Omurice (Japanese Omelette Rice)
“Try this delicious omurice (Japanese omelette rice)! Fried rice with chicken and loads of vegetables covered with omelette for a hearty breakfast!”
Omurice, also known as Japanese omelette rice, is a popular dish from Japan and other Asian countries such as Korea. This dish is so easy to prepare and uses left-over rice, it’s a perfect single plate meal to prepare the next day’s breakfast.
What is omurice
Omurice is a fusion of western and Japanese cuisine that consist of an omelette made with fried rice and scrambled eggs, usually topped with ketchup. This is usually being cooked at home and often served at western style diners in Japan.
To make this omelette rice, you need to stir fry chicken and vegetables with rice. It is then seasoned with ketchup or soy sauce but some people also use soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce as well. The fried rice is wrapped around or covered with thinly fried egg omelette and topped with another layer of ketchup. The flavor is heavily reliant on sweet and tangy ketchup that is why it is particularly popular dish for kids.
Tips on making the fried rice
- One of the key element of omurice is fried rice. It is recommended that you use day old rice for stir frying. If you don’t have it on hand, you can cook the rice with slightly less water. It will give you the same effect.
- Cooking the fried rice is probably the easiest part of this recipe. Because you can simply swap the vegetable or meat ingredients that goes into fried rice based on your preferences. You can even use frozen mixed vegetables to cut down the preparation time or use ingredients that are already available in your pantry. You can add your favorite meat or vegetables to make your fried rice.
- Add more ketchup in your rice seasoning if you find it to be a bit bland or you can add more ketchup on top of your omurice when serving. The main flavor here is ketchup, which makes it the perfect sweet and tangy contrast to the creamy egg on top.
Tips on making the omelette
- Adding milk or cream and cheese will make your omelette creamy. If you don’t have cheese, you can add a pinch of salt instead to balance the creaminess of milk.
- Strain the mixture with a colander. It might be convenient to skip this step but this will result in a smooth and even colored omelette.
- Don’t forget to preheat the frying pan really well and properly oiled before pouring in the beaten egg.
- Tilt the pan to distribute the egg mixture to cook evenly and faster
- Lower the heat once the pan was heated to avoid burning the omelette. You can tell that the omelette is cooked when it slide around the pan easily when shaken.
- You can decorate the top of your omelette rice with hearts, stars, and smiley faces, to brighten up the mood of the eater.
The softly-cooked creamy omelette and sweet tomato-flavored rice complements each other very well, so I hope you will try this quick and easy recipe! Happy tummy!
Watch on YouTube: Healthy Omurice (Japanese Omelette Rice)
Omurice (Japanese Omelette Rice) Recipe
Equipment
- Pan and wooden spoon
- Measuring spoons
- Round/ oval bowl and plate
Ingredients
For Fried Rice:
- 180 grams chicken breast, sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, cubed
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
- 4 pieces mushrooms, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 3 tablespoons ketchup — more for garnish
- 1 stalk spring onion, chopped
For Omelette:
- 6 large eggs (separated)
- 6 tablespoons milk or cream (separated)
- 3 teaspoons olive oil (separated)
- 9 tablespoons cheddar cheese, grated (separated)
Instructions
- To make the fried rice. Marinate the chicken in the soy sauce and set aside while you prepare all the other ingredients.
- In a pan over medium-high heat, add oil. Saute the onions until they’re tender and translucent.
- Add the marinated chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink and cooked on both sides. Put carrots and celery. Cook until softened.
- Add red bell pepper, green bell pepper and mushrooms. Stir until well combined. Simmer and cover for at least 2-3 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper. Add the rice, and break it up with a wooden spoon so that it will cook through evenly. Mix until fully incorporated.
- Once the rice and vegetables are well combined, add the ketchup and stir-fry. Put the spring onion, stir and remove from heat
- Place a portion of the fried rice into a round or oval bowl to serve as a mold. Invert the bowl over a plate to transfer.
- To make the omelette. Combine 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons of milk. Whisk until well blended and s train to make a smooth and even colored omelette.
- In a non-stick pan over medium-high heat, add 1 teaspoon of oil and evenly distribute over the pan. Pour egg mixture to the pan and lower the heat to medium-low. Tilt and swirl the pan around to distribute the egg mixture over the pan and cook evenly and faster.
- When the egg is 90-95% cooked, add cheese on top. Remove from the pan and place the omelette on top of the fried rice. Repeat with the other eggs.
- Garnish with more ketchup on top. Serve and enjoy!
