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NIPPONIA No.20 March 15, 2002
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Bon Appetit!
Japanese Culture in the Kitchen
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(1)
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Finely chop 30 g onion, thinly slice 1 mushroom cap (discard stem), and cut 30 g chicken thigh into 1-cm cubes. Melt 10 g butter in a hot frying pan, sauté first the onion, then add the chicken, and finally the mushroom.
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(2)
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When the onions in the pan become semi-transparent, season with two-and-a-half tablespoons of tomato ketchup. Add 60 g cooked rice, 2/3 tablespoon white wine, and a dash of salt and pepper. Sauté until done, then turn off heat and leave in the frying pan.
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(3)
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Break 3 eggs into a bowl, mix, then add a little salt and pepper. Oil another frying pan, and then melt 10 g butter in it over a medium-high heat. Pour in the egg mixture. Spread around quickly with broad strokes while moving the frying pan back and forth.
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(4)
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When the egg is half done, place the rice mixture from Step 2 on it, a little on the far side of center. Take the frying pan off the heat, then tip the pan a little to make the half of the thin omelet near you flip over onto the rice mixture.
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(5)
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Raise one side of the frying pan a little, and tap the handle to roll the omuraisu, gradually wrapping the rice inside the omelet.
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(6)
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Keep tapping until the edges of the omelet come to the top, then change the position of your hands on the frying pan handle and tip the omuraisu onto a plate so that the edges are underneath.
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Hints:
- To make the omelet fluffy, don't beat the egg too much. Just mix it with about 10 strokes of a fork or chopsticks. After you pour the liquid egg in a hot frying pan, spread it with only two or three broad strokes. If you mix it too much in the pan, the result will be almost like scrambled egg.
- Turn off the heat when the egg is half done, and leave it in the hot frying pan to continue cooking.
- Professional chefs tap the frying pan handle to slowly roll the omelet and rice over, but if this is too difficult, use a spatula to lift the edges of the omelet onto the mound of rice, to make the shape shown in the fifth picture.
- Instead of small pieces of chicken you could use beef or ham as ingredients for rice. Sauté with chopped onion, mushrooms and other ingredients to taste, then season with ketchup. Put rice and water in a rice cooker, then add all these ingredients and cook with the rice. This will give enough ketchup-flavored rice for everyone.
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