Omurice
Chicken rice covered in a savory omelette. Omurice is a favorite of many people, including me, for a good reason! So easy and quick to put together for a satisfying meal every time.
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.