When I was growing up, my mother didn’t make grilled cheese or chocolate chip cookies, she made rice balls and omurice. A great way to use up day old rice, omurice consists of stir fried rice, often with chicken, that is seasoned with ketchup (yes, ketchup) and wrapped in a thin layer of fried egg. The smell of the dish alone is enough to conjure up memories of quick weekend dinners thrown together by my mother and thoroughly enjoyed by yours truly.
I hadn’t had omurice in ages (they have it at restaurants in Japan but it’s not something that I deem worth my time during a short visit), until Tuesday night. It was Dave’s first day at his summer job and I had already eaten dinner at the restaurant so I had to put something together for him when he got home. I had some leftover rice that I wanted to use up, but I wanted to branch out from the usual “kitchen sink” fried rice that I throw together. When I saw the bottle of ketchup on the door of the fridge it all became clear.
First, I minced and sauteed some onion, then stirred in the rice and a hefty squirt of organic ketchup. You can add chicken, veggies, whatever you like.
After that, I beat together two eggs, salt, pepper, and a dash of cold water. I then added the mixture to a hot, well-oiled non-stick skillet and moved it around with a rubber spatula until it formed a thin layer around the entire pan.
All that remained was to turn off the flame, add the rice, and fold the egg over to cover.
Gently slide the finished omurice onto a plate and garnish with a bit of ketchup. My mom always used the garnish ketchup and wrote the letter “A” on my omurice, but I thought that Dave was a little old for that. You can serve it with a side of salad to add a bit of color to the plate.
I cannot tell a lie, I stole the first bite. It brought me back to simpler times. Yum.
Post script: When I Googled omurice I came across this amazing video. While I don’t agree with its use of a bullion cube or creamer, it shows you some good techniques. The dog-as-host thing is quite odd, though “his” voice gets stuck in my head and I find myself chuckling to myself whenever I think about it.
