One of the most iconic anime food is probably the Marine Captain's curry Taijo made from One Piece. This curry is actually super easy to make with really flavorful curry sauce and tender beef. It's perfect for meal prepping and it's a curry even Sanji will be proud of! Enjoy it with some steamed white rice and a side of miso soup to complete the meal. For more recreation recipes, check out our ratatouille recipe from Pixar's Ratatouille!
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Ingredients you'll need
Please scroll down to the recipe card for the ingredient quantities!
The marinated beef:
- Chuck roast - Pick a chuck roast with good marbling or with a little bit of fat to make the curry taste better and the meat more tender and flavorful.
- Yogurt - Both full fat or low fat greek yogurt is fine. It helps tenderize and keeps the beef juicy.
- Garlic and ginger - Make sure these aromatics are grated for best texture and flavor. We like to use ginger graters but a microplane works well too.
- Ground turmeric - Mostly for color.
- Black pepper - Freshly cracked is always better.
Curry roux:
- Butter and lard - In the anime, Taijo used both butter and lard. Make sure to use unsalted butter so that you can control the saltiness of the curry. If you don't want to use lard, you can use more butter instead.
- Flour - Regular all-purpose flour is perfect.
- Japanese curry powder - We tested with several different curry powders and you HAVE to use Japanese curry powder. Regular curry powder is usually either too bitter or earthy and did give our curry its iconic curry flavor. We like to use S&B's Japanese curry powder.
- Garam masala - You can make fresh garam masala or use premade garam masala.
The rest of the curry:
- Water and beef stock - If you don't want to use beef stock, you can use water with some beef bouillon powder.
- Potato, carrot, onion - To bulk up the curry and also to make the curry more flavorful.
- Tomatoes - They add some nice acidity to the curry and adds to the curry's body.
- Apple - For sweetness. We highly recommend using a juicy, sweet apple, like fuji or honeycrisp.
- Salt - As needed for seasoning.
How to make the Marine Captain's curry from One Piece:
Please scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe and instructions!
Prepare the ingredients:
1. Marinate the beef. Combine all the ingredients for marinating the beef. Mix well and let the beef marinate while you prepare everything else. You can also let the beef marinate overnight.
2. Caramelize the onion. Add a small amount of oil to a pan over medium high heat. Once the pan is oil is hot, add the onion and saute until the onion starts to turn translucent. Lower the heat to medium or medium low and continue to cook the onion until caramelized, about 5-8 minutes. Make sure to stir often! Set aside once done.
3. Make the curry roux. In another pan, melt the butter and lard over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and cook until it becomes a couple shade darker than peanut butter.
Then turn off the heat and add the curry powder and garam masala. Mix well and set aside.
4. Prepare the tomatoes. This step is basically called concasse, which is a technique that removes the tomato skin for better texture and the tomato seeds for texture and flavor. First, make shallow "X" cuts on the bottom of the tomatoes.
Then place them into a pot of hot water for about 10 seconds.
Remove and peel away the tomato skin.
Next, there's two ways to remove the seeds:
- Based on the anime: Anime method: Cut off the tops of the tomatoes about ⅓ of the way to expose the seeds inside. Then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. You'll have to remove some flesh in the process. After deseeding, cut the tomatoes into thick chunks.
- Alternative method: Cut the tomatoes into quarter or eight wedges, depending on the size. Then cut and remove the seeds.
Now for the curry:
5. Start the curry. In a pot, bring the water to a boil and add the potatoes and carrots. Then add the curry roux, beef stock, tomatoes, caramelized onion, the grated apple, and salt. Bring everything to a boil and stir often until the curry roux has dissolved.
6. Simmer the curry. Next, add the marinated beef and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and let it cook for about 30 minutes, then another 30 minutes uncovered, or until the beef is tender. Make sure to stir gently every so often.
7. Taste and finish. To finish, taste the curry and see if more salt is needed. It should be just seasoned, but feel fee to adjust to your preference. Enjoy the curry hot with steamed white rice!
Recipe tips
- Cut the beef into large cubes about 2 inches thick. This way the curry has time to slowly cook without overcooking the meat and making it too tender.
- When making the curry roux, make sure to stir the roux constant to prevent scorching. This is especially important when the roux becomes darker. Don't neglect the edge of the pan either! Taijo warned about scorching the roux in the anime as well.
- Stir the curry gently to avoid breaking up the potato. As the potatoes cook and become tender, they'll be more prone to breaking. So try to stir gently. It's also important to cut the potatoes into big chunks so that they can keep their shape and not disintegrate while the curry is simmering.
- Make sure to stir the bottom of the pot. For thick stews, like this curry, the content tends to stick to the bottom of the pot and cause scorching. So when you stir the curry, don't forget the bottom of the pot! Also, not breaking up the potatoes helps with the sticking.
