Kare Pan Deep Fried Curry Bread Yoshoku Bakery

Ingredients

• For the enriched dough
• 300 g strong white bread flour
• 6 g instant dried yeast
• 6 g fine salt
• 20 g caster sugar
• 160 ml whole milk, lukewarm
• 1 egg, beaten
• 30 g unsalted butter, softened
• For the curry filling
• 250 g ground beef or pork
• 150 g potato, peeled, cut into 5 mm dice
• 80 g onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp Japanese curry powder
• 1 tbsp plain flour, for thickening
• 100 ml water or light stock
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• For coating and frying
• 2 eggs, beaten, for egg wash
• 150 g panko breadcrumbs, pressed firmly onto each piece
• 1 litre neutral oil, for deep-frying

Method

1. 1
   Make the curry filling first so it can cool completely overnight — warm filling makes the dough sticky and impossible to seal cleanly. Soften the onion in a little oil over medium heat, add the ground meat and cook through, then stir in the diced potato, curry powder, and flour. Add the water or stock and soy sauce, and cook, stirring, until the mixture is very thick and holds its shape on a spoon without spreading. A thin curry will leak through sealed dough during frying. Spread onto a tray, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until fully cold.
2. 2
   Combine the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar in a bowl, keeping the salt and yeast on opposite sides before mixing. Add the milk and beaten egg and bring together into a rough dough, then knead for 8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Work in the softened butter in small pieces and continue kneading until the dough is cohesive, slightly tacky, and pulls away from the work surface cleanly. Cover and prove until doubled in volume.
3. 3
   Divide the proved dough into eight equal pieces, approximately 65 g each. On a lightly floured surface, press each piece into an oval roughly 12 cm long. Place a generous tablespoon of cold curry filling at the centre, leaving a clear 2 cm border all around. This is where the dish lives or dies: fold the dough over the filling to form a sealed parcel, pressing the seam firmly with fingertips along its entire length, then pinching it closed without gaps. Any unsealed gap will burst open under frying heat and release the filling into the oil.
4. 4
   Lightly indent the top of each sealed piece with one finger to relieve steam pressure during frying. Brush all surfaces with beaten egg wash, then press firmly into the panko breadcrumbs on all sides, ensuring even, complete coverage with no bare patches — loose or unadhered crumbs will fall away in the oil. Place the coated pieces on a tray and refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm the coating.
5. 5
   Heat the oil to 170°C in a deep, heavy vessel. Lower the kare pan in batches of two or three, seam-side down, and fry for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until deeply and evenly golden on all sides. A lower temperature will not crisp the panko; a higher temperature burns the coating before the filling is heated through. Remove immediately to a wire rack — not paper towels, which trap steam and soften the crust. The panko shell must be uniformly dark gold and audibly crisp when tapped.