The curries of Hyrule are an absolute treat, thanks to the delicious flavor and heat of Goron Spice. A bowl of any Hyrulean curry on a cool evening or in any of the colder climate regions of the kingdom instantly warms you up. These curries are also wonderful meals when feeling ill, just like the soups and stews. With the great variety of curries eaten across the kingdom, what could possibly be left?
Enter Kilton. With Kolton’s extensive monster research, he developed the Monster Extract, a suspicious spice somehow made from monster essence that adds unique flavor to dishes. Adding some of Kilton’s Monster Extract to the curry on top of the Goron Spice adds a new dimension to the curry. It creates Monster Curry!
“This unusual take on curry uses Monster Extract and doesn’t rely on spices.”
So, first off, the in-game description isn’t exactly correct. The recipe for Monster Curry still uses Goron Spice, so we will be adding it to this curry… just in a different way. With past curries, we made a Goron Spice roux and stirred it into the stew at the end to make the curry. For the Monster Curry, we will stir an ube powder slurry (for the purple color) and the Goron Spice into the stew at the end separately. We’ll build the stew fairly similarly using chicken and vegetables, but we will use a mix of purple and white vegetables. The white potatoes will turn red from the purple color of the curry, which will give us the purple and red vegetables floating in the curry. We’ll also deglaze with a little sake at one point in the process for a little flavor twist as well.
This is definitely a unique curry. It has all the hallmarks of the traditional Goron Spice curry, but with some different flavor nuances. I’d be equally as happy eating a bowl of Monster Curry on a cold Hyrule evening as I would eating any other type of curry.
Ingredients
2 cups Japanese rice
2-3 boneless chicken thighs
2 purple carrots, peeled and chopped
2 small purple potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 small red or white potatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, grated
¼ cup sake
4 cups of chicken stock
1 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 tbsp Goron Spice
½ tsp salt
½ cup purple ube powder
½ cup water
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Prepare the Japanese white rice according to the directions on the package.
Season the chicken thighs with salt and black pepper. Place a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Once warm, add one to two tablespoons of oil, and then sear the thighs on each side for 5 minutes each. Remove the thighs from the pot and place them on a cutting board. Once cook enough to touch, chop the chicken thighs into roughly ¾ to 1 inch cubes.
Turn the heat down to low. Add more oil to the pot if needed and the onions. Sauté the onions for 3-5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger, and sauté for one minute, until fragrant.
Add the sake to the pot and use a spatula to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the chicken pieces back into the pot, followed by the carrots and the purple and red potatoes.
Add the chicken broth and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir the contents of the pot well. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to boil. Once boiling, turn to medium-low and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables soften.
In a small bowl, whisk together ½ cup of purple ube powder with ½ cup of warm water. Whisk until a paste is formed.
Add the Goron Spice to the stew in the pot. Stir it through the stew to well blend. Allow the stew to simmer for two minutes.
Now whisk a ladle of the warm broth from the pot into the purple ube paste. Whisk until smooth (add another ladle of warm broth if needed). Remove the pot from the heat and stir the ube slurry mixture into the curry stew. Stir until it is completely blended. The curry will turn purple and begin to thicken. Add the soy sauce and return to the heat. Allow to simmer for 5-8 minutes more until the curry has thickened. If it is getting too thick, add a little more broth or water to thin. Salt to taste if needed.
When thickened and finished, remove from heat and serve. Serve the curry in a bowl beside the rice, each on half of the bowl. Garnish the rice with chopped parsley.
Learn more about the Monster Curry dish from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at Zelda Dungeon.