Storage
This curry, just like other stews and soups, tastes even better the next day — perfect for meal prepping! Any leftover can be stored in an airtight container after it's cooled and refrigerated for 4 to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
If freezing, we also recommend removing the potatoes before freezing because the potatoes' texture will likely change.
Reheating
To reheat, you easily microwave it in a microwave container until heated through. Make sure to keep the curry loosely covered and in between heating, stir the curry so that it heats up evenly.
Alternatively, you can also reheat on the stovetop. Simply transfer the curry to a saucepan and add a small amount of water. Heat the curry over medium or medium low heat until hot, making sure to stir often. If needed, re-season with a little salt.
If frozen, make sure to let the curry thaw completely before reheating.
FAQ
Yes, you can use tomato paste instead. However, you'll also have to supplement with some additional water or stock as well. For each tomato (around 4 oz), substitute with 1 teaspoon of tomato paste and 2 tablespoon of water or stock.
Flavor-wise, turmeric is not necessary. However, it compensates for the curry's color which the yogurt that will dilute .
If you don't want to use lard, you can substitute it with more butter. Each tablespoon of lard can be substituted with about 1.5 tablespoon of butter.
📖 Recipe
Marine Captain's Curry (One Piece)
Ingredients
For marinating the beef:
- 1½ pound chuck roast trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon garlic grated (about 3-4 cloves per TBSP)
- 1 tablespoon ginger peeled and grated (about 1 inch knob per TBSP)
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
For the curry roux:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon lard
- ½ cup all-purpose flour fluffed, spooned, and leveled
- 3 tablespoons Japanese curry powder
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
For the rest of the dish:
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup unsalted beef stock or water mixed with 3 teaspoons of beef bouillon powder
- 1 pound gold potato peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
- 6 ounces carrot peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 12 ounces yellow onion finely chopped
- 8 ounces tomato *see notes
- 3 ounces apple grated (sweet, juicy apples like fuji and honeycrisp is best)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon oil any neutral oil for cooking
- Cooked white rice to serve
Instructions
- Marinate the beef:Add all the ingredients for the beef and mix until evenly combined. Set aside and let the beef marinate for 10 to 15 minutes as you prepare everything else. You can also let the beef marinate overnight.
- Caramelize the onion:In a nonstick pan over medium high heat, add about a tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the finely chopped onion and sauté until fragrant and the onion turns translucent. Then reduce the heat to medium or medium low and cook until the onions are caramelized in color, about 5-8 minutes. Stir often. Once caramelized set aside.
- Make the curry roux:In a medium pan over medium heat, melted the butter and lard. Once both are completely melted, add the flour and cook until the roux is a couple shade darker than peanut butter. Make sure to stir constantly to prevent burning the roux and don't forget the edge of the pan! When the color is achieved take the pan off the heat and add the curry powder and garam masala. Mix until well combined.
- Prepare the tomatoes:Bring a pot of water to a boil then turn it off. Meanwhile, cut a shallow "X" on the bottom of each tomato. Place the into the hot water and let them sit 5-10 seconds or until the skin on the tomatoes start to peel back a little. Drain the tomatoes and peel the skin.
- *In the anime, the tomatoes are cut and deseeded (a concasse technique) in a more complicated way. Below are 2 ways to do it:Anime method: Cut off the tops of the tomatoes about ⅓ of the way to expose the seeds inside. Cut and discard the woody core on the top third of the tomato. Then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds on the bottom third. You'll have to remove some flesh in the process. After deseeding, cut the tomatoes into thick chunks.Alternative method: Core the woody core of the tomatoes then cut the them into quarter or eight wedges, depending on the size. Then cut and remove the seeds.
- Make the curry:Add the water to pot and bring to a boil. Then add the potatoes and carrots. Following, add the curry roux, beef stock, tomatoes, caramelized onion, the grated apple, and salt. Bring everything to a boil and stir occasionally to help dissolve the curry roux.
- Once it comes to a boil and the roux has dissolved, add the marinated beef and stir well to combine. Bring everything to gentle simmer cover. Let the curry cook for 30 minutes then remove the lid and continue cooking for another 30 minutes or until the beef is tender. Make sure to occasionally, especially the bottom of the pot to prevent burning.
- To finish, taste the curry and adjust the saltiness to your preference if needed. Serve with steamed white rice and enjoy while hot!
Notes
- Curry powder - After testing this recipe multiple times, we found out that different brand curry powder tastes totally different. Because this curry from One Piece is more of a Japanese curry, it is very important to use Japanese curry powder for this recipe. We recommend the S&B brand curry powder. Regular curry powder tends to make the curry too bitter.
- 2X recipe - If doubling the recipe, everything else can be doubled normally EXCEPT the tomatoes. Only increase the tomatoes by 1.5X. So from 8 ounces to 12 ounces of tomatoes.
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