Got kids/boyfriends/husbands/rellies that aren't too sure about Japanese food? Try omu-rice. This unsophisticated dish is completely non-threatening to people who find raw fish completely petrifying. And check it out! It's cute!
This recipe is for one omelet.
Ingredients
1/2 cup of cooked short grain rice
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of oil
Barbecue sauce
Mayonnaise
Method.
1. Cook the rice so it is nice and hot. If you're using left over rice from last night, fry it in a little oil and sake to get it hot (kill off the bugs) and to give it a little extra flavour if you like - if you wish you could also add some vegetables to the rice, but that's entirely up to you. With freshly cooked rice, I like it just plain, or sometimes with a little bit of finely chopped pickled ginger mixed into the rice for a bit of extra flavour.
2. Whisk the eggs with chopsticks or a fork in a little jug so that they are well combined. Don't use an eggbeater. Add the soy and sugar to taste.
3. Once your eggs are completely combined, heat the oil in a pancake skillet (smooth bottomed fry pan) to a medium heat and wait until it shimmers a little and rolls across the pan smoothly. Test the heat is sufficient by dropping a tiny bit of the egg into the pan. You want it to be just hot enough to sizzle straight away, but not so hot as to have any burning quality to the heat. Add the egg to the pan and run a chopstick quickly around the pan straight away to scramble it up just a little, but not enough to leave holes in the finished omelet. Roll the egg mixture into the holes you've made with the chopstick so that the bottom of the pan is totally covered. This will give you a lighter, fluffier omelet.
4. Once the omelet is nice and solid (but just before all of the moisture has disappeared from the omelet), add the rice to the left hand side of the pan (if you're right handed). Flick the right hand side over using an egg flip. Roll it right over so that the edge of the omelet is on the bottom of the rice.
5. Slide it on to your plate to serve. Write your message on your omelet using your mayo and barbecue sauce. I made this one for Tom, and he's mad keen for pickled ginger, so I served a little on the side as well. If mayo and barbecue sauce turn you off, then you could use any sauce that takes your fancy. Tomato sauce is a favourite for many.
Serve hot.
*Note: This one is pretty impossible to bugger up, but it might not look quite perfect your first go. It's easy to destroy omelets and end up with scrambled eggs. Don't cry over a cracked omelet. Just serve that one to yourself. It still tastes exactly the same as a pretty one.
*Some people like to make fried rice and then stuff the omelet with fried rice. I've tried it and it's nice too. Do whatever takes your fancy, of course. It's your kitchen!
