The $3.49 H Mart Find I Buy Every Time I Go
The stuff that makes easy weeknight dinner dreams come true.
My preteens ask me a lot of apocalyptic questions:
“If the world caught on fire, which of us three would you save first?”
Obviously, the less whiny one.
“You are Pop the Pig and can only be fed one food for the rest of your life. What would it be?”
Kare rice, but only if there’s kimchi.
“If our house broke into a million pieces and you had to pick one store to live in forever, which would it be?”
Easy. H Mart. It has all my favorite foods.
As you can see, twisting my arm would reveal some things about me: H Mart is my favorite grocery store on the planet (sorry, Trader Joe's!) and I never leave the store without at least one box of S&B Golden Curry ($3.49). It's the key ingredient for kare rice, a Japanese curry my family loves and eats every Monday for dinner—it's what I suspect my kids will yearn for when they look back on their childhood.
The curry comes in a tray of solidified roux that creates a sauce when you melt it into a mixture of meat, vegetables, and water. It takes weeknight dinner convenience to the next level—you can have a cozy, nourishing bowl of curry and rice in about 30 minutes.
How To Make My Easy Kare Rice
To feed 4 or 5 people, you'll need:
1 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon neutral oil, like avocado or canola
1 large yellow onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large Yukon gold, red, or white potato, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 cups water
1 (3.2-ounce) pack S&B Golden Curry
Cooked rice, for serving
Golden Curry Tips!
This product is most commonly found in a 7.8-ounce box. For this recipe, use half of that box. Slide the rest in a zip-top bag and keep it refrigerated. The spice options are mild, medium hot, hot, or extra hot. Try mild if any level of heat scares you. My kids could tolerate medium hot even as infants.
To make the curry, set a large pot over high heat and add the oil and ground pork. Break the meat up into smaller pieces with a large spoon and cook until it's no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
Add the onions, carrots, potatoes, and water and stir to combine. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook for about 15 minutes, until the carrots are tender when poked with the tip of a knife.
Break the curry into smaller pieces and stir them into the pot. Do not turn up the heat because the curry tends to stick to the bottom of the pot and scorch. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, giving it a good stir once or twice. You won't need to season it with salt because the curry is plenty salty, but you may need to add a little more water to loosen up the sauce. It shouldn't be gloppy, but more like a stew.
Serve the curry over rice (a must) and with kimchi on the side (optional, but highly recommended).
Read the original article on Simply Recipes.