Easy Vegetarian Tofu katsu Curry

Tofu katsu curry, a delicious and simple vegetarian take on a modern Japanese classic, featuring crispy tofu & a homemade simple sauce.

The tofu takes less than 20 minutes to prepare and cook, the homemade sauce takes around 35 minutes and can be cooked in advance.

Vegetarian Katsu Curry

A simple and delicious vegetarian tofu katsu curry joins another couple of Japanese influenced katsu recipes on my site.

I have a classic chicken katsu curry, a recipe that shares the same katsu sauce as this dish. Then I have tonkatsu, a breaded pork cutlet with my homemade katsu sauce.

The name katsu refers to the breaded part of the dish and it is thought to come from the French word “cotelette”.

As I have said before it is difficult not to see the European influences from dishes like weiner schnitzel and Polish kotlet schabowy in this style of Japanese cooking.

Using tofu is an obvious vegetarian shift on this classic recipe and it works really well. However, I add a little extra flavour to make up for the relative blandness of tofu by adding some extra curry powder in the breaded coating.

I love this dish and I am a long way from being a vegetarian! But I have grown a love of cooking with tofu in recent years.

I have everything from Vietnamese fried tofu, kinda Chinese sweet and sour tofu and salt and pepper tofu through to a Korean gochujang tofu stew and a Thai vegan massaman curry.

I’ve even got a crumbled tofu noodle stir fry that is built around the same ideas as dan dan noodles!

Ignore the naysayers, it is a wonderful ingredient!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use flavoured tofu?

I would personally avoid herb or BBQ marinated tofu because the flavours are too much of a contrast to the curry sauce.

But smoked tofu adds a really lovely alternative to plain tofu?

Do I have to press the tofu?

I find that it makes little to no difference in this recipe. In fact, a little bit of moisture in the tofu is a positive for this recipe.

However, you do need to blot off any excess moisture before cooking to prevent the flour and curry powder mix from becoming “gluey”.

What sort of curry powder should I use?

If you are in the UK hunt down some Chinese curry powder.

If you are struggling take a look at the ingredients on the packet and search for something with as little fenugreek as possible. This means that the name fenugreek appears as low down in the ingredient list as possible.

You can also make your own, this is my recipe and one that I use for my Chinese chicken curry!

• 1 Tablespoon Coriander Seeds
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 Tablespoon Turmeric
• 1 Teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice
• 0.5-1 Teaspoon Dried Chilli Flakes

Simply toast off the whole seeds and leaves, then grind them and combine them with the remaining ingredients.

Can I make this vegan?

Yes, simply replace the egg with a vegan egg substitute!

Serving Suggestions

I have served my vegetarian katsu curry here with some simply cooked white rice and some roasted tenderstem broccoli. But I have roasted the broccoli in soy sauce, sesame oil and black pepper.

But it works really well with either my stir fried asparagus or stir fried broccoli recipes.

Sticking with the rice vibe, and if you are not aiming at staying vegetarian you could try chahan or yakimeshi, Japanese fried rice.

Although a good old egg fried rice is also superb!

Equipment Used

I only mention specific brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Stovetop.
• 15cm or 6″ saucepan.
• 28cm or 11″ frying pan.
• Knife.
• Chopping board.
• Weighing scales and or measuring cups and spoons.
• Blender.
• Kitchen paper.
• Bowls and plates to breadcrumb the tofu.
• Tongs or spatula.
• Spoons for stirring and serving.