Recipe Omurice

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Omurice is something I would never have known about if not for the recipe challenge requiring ketchup. The name derives as you might imagine: from a mashup of the words omelet and rice.

This is an egg-forward dish that's equally at home in the morning, due to the omelet-like arrangement, or any other time of day, due to the rice filling. Omurice originated in Japan in the early 1900s, but the exact birthplace and date are a subject of some debate:

What is Yoshoku: Omurice | Tokyo Weekender

The egg isn't nearly as pretty as I wanted it. I was going for a clean yellow exterior. I really need to clean out my pans better than this, but ultimately this had no impact on the flavor.

Omurice is traditionally served with a drizzle of ketchup on the top. I made mine a blend of ketchup and gochujang, which adds a bit of a zing to the dish. I used more than double the usual amount of ketchup for omurice, and I really think I could have added more.

Also, while this is an extremely omelety dish, the rice filling can't realistically be cooked inside the eggs like a traditional omelet. I wondered why the directions always call for the egg to be done separately, dropped on top, and tucked underneath. It's never explained, but this is why.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, shredded
2 ounces mushrooms, chopped
4 ounces of deli ham, cut into small pieces
2 cups cooked medium-grain rice, preferably day-old
1/2 cup ketchup, plus more for serving
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
2 teaspoon rice vinegar
4 teaspoons mirin, divided
1/4 cup frozen peas
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil (or substitute a neutral oil)
2 teaspoons canola oil (I used a garlic-infused canola oil)
4 eggs
gochujang for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onion and carrot to the pan and saute until softened. Add mushroom and cook for about a minute to combine. Add ham and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly browned.

2. Melt remaining butter in the pan, and add rice. I used a boxed chicken-flavored rice mix that I used for tacos the day before. Stir in soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and half the mirin. Dump a giagantic blop of ketchup on top...this is more than double the amount usually used in this recipe. Stir in ketchup, then add peas until combined.

3. Form half of the rice mixture into a sort of loaf on a plate. Repeat for other half of the mixture.

4. Thoroughly blend eggs and remaining mirin. If you want a pretty omelet, use a clean pan. Add oils to a pan on medium heat. Pour beaten egg mixture into the hot pan; let cook for 30 seconds. Lift the edges of the omelet so that the uncooked egg runs under the cooked edges and comes into contact with the hot skillet. Shake and tilt the skillet to move the uncooked egg. Repeat until the top is set, about 2 to 3 minutes. Lay the omelet on top of 1 fried rice mixture and tuck edges of the egg underneat the mixture.

5. Blend gochujang with ketchup if desired and drizzle on top to serve.