Omuraisu recipe

By Jerod McCann & Naoki Miyamura of EN in-house fine dining

THE word 'omuraisu' comes from 'omelet and rice', as you may have guessed.
Omelet, pilaf and other French classics from abroad came to Japan in the late 1800s. The Japanese faithfully followed some Western recipes, and adapted flavors to suit their own tastes. Before long, these variations began spreading throughout kitchens all over Japan.

This recipe only involves a couple ingredients, little preparation and packs enough energy to keep you going through dinner. 10 steps in 10 minutes...

Ingredients:
Serves 2
2 cups cooked rice, any type
1 boneless chicken leg, skin off, cut into small cubes
1 onion, roughly diced
1 cup ketchup
2 tblsp oil
5 eggs, de-shelled
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
1. If the rice is cold, microwave until just warm. Then set aside.
2. Get your pan smoking hot and add the oil. (A Chinese wok works best for this, as you will need to stir the mixture - it could get messy otherwise.
3. Lower heat and add the diced onion, sauté for five minutes. Add the chicken cubes and continue cooking for another five minutes until white.
4. Add all the cooked rice and stir fry as if making fried rice.  Blast the heat for a couple of minutes to get the rice slightly crispy making sure not to burn the onions.
5. Add ½ cup of the ketchup and lower the heat. Gently mix, taste, cover, and set aside.
6. Whisk the eggs (do not add salt to raw eggs as it will break down the enzymes making them watery).
7. In another large, non-stick pan over low heat pour in half the whisked eggs and let cook until firm. Do this twice using up all the eggs.
8. Spoon the tomato rice evenly between two plates. (To really impress, heat your plates in a warm oven; keeps your food hot during the entire meal).
9. Drape the ‘open omelet’ over the rice and drizzle with the remaining ketchup. Dust with fresh parsley and serve. 
10. With a bit of practice, this should take 10 minutes start to finish. Sure beats the sloppy burger joint around the corner!

Bon Appetit!