Also known as omurice or omu-rice, omuraisu is a typical Japanese dish featuring fried rice and omelet, and often some ketchup too. Omuraisu is a contraction of the Japanese words for omelet and egg. This omuraisu recipe is not hard to make and you will love the flavor.
This dish can be found in Western style restaurants in Japan as well as in Japanese homes, and it was also introduced to Korea under Japanese rule. You can find it in Taiwan too which was also under Japanese rule for some time. This dish has been around since the early 1900s.
Different Kinds of Omurice
Chicken rice, chicken and vegetable rice or beef rice can be wrapped in a thin fried egg sheet to make an omuraisu recipe. Sometimes ketchup or white sauce is added to the rice.
If you swap the rice for noodles you have omusoba instead of omuraisu. An omelet wrapped around taco rice, spam or a fried hot dog are some other multi-cuisine variants.
Many people put the rice in the omelet while it is in the pan and then fold it over, although others feel that yields a thin omelet which is overcooked, so another option is to simply mount the omelet on top of the rice instead.
Tips for Making an Omuraisu Recipe
Use either brown or white rice to make this omuraisu recipe. White rice is more traditional perhaps, but brown also goes well. You can choose any kinds of veggies to add to this – mushrooms, broccoli or bell peppers are just some examples of what would work.
The following recipe calls for chicken but you can use ham instead if you prefer, or even tofu, or you could make a vegetarian omuraisu recipe. Feel free to swap the ketchup for some soy sauce or tamari plus a pinch of ginger or another favorite seasoning if you wish. The dish is Japanese in origin without having specifically Japanese ingredients in it, but you can make it however you want.
While the chicken and veggies are cooking you can whisk the eggs and start the omuraisu recipe. Keep the rice warm until you spoon the omelet on top and then serve immediately. This is nice for lunch or dinner and also surprisingly good for breakfast.
PrintOmuraisu Recipe – Japanese Omelet
Flavorful rice is topped with a tasty omelet and this Japanese classic is all ready to serve. You will love the simple flavors and wonderful results if you make this lovely dish.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 22 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients
- 1 cup (185g) cooked rice
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (small handful) finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup (small handful) finely chopped vegetables (carrot, peas, eggplant etc)
- 1/2 cup (small handful) finely chopped chicken breast
- Butter, as needed
- Ketchup, as needed
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Sauté the chopped onion in the butter for a few minutes or until translucent.
- Add the chicken and vegetables and cook in the pan until done.
- Add the rice and toss it until it is heated through.
- Add a couple tablespoons of ketchup and toss quickly, just to flavor and color the rice.
- Season the mixture with salt and black pepper.
- Mound the rice on a plate.
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk in salt and pepper.
- Pour this mixture into a pan with some butter and cook the omelet until it is done but still slightly runny in the center.
- Put the omelet on to the rice or else cut down the middle so the egg runs into the rice a bit.
- Serve with some ketchup on top.
