Omurice is a super satisfying dish made of chicken rice covered with a savory omelette!
ABOUT OMURICE
Omurice (オムライス), or omelette rice, is a popular Japanese home-cooked dish that I’m sure many people have seen before! Omurice is made of chicken rice that has been fried with a ketchup sauce base and vegetables wrapped in a thin egg omelette. One of the best parts about this dish is that it’s great for using leftover rice or vegetables. You can fully customize whatever ingredients you add to the omurice, be it vegetables or protein, it’s bound to be delicious! The rest of the ingredients are pantry staples, so as long as you have eggs, rice, and ketchup, you can always make omurice! The dish is super easy to make yet so satisfying; it is definitely one of my favorite quick meals! Omurice is typically thought of as a favorite food amongst kids, but because the taste is so comforting, it is loved by people of all ages!
Recently, omurice has become famous globally thanks to social media and television. I’m sure by now many people have heard of Kichi Kichi Omurice after Chef Kichi went viral online. Additionally, if you’re familiar with Terrace House, then I’m sure you’ve seen omurice a couple of times. For a long time now, omurice has been shown in Japanese anime as well. In fact, I made this omurice inspired by Spy x Family! I used the ketchup topping to imitate Loid convincing Anya to apologize, but actually, it’s quite common to use the ketchup to write or draw whatever you like in reality as well! Use the omurice as your canvas and decorate your omurice to your heart’s content.
COMPONENTS OF OMURICE
- ☆ Chicken rice: Fried rice with a ketchup based sauce. Typically, we use chicken as the protein for the rice which is why it’s called chicken rice, but you can use whatever you like!
- ☆ Omelette: Thin crepe-like egg sheet. We place the chicken rice onto the egg and carefully wrap the egg around the rice. The omelette is what makes omurice omurice, so this is super important!
INGREDIENTS (+ SUBSTITUTIONS)
This is a basic list and explanation of the key ingredients. For full list and measurements, please scroll down to the recipe below!
- ☆ Onion
- Stir fried in the fried rice. This is technically optional, but it adds a lot of flavor, so I recommend it!
- ☆ Garlic
- Also stir fried in the rice and technically optional, but I wouldn’t omit this! If you don’t have fresh garlic, then garlic powder or granulated garlic works as well.
- ☆ Chicken
- Omurice usually has chicken, and it’s typically chicken thigh. However, you can use any protein you like such as beef, ham, tofu, etc. Alternatively, you can omit this!
- ☆ Short-grain or medium-grain rice
- I used premium grade Japanese medium-grain rice. If you don’t have this, you can use jasmine rice instead. I’m not sure how well other rices fry and hold together, so I don’t have any recommendations. You can try it yourself, though, and see how you like it!
- ☆ Ketchup
- This is the base flavoring for the fried rice. When ketchup is cooked the flavor is enhanced. It tastes roasted and a bit sweeter. If you don’t like ketchup, there is no substitute.
- ☆ Chicken bouillon cube
- This is added to the ketchup for more savoriness as well as seasoning. You can use any kind of bouillon cube or powder you have instead, as well. To make the dish vegetarian, you can use a vegetable bouillon cube.
- ☆ Eggs
- Omelette is made from eggs. If you have an egg substitute that you can use to make omelette or scrambled eggs, then feel free to use as you normally would.
- ☆ Olive oil
- Olive oil makes dishes taste more western, so it gives a nice touch and fragrance to the omurice. I also found that it’s easier to make the omelette using olive oil instead of vegetable oil probably because of different heating properties, so I always stick with it.
TIPS FOR MAKING OMURICE
- ☆ Make sure to cook down to enhance the flavors! If you end up reducing it too much and there isn’t enough for all the rice, then feel free to add more ketchup as needed. You don’t have to worry too much about cooking any extra ketchup you add since it’s just for moisture.
- ☆ When making the omelette, make sure that the pan is hot enough before adding in the egg and there’s enough oil to cover the whole pan. This will help prevent the middle of the egg sheet from sticking. Don’t worry too much about the shape since we will be adjusting it once plated anyway. The process of making the omelette and turning the omurice out onto a plate can be quite difficult if you’ve never done this before, so just give it your best shot! And let me know if you’re having any difficulties and I can try to help. I believe in you!
MORE SAVORY JAPANESE RECIPES! ♡
If you recreate this Omurice recipe, please let me know by tagging me or leaving a comment on Instagram @maruryouri or TikTok @atsuryouri. I’d love to see your creations and hear your feedback!
Omurice
Ingredients
Chicken Rice
- ½ onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 chicken thigh
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 200 g cooked short-grain rice or medium-grain rice (about 1 rice cup uncooked)
- 5 tablespoons ketchup
- ½ chicken bouillon cube
Omelette
- 4 eggs
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Ketchup to top
- Parsley garnish
- Vegetable oil for frying rice
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables. Dice the onion into about 1cm pieces and finely mince the garlic.
- Remove skin and fat from the chicken thigh and cut into cubes about 1.5cm in size. Season evenly with salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat a wok or large frying pan and add vegetable oil, about 2 teaspoons or as much is needed to fry the chicken rice.1
- Once the oil is hot, start by frying the garlic and onion until you can smell the aroma of the garlic (about 1 minute). Add the chicken and cook together until the chicken is mostly cooked and the onion becomes translucent.
- Add the rice, cold or day old rice is best2. Using a chopping and mashing motion with a spatula or wooden spoon, mix the ingredients into the rice and stir fry together for a few minutes until the rice has become less clumpy and the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Create a hole in the middle and add the ketchup and bouillon cube. Keep the ketchup and bouillon in the middle, stirring to melt the bouillon into the ketchup. Let the ketchup simmer a bit to cook and slightly thicken up.
- Once the ketchup is cooked and the bouillon has completely melted, mix the rice and ketchup together. Tossing in the pan as needed to evenly mix. Stir fry for a few more minutes. Divide into two portions and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sized frying pan (about 23cm/9in diameter). In a bowl, whisk 2 eggs. You can test if the pan is hot enough by touching one drop of eggs to the pan. If it cooks up immediately, the pan is hot enough.
- Pour the beaten eggs into the pan all at once and quickly scramble in the pan for 3 seconds. Tilt the pan until the eggs have coated the entire bottom of the pan, creating the egg crepe.
- When the egg looks half cooked, carefully scoop one of the chicken rice portions onto the center of the eggs. Using a spatula, carefully fold up one side of the eggs to cover over the rice, then repeat with the other side.
- Gently push the omurice towards the side of the pan where the handle is attached to use the side to shape. Push the omurice towards the side opposite of the handle and turn off the heat.
- Grab the handle with an underhand grip and gently but quickly flip the omurice out onto a plate. The egg is continuing to cook at this point, but it cooks fast, so quickly use a paper towel to gently squeeze and shape the omurice to look more like an ellipse. Repeat with the remaining 2 eggs and portion of chicken rice.
- Top with more ketchup as you like and garnish with fresh parsley, and the omurice is done! 完成です！
Notes
- To make this dish vegetarian, you can omit the chicken thigh and substitute the chicken bouillon for vegetable bouillon. Make sure to season the rice with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cold or day old rice is best for this recipe, but if you have freshly made rice that works too! Just let it sit at room temp for a few minutes to an hour so it can cool down and slightly dry up.