Kare Raisu (Japanese Curry Rice)
Thick, mild curry with potato, carrot, and chicken over rice.
Ingredients
- 500 g Chicken thighs
- 3 Potatoes
- 2 Carrot
- 2 Onion
- 100 g Japanese curry roux
- 500 g Japanese short-grain rice
- 2 tbsp Neutral oil
- ½ tsp Salt
Method
- Cube the chicken into bite-size pieces and roughly chop the onion.
- Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high. Brown the chicken, then add the onion with the salt and cook until the onion is soft and golden.
- While the chicken and onion cook: peel and cube the potato and carrot into bite-size chunks.
- Rinse the rice in cold water until it runs nearly clear. Drain.
- Combine the rice with the same volume of fresh water in a heavy saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Drop the heat to its lowest setting and cook 12 minutes. Don't lift the lid.
- Pull the pot off the heat. Rest 10 minutes, lid on.
- Add the potato, carrot, and enough water to just cover. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook gently about 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- Take the curry pot off the heat. Break the roux cubes into the pot and stir until fully dissolved. Return to low heat and simmer gently, stirring, until thick and glossy.
- Mound hot rice on each plate and ladle the curry over one side.
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About Kare Raisu (Japanese Curry Rice)
Kare raisu, or Japanese curry rice, is one of the most beloved everyday meals in Japan, a comforting adaptation of curry that arrived via British naval cooking in the Meiji era and was reshaped into something distinctly Japanese. Unlike the bright, spice-forward curries of South and Southeast Asia, this is a thick, glossy, mild sauce built around a block of Japanese curry roux, with chicken thighs, potato, and carrot simmered until soft and served in a pool alongside short-grain rice. The roux carries a rounded, faintly sweet, umami-heavy flavor that leans savory rather than hot, which is exactly why it's such a universal family favorite. Cubed onion cooked until golden adds background sweetness that defines the whole pot.
On the plate it's pure comfort food: velvety sauce clinging to fluffy rice, tender vegetables, and chicken that falls apart with a spoon. It's the kind of thing eaten on weeknights, in school cafeterias, and at casual diners across Japan, often with pickled fukujinzuke on the side for crunch and tang. What this version gets right is treating the rice with as much care as the curry, rinsing the short-grain until the water runs nearly clear, then cooking it covered on the lowest heat and resting it off the flame so it steams to a fluffy finish. That contrast of loose, glossy sauce against properly cooked rice is the whole point of kare raisu.
Kare Raisu (Japanese Curry Rice): frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Kare Raisu (Japanese Curry Rice)?
A serving has about 827 calories — 26.9g protein, 110.4g carbs, 29.6g fat, 3.9g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 26.9g of protein, roughly 13% of its calories.
Is Kare Raisu (Japanese Curry Rice) gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Japanese curry roux. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
How long does Kare Raisu (Japanese Curry Rice) take to make?
About 50 minutes start to finish, but only around 26 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
How many servings does Kare Raisu (Japanese Curry Rice) make?
This recipe makes 5 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.