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1
Make the tangzhong. Combine 25 g strong flour with 125 ml water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and reaches 65°C — the roux will coat the whisk in a smooth, pale paste and leave a clear trail when the whisk is drawn through it. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before use. This pre-gelatinised starch is the structural basis of the cotton-soft crumb.
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2
Make the dough. Combine the bread flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl, keeping the yeast and salt on opposite sides. Add the warm milk, beaten eggs, and the cooled tangzhong. Mix to a shaggy dough, then knead — by hand or machine — for 8 minutes. Add the softened butter in small pieces and continue kneading until fully incorporated and the dough is smooth, elastic, and just tacky but not sticky. The dough passes the windowpane test when a small piece stretches thin enough to become translucent without tearing.
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3
First proof. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and prove at room temperature until doubled in volume.
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4
Prepare the curry filling while the dough proves. Sweat the diced onion until soft and translucent, add the minced meat and cook through, then build the Japanese curry using the roux block with significantly less liquid than the package instructs. Cook the curry down, stirring frequently, until it holds its shape on a spoon and does not run — it must be firm enough to be scooped and handled. Spread on a tray and refrigerate until cold and set. A filling that is loose or warm will burst during frying and saturate the crumb.
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5
Divide and shape. Knock back the proved dough and divide into eight equal pieces of approximately 85–90 g each. Flatten each piece into a rough oval on a lightly floured surface. Place a generous spoonful — approximately 35–40 g — of the cold, set curry filling at the centre. Gather the edges of the dough up and over the filling, pinching firmly to seal. This is where the dish lives or dies: a seal that is anything less than fully closed will burst open in the hot oil, releasing the filling and collapsing the crust. Roll each sealed bun gently between the palms to produce a smooth, taut oval. Place seam-side down and prove for a further 20 minutes until slightly puffed.
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6
Coat immediately before frying. Working one at a time, brush each proved bun all over with beaten egg wash, then press firmly and evenly into the panko so that every surface carries a full, unbroken coating. Do not coat in advance — panko that sits absorbs surface moisture and fries unevenly, producing gaps and pale patches in the crust.
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7
Fry at 170°C. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pot to 170°C and maintain this temperature throughout. Lower the kare pan gently into the oil, seam-side down, two or three at a time to avoid crowding. Fry for 3–4 minutes, turning once, until the panko crust is deep amber and crackling. Below 170°C the bread absorbs oil before the crust sets; above 170°C the exterior burns before the dough cooks through. Lift and drain on a wire rack.
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8
Rest for at least 5 minutes on the wire rack before serving. The interior steam redistributes during this period, the filling sets from the residual heat of frying, and the crust firms further. Kare pan eaten within the first 5 minutes of frying carries the risk of a hot curry burst; kare pan eaten after 5 minutes and within approximately the first 20 minutes of frying represents the dish at its peak — all three textures (crisp exterior, soft crumb, fluid-but-set filling) remain simultaneously present. After that window the crust softens.