Sapporo Soup Curry

Yield

4 bowls

Time

1 hour 45 minutes (30 min prep, 75 min simmer)

Equipment

• Large Dutch oven or heavy pot
• Sheet pan or skillet for the vegetables
• Blender (optional)

Ingredients

Spice blend

• 2 Tbsp Japanese curry powder (S&B)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp garam masala
• ¼–1 tsp cayenne, to taste (soup curry shops let you pick a heat level)

Soup

• 4 bone-in chicken legs (drumstick and thigh), about 3 lb
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp neutral oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 Tbsp ginger, grated
• 1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups dashi (or more chicken stock)
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp fish sauce (optional)

Vegetables

• 2 small Yukon gold potatoes, halved
• 1 carrot, cut into long wedges
• ¼ kabocha squash, cut into wedges
• 1 Japanese eggplant, cut into thick slices
• 1 bell pepper, cut into wide strips
• 4 okra or green beans
• 4 broccoli florets
• Oil for roasting or shallow frying

To serve

• 4 soft-boiled eggs, halved
• Steamed Japanese rice, with a lemon wedge

Instructions

• Season the chicken with salt. Brown it skin-side down in the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until deep golden, 6–8 minutes. Remove and set aside.
• Lower the heat to medium and cook the onion in the chicken fat until deep amber, 15–20 minutes. This is where the flavor comes from, so do not rush it.
• Add the garlic, ginger and the spice blend. Stir 1 minute until fragrant, then add the tomatoes and cook 3 minutes.
• Pour in the stock, dashi, soy, oyster sauce, honey and bay leaf. Return the chicken, bring to a simmer, cover partially and cook 60–75 minutes until the chicken is very tender.
• Meanwhile, cook the vegetables: steam or microwave the potatoes and carrot until just tender, then roast all the vegetables at 425°F (or shallow-fry them) until browned and blistered.
• Remove the chicken. For a silkier soup, blend about a third of the broth and return it. Season with fish sauce and salt. The broth should stay thin and pourable, not thick like a roux curry.
• Put a chicken leg in each wide bowl, ladle in the broth and arrange the vegetables and half an egg on top. Serve the rice on the side. Spoon rice into the soup, or dip it, bite by bite.

Why It Works

Soup curry gets its depth from a long-cooked onion and a dashi-chicken broth rather than a thick roux, so it is light yet rich. The vegetables are cooked separately and added at the end, so they stay vivid and each keeps its own texture: crisp okra, sweet kabocha, silky eggplant. That is the signature look of a Sapporo soup curry bowl.

Notes

In Sapporo, shops let you pick the broth style, a spice level from 0 to 30, and toppings like pork kakuni, lamb or seafood. The broth tastes even better the next day; refrigerate it separately from the vegetables.