Omu rice

I am a terrible cook and a complete culinary idiot. Ever since I started my life as a "煮妇" (literately translated as 'cook-wife' derived from the word house-wife) three years ago, fried rice is one of those few handful of dishes that I have constantly whipped up for my family. As my cooking skills improves, I ventured into more and more challenging dishes...and over the past one year, I find myself getting quite good at making omu rice ;)


Omuraisu or Omurice or Omu Rice is a Japanese dish with stir-fried rice wrapped inside an egg omelet. The rice is usually stir-fried with chicken and vegetables and flavored with tomato sauce or ketchup. It looks like a simple dish to prepare but it gets really tricky when trying to wrap the rice with the omelet.

I remember learning how to make my first omu rice by relying on recipes I found from the internet. Most recipes come with instructions that go along these lines: cook egg omelet in a pan; add fried rice and wrap; then place a plate over the frying pan and flip the Omu rice over to the plate. This is really easier said than done! Especially when I choose to use only 1 egg instead of 2 to make the omelet. It is possible to wrap the rice fillings with my 1-egg omelet, but only with a small amount of rice. So, instead of the signature crescent-moon shape, I ended up with a flat, longish omelet (see my first attempt). Too much rice, the omelet will probably break into pieces.



It was only after I got hold of a cookbook from the library that I learned another method of wrapping the omelet. It proves to be much easier, and I could finally come up with a fatter omu rice, and still using 1 egg! The trick is to flip only one side of the omelet over the rice...then pick up the pan and slide the half-wrapped omelet onto a serving plate...and carefully tilt and turn the pan over and you will have a nice omelet on your plate. The critical success factor of this method is to be "胆大心细" (careful and yet daring)! I know, I know, with my lousy description, I am sure you wouldn't understand what was I talking about. So, I plough through the web and managed to find this video clip. This is the one of the better video clips on how to make an omu rice...it is very professional done and the recipe is almost similar to the one I have adapted from the cookbook. However, I am really amused with what I saw towards the end of the vidoe, the chef actually used a paper towel to 'shape' the omu rice!


I have included the recipe below, but it is really up to individual preference when it comes to preparing the fried rice. Sometimes instead of chicken meat, I will use prawns and I always have to leave out the green peas, otherwise my kids will pick up each and single pea and pass them over to my plate! Having said that, it is still best to flavour the fried rice with tomato sauce or ketchup(use less if you don't like the sour taste) so as not to affect the authenticity of the dish.

I usually serve omu rice as a meal on its own, it is perfect whenever we feel like having a tv-dinner. Recently, my boys requested that I made Japanese curry rice for them, and instead of serving the curry with just plain rice, I paired it with omu rice. It turn out to be a great combo meal and it has since been included as a permanent item in our tv-dinner menu. Next time, I think I will serve it with hanbagu ;)



Omu Rice

Ingredients (Serves 2)

2 servings of cooked plain rice
1 chicken thigh meat, cut into bite size
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons green peas
2~ 3 tablespoons tomato sauce or ketchup
salt & pepper
cooking oil
4 eggs

Method:

1. Heat some oil in a wok or frying pan, sauté chopped onion until transparent. Add the chicken and sauté till chicken is cooked. Add green peas, stir through. Add in ketchup, salt and pepper to taste and continue to stir fry. Add in cooked rice and toss rapidly. Dish up and set aside.
2. Lightly whisk 2 eggs in a bowl (I used only 1 egg). Heat up a frying pan with some oil. Pour in the egg mixture and tilt the pan to coat the base. Cook until eggs are almost set but still a little runny in the middle.
3. Lower the heat and spoon half of the fried rice mixture in the middle of the omelet. With a spatula, flip one side of the egg over the rice mixture. Pick up the pan and with the unfolded side, slide the omelet from the frying pan to a serving plate, just half way through. Then, carefully tilt and turn the pan over and the omelet is on the plate. For this step, watch this video clip.
4. Repeat the same for the remaining portion of the rice. Drizzle with ketchup and serve immediately.
   Recipe source: 轻松学做菜: 烹饪秘诀195