OMURICE
The name of this dish “Omurice” is an abbreviation of “Omelet and rice”. This is a very popular dish which ketchup flavored rice is wrapped inside of a thinly made omelet.
It’s classified in 洋食 (yoshoku) which originated in the Meiji era. 洋 (yo) means “western” and 食 (shoku) means in this case “food”.
However, it’s not exactly western food. It’s uniquely developed Japanese style dishes using western ingredients.
Yoshoku has a special appeal of nostalgia for Japanese people. I think that yoshoku may be more nostalgic than traditional Japanese food among people who were born after the period of postwar economic growth.
Omurice is served at many places including authentic yoshoku restaurants and casual restaurant chains. However, it always reminds me of a weekend lunch at home. It’s interesting that my daughter says the same thing although she is 29 years younger than me. That means omurice is a stable and popular homemade dish as well.
The ingredients for the rice are various from restaurant to restaurant, or family to family. The common ingredients are chicken breast, ham, sausage, bacon, onions, white mushrooms, carrots, corn, and so on.
This time, I used only ham and onion to make my recipe as simple as possible. I often add other ingredients to my omurice depending on my mood. So you can add anything you like.
Nowadays, there are many variations of omurice here in Japan such as “omurice with white sauce”, “with beef stew”, “with Japanese curry sauce” etc. Also, “omusoba” which is fried noodles wrapped in an omelet has become popular.
I’m going to introduce other versions of omurice in the future. But now, I’m showing you the basic way of making omurice.
Let’s get started!
OMURICE
Course: MainCuisine: JapaneseDifficulty: Medium2
servings20
minutesIngredients
- Tomato ketchup flavored rice
320 g cooked rice (11.3 oz)
half onion
4 slices precooked ham
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 tablespoons ketchup or to your liking
Pinch of salt and pepper
- Thinly made Omelet
4 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon salted butter
Directions
- Prepare these ingredients.
- Chop the onion. First, cut the onion horizontally. Next, cut it vertically. Then chop it.
Cut the ham likewise.
- Heat a frying pan on medium heat, add the vegetable oil.
- Add chopped onion and ham to the pan and stir-fry them over medium heat. Add salt and pepper. When the onion becomes tender, move them to one side of the pan.
- Add the cooked rice into the empty space and stir-fry lightly in a cutting motion. Mix all the ingredients together. Be careful not to mash your rice.
- Move fried rice to one side of the pan. Add the ketchup into the empty space, then mix all the ingredients together.
When the ketchup has evenly spread, put the pan aside. 
- Crack the 2 eggs in a bowl and beat them. Add half tablespoon of milk and mix well. Heat a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Place a half tablespoon of butter in the pan. When the butter almost melts, pour the egg mixture into the pan. Make your omelet.
- When the omelet is almost done, add half of the fried rice.
- Tilt the frying pan away and move the omurice to the far side.
- Flip over the omurice on a plate.
- If the shape of your omurice is not as good as you expected, cover the omurice with plastic wrap and fix it with your hands.
Put ketchup on your omurice. I often drew a red heart and a smiling face for my children when they were young. Enjoy your own version of omurice!!
Notes
- If you use leftover cooked rice, I recommend warming the rice up beforehand. It’s easier to crumble in the pan.
Tried this recipe?
Let me know on Instagram with @cook_and_meshiagare
I look forward to seeing your dish!
Thank you for allowing me to share my recipe with you. I hope to see you again soon.
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