Vegan Japanese Curry From Scratch

🍶 Japanese Vegan Curry Ingredients

Oyster mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms have a fantastically meaty texture and mild flavor that soaks up the curry sauce like a champ. This is why oysters are my mushroom of choice for everything from Middle Eastern vegan shawarma and Thai tom yum fried rice to Malaysian curry laksa.
Can you rock this out with shiitake mushrooms or lion’s mane? 100% yes, you can. Heck, you can even make it using some lightly browned vegan chicken instead, in case you are a mushroom hater.

Apple

Fuji apples are sweet and juicy, lending a natural sweetness and a super-tiny bit of acidity to balance the savory flavors in the curry. The pectin present in the apples also helps to naturally thicken the sauce as they break down while simmering.

If you can’t find any Fuji apples, Pink Lady or Honeycrisp apples (which are both top choices for me when making vegan apple pie, vegan apple cider donuts, and vegan apple muffins) are great stand-ins here.

Tamari or Soy Sauce

Since it’s downright crazy-talk to speak of having more than one kind of soy sauce in your pantry, I personally opt for tamari (たまり) as my ride-or-die. That’s because it’s richer, less salty taste than regular soy sauce, and it happens to be gluten-free too.
It happens to be made without wheat, so it’s the soy sauce I like to keep on hand since my wife Joey is usually gluten-free. But if that doesn’t matter to you, you can use Nama shoyu or regular soy sauce if that’s what you have on hand.

Tomato paste

Yo—SO MANY vegan Japanese curry recipes call for ketchup. Do you know how kinda gross and lame that is? That’s why instead, we are going to make your curry with a little tomato paste and add in the flavors we want, instead of letting old man ketchup choose our curry’s flavor fate for us.

Vegan butter

Just like the method I use in my vegan brown gravy, mushroom gravy recipe, and vegan sausage gravy, a little vegan butter is used in the curry roux to create a smooth, creamy texture that acts to thicken the curry.

Hate using vegan butter? You can 100% rock this oil with olive oil, coconut oil, or vegetable oil instead. Feel better?

Curry powder

Japanese curry is more like Irish curry than the curries of Thailand, Vietnam, and India in the sense that it primarily gets its curry flavor from curry powder, which was historically something created by Indian people to sell to British colonists who were returning home from India.

Of course, this is best made with Japanese curry powder, but if you don't have that on hand, you can quickly whip up some of my madras curry powder, and you're good to go!

Garam masala

This Indian spice blend contains warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, which contribute a layer of complexity to the curry. Got some leftover from making this recipe? Garam masala comes in handy for making a ton of vegan Indian recipes, such as turai subzi, vegan butter chicken, and my meaty-as-heck Punjabi soya chaap recipe.

Ichimi togarashi

Ichimi togarashi is a Japanese red chili pepper that adds easily controllable heat to the curry without overpowering the other flavors. It’s often used in Japanese cuisine in recipes like vegan yakitori and somen salad.

You can find ichimi togarashi at Japanese grocery stores. Keep in mind this is NOT the same thing as shichimi togarashi—Japanese 7-spice blend. Anyway, if you can’t get your hands on it,

I’d recommend using either gochugaru or Aleppo red pepper flakes in its place.
Afterwards, gochugaru can be used to make vegan kimchi, and Aleppo pepper flakes can be used in vegan Turkish recipes like ezme and bulgur pilavi.

📖 How to make vegan Japanese curry

Your homemade curry is going to make that stale ol' box of S&B Golden Curry wear a dunce cap in the corner. Follow these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.

Step One

Wok Like a Man:

Heat up the olive oil over medium-high heat in a wok or Dutch oven. After 90 seconds, when the oil is hot, stir in the diced onion and hand-torn oyster mushrooms. Sauté for 4–6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything sweats and is lightly golden brown.

Step Two

Automatic Aromatics:

Add in the minced garlic and grated ginger, and keep stirring for another minute over medium heat until fragrant.

Step Three

Sim Simmer, Who’s Got the Keys to My Bimmer?

Add the carrots, potatoes, and grated Fuji apple into the pan. Pour in the vegetable stock (or water if you’re in a pinch), tamari, tomato paste, and sugar. Stir everything together, then crank up the heat to bring it to a boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat to low to cook the veggies at a gentle simmer, covered, for 20–25 minutes, or until the carrots and potatoes are fork tender.

Step Four

Roux, There It Is:

While the veggies simmer, in a separate small saucepan, melt the vegan butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour and whisk like your life depends on it until a smooth paste forms.

Let it cook for 2–3 minutes to banish that raw flour taste, then add curry powder, garam masala, and ichimi togarashi (or other chili powder). Mix it up until everything’s combined, then take it off the heat.

✅ While pre-made Japanese curry roux is a thing, making it yourself takes very little effort and ensures it's vegan. Most of the time, those pre-made Japanese curry cubes are made out of melted airplanes and outer-space chicken dust or whatever.

Step Five

Roux-niversity Dropout:

Once your veggies are nice and tender, use a rubber spatula to add all of the curry roux to the pan, and stir it in. Let it cook for another few minutes uncovered until it thickens to your desired level of curry goodness.

Step Six

Rice, Rice Baby:

Scoop the curry over your hot, fluffy rice, or serve it with regular onigiri, or yaki onigiri on the side. Feel free to garnish with sliced scallions and, if you're into it, crispy tofu katsu, or some furikake.