Japanese Curry Pork and Squid (咖哩魷魚豬腩肉, Gaa3 Lei1 Jau4 Jyu4 Zyu1 Naam5 Juk6)

The combination of pork belly and squid in a Japanese curry sauce is surprisingly tasty. S&B brand Japanese curry mix is used and is a really easy way to make a curry sauce. The mix comes already prepared in cubes, and one-half a package or four cubes are used to make the sauce by just adding water. Since pork belly is used, the cooking time is longer than the usual Japanese curry dish. If pork belly is not available, boneless country style pork ribs can be substituted.

 

My local Asian market occasionally has cooked squid available. I use it whenever I can, but frozen or fresh squid can be used instead. The squid gets added at the end of cooking, so if it’s not already cooked, it will be when the dish is ready. The quill has to be removed from the squid, since it’s inedible, and the only tricky part to removing the quill is keeping the already cooked squid body and tentacles intact when you do this – sometimes it’s impossible.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

 

1 lb.	500 g.	Cooked squid (魷魚, jau4 jyu4), quill removed
2 lb.	1 kg.	Pork belly (with skin) meat (豬腩肉, zyu1 naam5 juk6), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
½ lb.	250 g.	Long beans (豆角, dau6 gok3), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
2	2	Carrots (紅蘿蔔, hung4 lo4 baak6), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) diagonal pieces
2	2	Red potatoes (薯, syu4), halved and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
1	1	Onion (洋蔥, joeng4 cung1), halved and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

3.5 oz.	100 g.	One-half package S&B brand curry sauce mix (咖哩, gaa3 lei1) or equivalent – 4 cubes
3 cups	750 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

6 qt.	5.7 L.	Dutch oven

 

S&B Brand Curry Sauce Mix
(咖哩, gaa3 lei1)

Preparation Instructions

1. If using frozen squid, thaw in a covered container overnight in the refrigerator. Take the squid out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking. Clean and remove the quill from the squid. If using already cooked squid, remove the quill, trying to keep the body and tentacles attached (sometimes this is not possible).
2. Cut the pork belly meat into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces, keeping the skin attached. If pork belly is not available, boneless country style pork ribs can be substituted.
3. Wash and cut the long beans into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
4. Wash and cut the carrot into ½-inch pieces on the diagonal.
5. Wash, clean, and cut the red potatoes in half. Cut each potato half into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces and place the pieces into a bowl of water to keep them from browning.
6. Remove the tough outer skin of the onion and cut in half. Cut each onion half into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces.
7. Open and use one-half the curry mix package - four cubes. Measure out the water for the sauce.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium- to medium-high heat before adding oil. Add the pork belly, skin side down, to the Dutch oven in a single layer on the bottom and brown the skin. Quickly brown the other surfaces of the pork. You may have to cook the pork in batches, so be sure to reheat the Dutch oven over medium- to medium-high heat. You might have to remove some of the oil from the Dutch oven after cooking each batch. Add the onion and carrot pieces to the Dutch oven and lightly brown the vegetables. Add the water for the sauce to the Dutch oven and heat uncovered over high heat until the contents boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the Dutch oven, and simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Drain the water from the bowl with the potatoes.
3. Uncover and remove the Dutch oven from the heat, add the curry sauce cubes, and stir to dissolve the curry cubes. Add the potatoes, green beans, and squid, and increase the heat to high to bring the contents to a boil. Cover the Dutch oven, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until the green beans and potatoes are cooked and still crunchy. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.