Baked Japanese beef curry rice with cheese

I was reminiscing about this amazing baked Japanese curry rice I had in Hakone, Japan last winter. So I thought I would take a stab at making a baked Japanese curry rice.

This is my first attempt at making Japanese curry cheese-baked rice. It is an easy no-fuss dish!

Below are the ingredients and steps I took for this dish. Feel free to add or replace the ingredients based on your liking.  One mistake I made was using too much rice, so I altered the amount of rice in the recipe below, which would be more suitable for 3 people.

Ingredients

7 tbsp of curry powder

1  1/2 cup minced beef

Half an onion, cut into quarters

7 fresh baby carrots (cut into quarters)

10 – 15 sweet peas

2 medium potatoes (cut into chunks)

A handful of broccoli florets

2 cups of water

2 cups of grated cheddar cheese (mozzarella cheese is another good option)

1  1/2 cup of cooked rice

This is the curry powder I used; you can use any Japanese curry powder or cubes that you like.

Sauté the onions and carrots over medium heat for approximately 5 – 8 minutes. I prefer my carrots soft, so I cooked them a little longer.

Add the potatoes and sauté until the potatoes are almost cooked or until you can easily poke through the potato with a fork.

Add in minced beef and sauté for another 5 minutes.

Add the broccoli and sweet peas and cook for another 2 minutes.

Pour the water in and bring to boil.  Reduce to medium heat and add the curry powder.

Stir until well combined, and the gravy thickens.

Preheat the oven to 218 °C or 425°F. Spread the rice evenly in a baking dish. Pour the curry sauce on top of the rice. Then sprinkle the grated cheese. Place the dish in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is golden brown.

Voila! A cheesy, creamy, savory curry rice dish.