Omu-rice
This is a popular Japanese dish of an omelette filled with rice and topped with a red wine sauce or tomato ketchup.
Ingredients
For the ketchup rice
- 300g/10½oz Japanese short-grain rice
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 150²µ/5½´Ç³ú chicken thighs, boneless and skin removed, chopped into small cubes
- 1 bay leaf
- 70g/2½oz tomato ketchup, plus extra to serve (or sauce below if preferred)
- 20ml/¾fl oz soy sauce
- 25g/1oz unsalted butter
- pinch salt
- pinch white pepper
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú onion, minced
For the sauce (optional)
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 brown onion, cut in half and sliced against the grain
- 4 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp milk
- 4 tbsp red wine
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- handful mushrooms, chopped if large
For the omelette
Method
To make the ketchup rice, wash the rice five times, draining the water each time. Tip the rice into a colander to drain thoroughly, then transfer to a large pot or casserole and leave soaking in 400ml/14fl oz water for about 1 hour.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and sear the chicken until it turns golden. Add the rest of the rice ingredients to the pot, except the onion and chicken, and stir to mix. Add the onions and chicken on top and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil over a medium–low heat and cook for about 10–15 minutes. There is no need to open the lid at any point as you will see it boiling when you hear the rice bubbling, or when the bubbles lift the lid up. Turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 10–15 minutes (if you’ve been tempted to open the lid, give it a little extra high heat for 10 seconds). Turn the heat off and leave to steam in the pot for further 10 minutes. Once the steaming is done, mix the rice from the bottom of the pot a few times.
To make the sauce, dry roast the flour in a frying pan over a medium–low heat, mixing the flour constantly around the pan, for about 3–5 minutes until it turns golden. Set aside. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a low heat. Fry the onion until golden and softened. Add the flour and mix until it starts to resemble a paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and 150ml/5fl oz water. Simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.
To make the omelette, whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt in a bowl. Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Once the butter is completely melted, add half of the egg mixture to the pan. Keep mixing the egg with a rubber spatula and shake the frying pan with a small motion until the eggs start to resemble creamy French scrambled eggs. Turn off the heat, the residual heat will continue to cook the omelette.
Place about about a third of the ketchup rice, moulded roughly into a rugby-ball shape, in the middle of the omelette. Using the rubber spatula, wrap each side of the rugby-ball rice in the omelette, tilting the frying pan to help. Wrap on all sides so the rice is completely enclosed. Move the wrapped rice to one end of the frying pan. Take a plate in one hand, holding it at an angle, and gently slide the wrapped rice onto the plate. Repeat to create the other omu-rice.
Add a good spoonful of the sauce over the omelette or simply draw a smiley face or zig-zag with ketchup on the omelette instead.
Recipe Tips
This will make more rice than needed for the recipe. Store the rest in an airtight container in the fridge and use for another omu-rice, or to make fried rice.
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