Healthy Japanese style dry curry with chopped tempeh instead of meat. It's easy and simple recipe even if you are not familiar with tempeh.

Tempeh is fermented soybeans. It has firm texture, and doesn't lose its shape like tofu, so it's great meat substitute for vegan/vegetarian.
Dry curry is a type of curry originated in Japan. It doesn't need to simmer in a soup so cooking time is shorter than regular curry.
- Recommend this recipe for
- Someone who love healthy Japanese recipe
- Someone who wants to learn how to cook tempeh
- Someone who look for easy curry recipe
Ok, let me introduce you how to make this healthy and easy Japanese dry curry with tempeh. Let's get started!
About this recipe
- No meat, vegan recipe
- Japanese-style dry curry
- Easy and quick
What is dry curry
Dry curry is Japanese original menu, and it refers to all curries with low water content. Even it includes curry-flavored fried rice.
It's similar to India's keema curry made with minced meat, but dry curry has no specific rules for ingredients.
Minced meat dry curry, vegetable dry curry, beans dry curry... you can choose any ingredients you like.
What is tempeh

Tempeh is an Indonesian fermented food made by fermenting boiled soy beans. We often compare to natto as it is also fermented soybeans, but tempeh is more versatile, and not sticky like natto nor has strong smell.
Since it's soybean product, it's so nutritious such as rich in high quality protein, vitamin B, dietary fiber and more.
It is typically sold in the form of a plate like the picture above(this one is 500g / 17cmx17cm). The soybeans are covered with white mycelium, holding the beans together, so even if you cut it into thin slice, they will not fall apart.
It has a firm texture, and the taste is light. It does't have much smell, but some people doesn't like the smell, so in that case, it is good to cook with garlic or ginger.
How to eat tempeh in Japanese way

You can enjoy tempeh in various ways such as bake, stir fry, deep fry, and so on.
Since the taste is light, it's more tasty to coat with flour or potato starch and toss with seasoning, or marinade before cooking.
Tempeh Japanese recipes
- Marinated tempeh syogayaki
- Tempeh karaage
- Tempeh vegetable stir fry
- Tempeh tempura
- Tempeh oyakodon(egg and rice bowl)
- Tempeh teriyaki
- Fried tempeh
*I will create these recipes sometime soon.
Where to buy in Japan
If you live in Japan, and look for a place to buy tempeh, I can give you my recommendation.
You might find a small package(such as 100g) in tofu or natto area but if you want to buy larger size, online store is the best.
My recommendation : Motai Tempeh in Nagano
They use Japanese soybeans, and it has a rich soybean flavor and tasty. The service is smooth and nice, so I've been buying from them for a long time.
They sell 2 sizes, 100g and 500g. In addition to soybeans, they also sell tempeh made from black beans and chickpeas. It's shipped in frozen, and expiration date is one year.
I always buy Tempeh 500g. The shipping is a little expensive so I buy in bulk like 3kg at one time and keep them in freezer.
If you are interested, please check Motai tempeh's site. They also sell in Amazon.
📋 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients(amounts is in recipe card below).

- Tempeh
- Vegetables >> Ginger, garlic, onion, and carrot
- Seasoning >> Ketchup, soy sauce, curry powder, and salt
🔪Step by step instructions
Ok, let me walk you through the steps.

- Mince ingredients: Mince a ginger, garlic, onion, carrot, and tempeh. Use food processor for carrot, onion, and tempeh so that you can save a lot of time.
- Stir fry ginger and garlic: Warm a frying pan, pour some olive oil, and stir fry minced garlic and ginger over low heat.
- Stir fry onion and carrot: Add onion and carrot then stir fry until tender.
- Stir fry tempeh: Add tempeh and stir fry. You can stir fry the tempeh lightly as it can be eaten raw.
- Season: Blend all the seasoning, pour over, and mix until the color spread evenly.
As soon as you add the tempeh, it will be completed, so fry the onions and carrots until they are tender enough so that they don't have a hard texture.

Store in the fridge, and it will last for 3 days.
Serve with Japanese steamed rice
In Japan, a curry is always served with Japanese steamed rice. This is the best way to eat! Serve with a fresh vegetable salad and you have a healthy lunch!

Other ways to eat
This curry goes well with thick fat udon noodles, as well as boiled potatoes.
- Curry udon noodles >> Blend it with dashi(soup stock), and pour over warm or cold udon noodles
- Curried potato salad >> Mix tempeh curry and mashed potato, and season with mayo, and salt and pepper
Thanks for Stopping By
It's super easy curry recipe. If you love curry, Japanese taste, and tempeh, you gotta try this!
I hope you will love this recipe:)
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Chef JA Cooks is a Japanese food blog which share simple and healthy Japanese home cooking recipes include vegan and vegetarian. From traditional Japanese recipes to modern recipes with step by step instructions.

Japanese style tempeh dry curry
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Stir fry
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Healthy Japanese style dry curry with chopped tempeh instead of meat. It's easy and simple recipe even if you are not familiar with tempeh.
Ingredients
- 1 clove Ginger
- 1 clove Garlic
- ½ Onion
- ½ Carrot
- 250g Tempeh
- Oil for cooking
Seasoning
- 2 Tbsp Ketchup
- 2 Tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 tsp Curry powder
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Mince ingredients: Mince a ginger, garlic, onion, carrot, and tempeh
- Stir fry ginger and garlic: Warm a frying pan, pour some olive oil, and stir fry minced garlic and ginger over low heat
- Stir fry onion and carrot: Add onion and carrot then stir fry until tender
- Stir fry tempeh: Add tempeh and stir fry
- Season: Blend all the seasoning, pour over, and mix until the color spread evenly
Notes
- You can save time chopping ingredients with a food processor.
- You can stir fry tempeh lightly as it can be eaten raw
Keywords: Japanese style tempeh dry curry
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