BEEF CURRY UDON

Ingredients

For the Beef & Noodles

  • 1 lb (454 g) thinly sliced beef chuck rolls

  • 1 medium (150 g) onion, thinly sliced

  • 1 large (120 g) carrot, peeled and thinly sliced

  • 2 packs (400 g total) frozen udon noodles

  • 4½ cups (1.1 L) dashi stock

  • 1 tsp (2 g) black pepper

  • Neutral oil, as needed

For the Japanese Curry Roux

  • 2 tbsp (28 g) unsalted butter

  • 2 tbsp (16 g) all-purpose flour

  • 1½ tbsp (9 g) Japanese curry powder

Method

  1. Prep the udon
    Pour boiling water over frozen udon. Let sit 2–3 minutes until separated. Drain and set aside.

  2. Cook the vegetables
    Heat a wide pan or shallow pot over medium-high heat. Add a little oil, then onion and carrot. Cook 4–5 minutes until onions soften and carrots begin to tenderize.

  3. Cook the beef
    Add beef chuck rolls. Cook 2–3 minutes, just until the beef loses its raw color.

  4. Add dashi
    Pour in the dashi and bring to a gentle simmer.

  5. Make the curry roux
    In a small pan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook 2–3 minutes until lightly blond. Add curry powder and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Remove from heat.

  6. Thicken the curry
    Ladle some hot dashi into the roux and whisk until smooth. Pour the roux into the pot. Add black pepper. Simmer 3–5 minutes until slightly thickened.

  7. Finish with udon
    Add udon noodles and cook 2–3 minutes, stirring gently until coated. If too thick, splash in more dashi.

  8. Garnish
    Finish with sliced scallions and crunchy garlic in chili oil.

Additional Notes

  • Not much to say here—don’t panic if your roux isn’t looking right. You watched me fix it in real time. You got this.

  • Feel free to skip making the roux from scratch and use store-bought Japanese curry blocks, but it’s honestly unnecessary if you already have curry powder on hand—which, respectfully, you should.

  • Add salt to taste.

  • I added a little MSG, because why not.