Kīma Karē (キーマカレー, minced curry)

Kīma karē is curry without the long bath. The sauce has nearly vanished by the time it reaches the plate, and that is not an accident. The mince, onion, and little bits of vegetable carry the seasoning themselves, each grain glossy with curry roux. If your idea of curry is a deep pot murmuring for an afternoon, this one will correct you politely after work.

The first secret is evaporation. Cook the onion and pīman until their wetness is gone, brown the meat before you add liquid, then simmer the roux down until a spoon leaves a clean path through the pan. Stop too soon and you have loose curry with ground meat in it. Go too far and it turns pasty. The right point is shiny, loose enough to spoon, dry enough to sit beside rice without running.

This is yōshoku, Japanese food by adoption and long use, and for this dish a boxed curry roux is honmono, not a guilty little packet hiding in the drawer. It gives the body and familiar sweetness Japanese curry asks for; curry powder alone gives aroma but not the same thick, gentle cling. Serve it with short-grain rice and a soft egg. The yolk is not decoration. It is the last sauce, and it does its work at the table.