We made omurice this afternoon because it’s Saturday and that means the family comes over to watch Korean dramas. They are in the final episodes of Rooftop Prince, one of my favorite shows of all time, and those of you who see it know the main characters are obsessed with this particular meal.
[mainbodyad]Omurice is one of those dishes that everyone should have in his or her repertoire, ready to pull out at a moment’s notice. It’s cheap, delicious, easy, and nutritious. Just as important, it’s infinitely adaptable so you can use whatever ingredients you have on hand, throwing something together at the last minute.
For the health conscious among you, it’s possible to get the calories per serving to below 300, as well, with only a few changes so there is no added fat, sugar, butter, or preservatives.
Omurice Ingredients
- 1/8 cup carrot
- 1/8 cup yellow sweet pepper
- 1/8 cup green sweet pepper
- 1/8 cup red sweet pepper
- 1/8 cup jalapeno
- 1/3 cup yellow onion
- 1/8 cup chopped long green onion
- 1/3 cup potato
- 1/2 cup chopped ham
- 2-4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 cups of short grain rice
- 6 whole eggs
- salt
You can make additions or subtractions as you desire. For example, some people like to add mushrooms or zucchini to their omurice. There are no rules. This is about what you like, and what you find tasty. For our proportions, we borrowed the measurements found in this particular derivation, which is enough to serve three people.
Cooking Omurice Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 – Fully cook 2 cups of short-grain rice so that it is ready to go when you need it.
Step 2 – Chop up all of your filler vegetables into small pieces, setting them aside into a bowl.
We were in the middle of chopping our vegetables for the omurice filling …
Done! You should have about two cups of finished vegetables, whatever you’ve chosen, for this particular omurice recipe yield.
Step 3 – Put a frying pan with a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil on the stove over medium to high heat until the oil is hot. Next, add in your bowl of omurice vegetable filling. Fry it for three minutes.
Fry your omurice vegetable filling for three minutes, softening the ingredients …
Step 4 – Next, dump in the two cups of finished, fully cooked rice that you’ve already prepared. Add salt any any other flavoring ingredients you want. Some omurice recipes call for fish sauce, oyster sauce, tomato sauce, ketchup, or pretty much anything else you can imagine. Others introduce spicy pepper paste or even very fermented kimchi. It really is personal preference.
Once that’s done, add your two cups of fully cooked, short-grain rice, which you had already prepared …
We added quite a bit of soy sauce as we enjoy the taste mixed in with the fried rice. This gave it a darker color. From the time you add the rice, you are going to need to continue frying the contents of the pan for another 5 minutes.
For the next five minutes, we fried the entire mixture in the pan, using soy sauce as our flavoring choice. There are no limits, though, so change as you see fit.
Step 5 – Once that’s done, divide the omurice contents into three piles. Each of those three piles will serve as the filling for a single omurice dish.
Step 6 – Take two eggs, beat them with a couple pinches of salt, whisk them, then strain the mixture so you only get the smoothest liquid. In a freshly oiled frying pan, pour the egg until it is 1/3rd the way cook, which should take practically no time – if the pan was sufficiently hot, less than 30-60 seconds in our kitchen.
Our pan was hot so the egg was ready to be filled almost moments after it hit the pan …
Step 7 – Put 1 of the 3 omurice filling piles into the middle of the egg sheet. Allow the egg to continue to cook until it is 2/3rd the way done. Again, this took almost no time; less than a minute or two.
We flatted one of the omurice filling servings into the center of the egg sheet, letting it cook for a bit more …
Step 8 – Wrap the eggs around the omurice filling so that it holds it all in a burrito-like pocket.
… then wrapped the egg around the omurice filling.
Step 9 – Flip the omurice so the other side can cook. Depending on your setup, this could take 30 seconds to 3 minutes.
With that done, it’s time to flip the omurice over so the bottom can cook. We used two spatulas so it was held together without any of the ingredients being lost.
Step 10 – Transfer the finished omurice to a plate, garnish with ketchup, and serve. If you want a more traditional American option, you might go for green onions and sour cream.
That’s it! Omurice is that easy! Aaron liked it so much, he’s making it in the morning for breakfast.
Final Step – Go back and finish the other two omurice servings as you should still have 4 eggs and 2 piles of filling left (each egg shell is two eggs). The final dish should provide for three individual meals.
My mom wants an omurice recipe that is a lot spicier. This was too mild for her. I need to experiment and get one that has a nice, slow burn that is intense.
If you have kids, or just want to get creative, you can also create an omurice bear.
Happy omurice rice eating! And if you haven’t already, go watch Rooftop Prince for free online. As Stefon from Saturday Night Live would say, it has everything: A time traveling prince, reincarnation, a eunuch, several murders, a secret plot for a corporate takeover, an emergency board vote to remove the CEO, a long lost biological mother, sibling rivalry, romance, comedy, a coma, New York City, car-accident-induced memory loss, shoplifting, a fire, a major home renovation, a dog whisperer, strawberry workers admiring calligraphy, driving lessons, fashionably matched colorful tops with white pants, weddings, a cell phone that could ruin lives, poisoned persimmons, a magical butterfly, a life-threatening allergic reaction to crab, and a child who takes a hot poker to her sister’s face.
The show is so good that my dad, who wanted to know why we were all scheduling our lives around time to watch it together, decided to start without telling anyone. My mom discovered this after catching him up at 4 a.m., glued to the screen, visibly angry at the machinations of one of the villains.
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