Japanese-Style Curry Rice with Sausage: Our Easy Home Version

See how we make Japanese-style curry without added water, using tomatoes, onions, ground pork, and curry roux, with turmeric rice and Currywurst-inspired sausage.

A Familiar Curry We Tried in a New Way

Curry rice is a dish we have often made at home since we lived in Korea.

In Korea, restaurants specializing in curry are not as common as restaurants serving many other everyday Korean foods. For us, curry has always felt more like an easy meal to make at home than something we would usually go out to eat.

The way we used to make curry in Korea was fairly simple.

We would cut potatoes, carrots, onions, and meat into bite-sized cubes, sauté them in a little oil or butter, add water, and simmer everything until the ingredients were cooked. Then we would stir in curry powder to finish the dish.

We still make curry this way from time to time.

But these days, we also use a somewhat different method.

We use Japanese curry roux and do not add any water. Instead, we let tomatoes and onions release their own moisture as they slowly cook.

This time, we tried something else that was new for us.

We served our curry rice with a sausage we had bought for the first time at an American grocery store.

The Japanese Curry Roux We Use

For this curry, we use Vermont Curry roux made in Japan.

We usually choose the medium-hot version.

Because we use Japanese curry roux, Japanese-style curry rice seems like a reasonable way to describe the dish. However, the way we prepare it is really our own practical home version.

For about four servings, we use:

• 2 large tomatoes
• 2 onions
• About 300 g ground pork
• About 100 g Japanese curry roux
• About 20 g butter

The ingredients are quite simple.

One noticeable difference from the curry we used to make in Korea is that this version does not include potatoes or carrots. Instead, we use plenty of tomatoes and onions.

Our No-Water Method

One important thing when making this curry is the type of pot.

We use a cast-iron pot or another heavy-bottomed pot.

Because no additional water is used and the curry cooks slowly over low heat, ingredients can easily stick to the bottom or burn if the pot is too thin.

We first make a few shallow cuts in two large tomatoes and place them in the pot.

Then we add two sliced onions, about 20 grams of butter, about 100 grams of curry roux, and about 300 grams of ground pork.

We do not add any water.

At first, it may seem surprising that curry can be made without adding water. But as the tomatoes and onions slowly cook, they release plenty of moisture.

That natural liquid becomes the base of the curry.

Cook It Slowly Over Low Heat

After everything is in the pot, we cook it gently over low heat for about 5 to 10 minutes.

As the vegetables soften, moisture begins to come out of the tomatoes and onions, while the curry roux and butter gradually melt.

We use a mashing utensil to break down the tomatoes and onions while mixing them with the other ingredients.

Once the tomatoes are cooked, their skins loosen and become easy to remove, so we simply take them out.

The ground pork, curry roux, butter, and natural liquid from the vegetables gradually come together into a thick curry sauce.

This method is different from making curry with added water, but it is simple and gives us a good way to use plenty of tomatoes and onions.

Because there is no added water, however, keeping the heat low and using a heavy-bottomed pot are especially important.

Turmeric Rice Instead of Plain White Rice

The yellow rice in the photo does not get its color from the curry.

Sometimes, when we make rice to serve with curry, we add a little turmeric powder.

For about four servings of rice, we use roughly one small teaspoon of turmeric powder.

It gives the rice a naturally bright yellow color.

We like the way the yellow turmeric rice looks next to the dark brown curry.

And this time, we added one large cooked sausage alongside the curry and rice.

Trying Fresh Sausage from an American Grocery Store

The newest part of this meal was actually not the curry.

It was the sausage.

While shopping at an American grocery store, we found a package of hot Italian-style fresh sausage links.

We wanted something with a little heat that might pair well with curry, so we decided to buy them.

It was our first time cooking this type of fresh sausage, and when we bought it, we were not entirely sure of the best way to prepare it.

We put the sausages in a pan with about one paper cup of water.

Then we covered the pan and cooked them gently over low heat for about 3 to 5 minutes.

Once the water had evaporated and the sausages had cooked through, we added a small amount of oil and browned the outside.

It was an experiment, but it turned out very well.

The sausage was juicy and savory without being overly salty. The seasoning was not overpowering, and its slightly spicy flavor worked surprisingly well with the curry.

It is a combination we would happily make again.

A Memory of Currywurst in Germany

There was also another reason the idea of serving sausage with curry came to mind.

I had eaten Currywurst while visiting Germany.

That experience left me with the memory that sausage and curry flavors could work very well together.

Of course, what we made at home is not an attempt to recreate German Currywurst.

But when I saw the fresh sausages at the grocery store, the Currywurst I had eaten in Germany came back to mind.

That led to a simple thought:

Why not serve a sausage alongside our curry rice?

So instead of changing the curry itself, we cooked the sausage separately and placed it next to the curry and rice.

The combination worked better than we expected.

The Curry We Ate in Korea and the Curry We Make Now

In Korea, curry was never a special-occasion food for us.

It was a familiar, convenient meal that we could easily prepare at home.

The traditional way we made it—with diced potatoes, carrots, onions, and meat sautéed first, followed by water and curry powder—is still something we occasionally make.

The curry in this meal is quite different.

We use tomatoes and onions instead of potatoes and carrots, add no water, and use Japanese curry roux.

We serve it with turmeric rice and, this time, added a fresh sausage we discovered at an American grocery store.

Rather than trying to reproduce one country’s traditional curry exactly, this plate brings together several things we enjoy.

In that sense, it also reflects the kind of food we actually eat at home in the United States.

An Easy Meal for Lunch or Dinner

Curry rice works equally well for lunch or dinner.

We usually eat it with a few basic Korean side dishes, such as kimchi.

With ground pork, tomatoes, onions, rice, and sausage, the curry itself is already substantial enough to make a satisfying meal.

We normally prepare about four servings at a time.

If there is curry left over, we refrigerate it and reheat it for another meal.

Being able to make enough for more than one meal is another reason curry is such a convenient home dish for us.

The Fun of Adding Something New to a Familiar Dish

What made this particular curry rice memorable was trying a new kind of sausage for the first time.

We found an unfamiliar fresh sausage at an American grocery store and wondered how we might use it.

Then I remembered the Currywurst I had eaten in Germany years ago and decided to pair the sausage with a food we had been eating at home since our years in Korea.

In one plate, we ended up with Japanese-made curry roux, curry rice familiar from our life in Korea, a memory of a sausage dish I had eaten in Germany, and a new ingredient we discovered at an American grocery store.

It was not something we had carefully planned.

But the flavors worked very well together.

For us, home cooking does not always mean following one fixed way of making a dish.

Sometimes we prepare a familiar meal, discover a new ingredient, try adding it, and keep making it if we enjoy the result.

That is how this curry rice with sausage became another meal in Our Korean Home Kitchen.

These small experiments, along with the foods we actually cook and eat at home, are exactly what we hope to continue sharing here.