Making Omurice

Contributed by Christian

There’s no wrong way to make Omurice!!

Have you ever tried Omurice? I will share some background on this hearty, fun and delicious dish and maybe you will want to try it for yourself.

Background

What is omurice? There are different origin stories about this dish. My understanding is in the early 1900’s the Japanese recognized they needed to put on more weight as they saw the possibility of war becoming reality. They had been friendly with Europeans for sometime and decided to eat more like they did and to get into shape as they were accustomed to a vegan diet. There’s a lot of variability to these stories. Who was the first to invent it? Where did it originate? When did it happen? Feel free to find out for yourself if you like. Its beyond this article.

The original recipe is known to be chicken fried rice from the previous night, presumably, an omelette on top and smothered in a beef, tomato, honey/sugar demiglace. We’ll just call it Brown Sauce. Then devour with a big spoon. No forks allowed!

Recipes

Many cultures and countries have had variations with eggs and rice and worth discovering. When I first heard of omurice I was very curious and thought it was a very interesting concept. I needed to try it out. Little did I know, it would be an ever evolving project. You can make it with any type of ingredients you like and slap it together, like I do, or go the extra mile to make a Michalin star dish. Either way you and your family wont go hungry.

The Basic Concept

To get started you need 3 things. Fried rice, and omelette, and sauce to put on top.

Ill share my recipe later but there are many recipes online. See which one sounds the best and go with that.

Japanese style omurice requires a certain amount of technique as they make a football shaped omelette with chopsticks. Before serving it is place on a bed of rice, sliced down the middle where the omelette unfolds over the rice in such a beautiful way. Then the hot brown sauce is poured over top.

Modern styles have taken off with many restaurants making their own versions. Some have perfected it in their own way. Some use bacon and white sauce instead of the original. Some make a tornado style omelette or wrap the rice inside the omelette.  However the basic concept remains the same.  

Don’t be afraid to experiment

I think at its heart omurice is a simple, hearty, and flavorful dish. It has evolved and perfected over time but essentially there is so many different ways to make it, you cant go wrong. If you have rice, egg and some sauce you can make something great!

My (current) recipe

The rice ingredients:

• 1 cup rice

• 1 long carrot

• 4 strips bacon

• ketchup

• butter and salt

The egg ingredients:

• 4 eggs

• parmesan cheese

• chives

• butter

The sauce:

• sriracha

or

• hollandaise

or

• just more ketchup

Instructions:

Use day old rice OR Cook rice by adding one cup rice to 1.5 cups boiling water. (add butter and salt to water for best results) Reduce temperature to simmer/low and cover. Leave covered until steam gets slower and rice is soft and fluffy.

Cut 4 strips of bacon into small pieces and cook in skillet. Meanwhile cut carrot longways in half once and twice more for 4 long quarter strips of carrot. Chop into small cubes.

After bacon is done, drain most the fat but leave some in the pan and simply cook the carrots in it. Or if you like use your favorite oil.

Once the carrots are mostly cooked. (Keep them firm but not hard.) Add in the bacon and rice and stir up. After that add a couple squirts of ketchup to taste. It doesn’t require much.

Put to the side.

For the Omelette start by beating 4 eggs together while melting a couple lumps of butter in the skillet. Get a wooden utensil to do the stirring and rolling of the omelette.

Bring skillet up to temperature at medium heat. Pour in beaten eggs and let it slightly cook on bottom. Remove pan from heat and vigorously stir to make small=ish curds.

Put back on heat to get the bottom firm.

Repeat as needed

Add grated parmesan cheese to the inside of the omelette

Once the bottom has enough struture to roll use your best technique to form the omelette. You’re looking for a smooth, thick, liquid center.

(practice, practice, practice)

Making the sauce:

I don’t yet have a demi-glace recipe. It requires quite a lot! Instead I keep it simple and its good so use your best inclination.

I like using sriracha for a simple kick. Today I tried hollandaise sauce which was really delicious! I added chives with it. You can simply add more ketchup. So at this point you’ll have to determine what you want to do. I have seen people use white sauce and at some point I want to try. For now I keep experimenting.

Summery

I like to make this dish to help my creative juices flow. It takes some extra effort to pull it off as there is some elements that require practice, good technique, and the right tools. Every time it comes as a big failure or a triumphant success but either way its a great meal to start out a hard days work. If prepared early it can be as simple as making some eggs and heating up the ingredients for a quick breakfast.

If you decide to try it yourself post your results in the comments. It would be great to see your efforts!

A huge THANK YOU to my friend, Christian, for taking the time to test his recipe and write it up for us. Seeing photos of his results the past few months has been fun to watch and I truly appreciate this contribution to the Favorite Eats substack.

-Jada