golden Curry dissolving into a pot of browned hamburger and onions is the exact smell of a Tuesday night. It isn’t the complex, coconut-infused curry of a Thai restaurant or an intricately spiced Indian vindaloo. This is local Hawaiian food—a brilliant, working-class adaptation of Japanese plantation cooking that became the undisputed king of the elementary school cafeteria and the backyard potluck. It requires zero hard-to-find island produce. Just grab a box of Japanese curry roux from the Asian aisle of your Midwestern supermarket, brown some ground beef, and you're home.
Ingredients
- vegetable oil1 tbsp
- yellow onion1 med
- garlic cloves4
- 80/20 ground beef1 1/2 lb
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- black pepper1/2 tsp
- russet potatoes2 med
- carrots2 med
- water4 cup
- Japanese curry roux blocks4 oz
- frozen mixed vegetables1 1/2 cup
- short-grain white rice4 cup
Method
- 01
Heat the oil and sauté the onions until translucent.
Place a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the vegetable oil, cooking the onions for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- 02
Brown the beef completely.
Add the ground beef, salt, and pepper. Break the meat apart with a wooden spoon and cook for 5 to 7 minutes until deeply browned and no pink remains.
- 03
Drain the excess fat.
Turn off the heat and tilt the pot, using a spoon to remove about 80 percent of the rendered fat so your curry doesn't end up an oil slick. Leave just enough to coat the vegetables and carry the flavor.
- 04
Simmer the root vegetables until fork-tender.
Return to medium heat. Stir in the minced garlic, potatoes, and carrots for a minute, then pour in the water. Scrape up any browned bits, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
- 05
Turn off the heat and melt the roux.
Do not drop the blocks into boiling water. Kill the heat entirely, drop in the curry blocks, and stir gently until they dissolve completely into a rich, glossy gravy.
- 06
Fold in the frozen vegetables and thicken.
Turn the heat back to medium-low, add the frozen mixed vegetables, and simmer for 5 final minutes. This heats the delicate veggies without turning them to mush while the starches fully thicken the liquid.
- 07
Serve immediately over hot rice.
Scoop a generous mound of steaming, sticky white rice onto a plate and ladle the curry directly over the top.
Notes
Manage the fat.
Ground beef releases a lot of tallow. Failing to drain it before building the gravy ruins the texture of the finished dish and leaves a greasy film.
Kill the heat before adding the roux.
Boiling the Japanese curry blocks makes the starches clump and the spices turn bitter. Always melt them completely off the heat before returning to a simmer.
From Cook Hawaiian in America.