Buttermilk Biscuits With Curry Gravy

Curry roux blocks are a staple of Korean home pantries, ready to be turned into a near-instant meal with the addition of root vegetables and chunks of meat. At L.A.’s Yangban Society—one of our 10 Best New Restaurants of 2022—chefs Katianna and John Hong reimagine curry as a rich gravy featuring both ground beef and pork. They skip rice in favor of a lofty, buttery buttermilk biscuit, giving a profound twist to the American signature combination of biscuits and gravy. Serve topped with fresh scallions and/or kimchi to cut through the meaty sauce. Any leftover biscuit trim can be used to bake off slightly smaller biscuits or—better yet—as toppers for Yangban Society’s Congee Pot Pie.

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Pulse 2 Tbsp. (heaping) sugar, 2¾ tsp. baking soda, 1½ tsp. baking powder, 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour in a food processor to combine. Add ¾ cup (1½ sticks) plus 1 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse sand. Add remaining ¾ cup (1½ sticks) plus 1 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size pieces of butter. Transfer to a large bowl and drizzle 2 cups buttermilk over, tossing with a fork to incorporate. Knead a few times in bowl until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out dough onto a generously floured surface and pat into a 10×7½” rectangle about 1″ thick. Using a bench scraper, fold dough into thirds like folding a letter, then turn seam side down, rotate 90°, and gently roll out to 1″ thick. Repeat folding and rolling process 2 more times. Transfer dough to a baking sheet and freeze 10 minutes. Fold and roll 2 more times, then freeze another 10 minutes.

Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 450°. Cut dough into four 3×2½” biscuits; place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing 2″ apart. (Wrap dough scraps in plastic; save for another use or for Congee Pot Pie.)

Reduce oven temperature to 425°. Bake biscuits until deeply golden brown, 25–30 minutes. Transfer biscuits to a wire rack; let cool slightly.

While the biscuits are baking, pulse 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped, 2 medium carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped, and 5 garlic cloves, chopped, in a food processor until very finely chopped. Transfer to a small bowl.

Heat 2 tsp. vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Add 8 oz. ground beef, 8 oz. ground pork, and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt; season with freshly ground black pepper. Cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned, 6–8 minutes. Add onion mixture and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, then sprinkle 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour over and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add ½ tsp. curry powder and ½ tsp. ground turmeric and cook, stirring, until spices are fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Mix in 4½ tsp. low-sodium soy sauce and 2 tsp. fish sauce. Pour in 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits stuck to bottom of pot. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 8–10 minutes.

Stir in 2 oz. hot Japanese curry sauce mix and simmer, stirring often, until gravy is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 5 minutes. Stir in ¼ cup heavy cream and remove from heat. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Transfer biscuits to plates; generously ladle gravy over. Top with thinly sliced scallions (if using) and serve with kimchi if desired.