Omuraisu is best eaten with a spoon. When the spoon cuts through the fluffy yellow egg, some hot, ketchup-dyed rice spills out. There's a dollop of tomato ketchup on top of the egg, too, and you can use the spoon to spread it around. Omuraisu is a very common dish in Japan. People think of it as a western dish adapted to Japanese tastes, because it includes omelet and the rice is flavored with tomato ketchup. The word omuraisu comes from "omelet and rice," as you may have guessed.

Omelet, pilaf and other dishes from abroad came to Japan in the late 1800s. The Japanese faithfully followed some Western recipes, and adapted others to their own tastes. Before long, these variations began spreading nationwide. Most experts agree that omuraisu was first served in 1902, at a Western-style restaurant called Renga-tei in Tokyo's Ginza district. The owner is said to have got the idea from an ancient recipe for chakin-zushi (sushi rice wrapped in a thin sheet of fried egg).

Omuraisu remains as popular as ever. It is served everywhere, from Western-style restaurants and mom-and-pop eateries to coffee shops. It is often eaten at home, too, because most kitchens have all of the ingredients on hand and it's easy to make.

The restaurant featured in this article, Taimeiken, has served Western-style food for 70 years. Omuraisu has always been on the menu, and in 1985 the restaurant added another variety, called tampopo omuraisu. This popular variation takes its name from the 1985 movie Tampopo, which was directed by the late Itami Juzo. Much of the movie was about cooking and eating, and Taimeiken collaborated in the production. During filming, the restaurant owner Motegi Masa-aki and the director invented tampopo (dandelion) omuraisu. In this variation, a thin, lightly fried omelet is placed on a bed of rice, then cut with a knife in the shape of a dandelion flower.