Omurice (オムライス, omelette over ketchup rice)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •20cm nonstick skillet, or a small well-seasoned steel frying pan
• •Soft spatula or cooking chopsticks
• •Clean paper towel for shaping
• •Wide white plate and spoon for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the rice

   Use cooled short-grain rice if you have it. If the rice is freshly cooked, spread it on a tray for 10 minutes and turn it once with wet fingers or a rice paddle. The grains need to lose their surface wetness so they fry and take the ketchup cleanly; hot, wet rice turns heavy and pasty.

   Yesterday's rice is fine if it hasn't dried into hard lumps. Break it up gently before it reaches the pan, and the ketchup will coat it instead of collecting in clumps.
2. 2

   Beat the eggs

   Beat the eggs in two separate bowls: 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon milk, and a pinch of salt in each. Mix until the whites disappear, then stop. Foamy eggs cook unevenly and make a pocked omelette; quiet eggs set smooth.

3. 3

   Cook the chicken

   Heat 1 tablespoon neutral oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the cut faces no longer show pink, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and mushrooms, if using, and cook until the onion turns translucent. Keep the heat moderate: yōshoku wants the onion sweet, not scorched.

4. 4

   Fry the ketchup

   Push the chicken and onion to one side of the pan. Add 4 tablespoons ketchup and the Worcestershire or chūnō sauce to the bare pan and fry for 45 to 60 seconds, stirring until the ketchup darkens slightly and looks glossy. Raw ketchup tastes sharp and watery; cooking it first rounds the sweetness and keeps the rice from tasting merely sauced.

5. 5

   Make chicken rice

   Add the rice and peas. Fold and press with a spatula until the grains are orange-red and glossy but not wet. Drizzle the soy sauce around the hot edge of the pan so it scents the rice as it hits the metal, then season with the white pepper and taste. Divide the rice into two compact oval portions and keep them warm.

6. 6

   Start one omelette

   Wipe out the pan, or use a clean 20cm frying pan. Set it over medium-low heat and add 1 teaspoon oil and 1 teaspoon butter. When the butter foams but stays pale, pour in one bowl of egg. Stir quickly with chopsticks or a soft spatula for 10 to 15 seconds, pulling set curds from the edge toward the center, then tilt the pan to fill the gaps. Stop while the top still looks glossy and barely loose.

   The pan is right when the egg cooks quietly. If it hisses hard or the butter browns, lift the pan off the heat for a breath. Brown egg turns tight and dry before you can fold it.
7. 7

   Fold the rice

   Take the pan off the heat. Set one portion of chicken rice across the center in a low oval, leaving bare egg on both long sides. Fold the near side of the egg over the rice, then nudge the far side up and over. Slide the wrapped rice to the lip of the pan, hold a plate over it, and turn the pan and plate together. The egg keeps setting from its own warmth, so moving now gives you a soft shell instead of a dry one.

8. 8

   Shape and finish

   Cover the omurice with a clean paper towel and cup your hands around it to neaten the oval while the egg is still flexible. If an edge opens, tuck it under. Repeat with the remaining egg and rice. Draw one glossy ribbon of ketchup over each omelette, not a blanket. Serve at once with a spoon.

Chef Tips

• •Use Japanese short-grain rice. Long-grain rice will fry, yes, but it gives the wrong bite here; omurice wants tender grains that cling lightly under the egg.
• •Fry the ketchup before adding the rice. This is the small yōshoku trick that makes the flavor taste settled instead of raw and sugary.
• •A small well-seasoned steel frying pan is the old tool. A good nonstick pan is a sensible stand-in, especially while your hands learn the fold.
• •Fill with less rice than pride suggests. A modest oval wraps cleanly, and the plate looks calmer for it. Leave it room.
• •In spring, fresh peas are lovely if they're truly sweet. The rest of the year, frozen peas are the honest choice; they keep their color and don't pretend to be in season.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken rice can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cool it quickly, refrigerate it, then reheat it in a skillet until hot before wrapping; cold rice makes you overcook the egg trying to warm the dish.
• •The onion, chicken, and mushrooms can be cut several hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
• •Make the omelettes just before serving. A made-ahead omelette loses the softness that makes omurice worth the small trouble.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 445g)