I adore it when the Japanese language adopts words from other languages but with that lilting multisyllabic style they have. Like omurice, which is omelette (omuretsu) and rice (raisu) shoved together. It’s a totally fitting of this dish too, which is literally ketchup fried rice wrapped in an omelette and topped with ketchup.
I’ve been busy rotating and retreating to some old dishes that are easy to make in bulk, so since I had fried rice things, I decided to exercise my recently developed experience with eggs.
I worked off the recipe from justonecookbook. People keep on telling me about the really fancy version with the awesome unfurling egg pocket. I can work on that later, I guess.
Omurice
Make ketchup fried rice without egg:
Cook 2 cups rice with 80% water. Or gather as much leftover rice.
Saute a medium onion diced. Add 3 chicken thighs cut small chunks. Season with salt and generous pepper. Cook. Add 1/2 lb frozen veggies (e.g. corn, carrots, peas, beans).
Cut in cooked rice. Add 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1.5 tbsp ketchup.
Make thin omelettes:
beat 1 egg and 1 tbsp milk.
Over medium heat, add ~1/2 tsp oil or butter. Pour in egg mixture, and tilt pan to coat. When it sets on the bottom, turn heat to low.
Optionally spread some shredded cheese down the center.
Heap fried rice down the center, less at the edges.
With a spatula, delicately fold over the uncovered side edges. It’s okay if the edges don’t meet or if they rip a little. Scoot omelette to side, then flip upside down onto plate. Garnish with ketchup.
As a sendoff, I cooked biryani: a lavish rice and curry layered dish drizzled with butter and saffron (as far as I understand it, anyway). It’s a non-trivial dish with raw spices, including the most expensive spice in the world!
Add 1/2 cup water. Simmer for an hour, until reduced.
Rice: Soak 500g (2.5 cups) basmati rice for 30 minutes. Drain. Cook rice with 4 cups water with 2 bay leaves, 3 green cardamom pods, pinch salt, until 75% done, 7-10 minutes. Drain.
Saffron water: Infuse generous pinch saffron in 2 tbsp hot water.
Assemble: In deep casserole dish or pot, brush with melted butter. Layer rice and lamb plus sauce in thirds, drizzling in saffron water with layers. Drizzle top with saffron water, 1-2 tbsp melted butter, 1 tbsp chopped mint. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. OR Layer in pot, cover, cook on low for 15 minutes.
Garnish with 1 tbsp coriander. Serve with red onion rings, lemon wedges, mint chutney.
Mint Chutney
Puree 2 cups cilantro sprigs (1 bunch), 1 cup mint leaves, 1/2 cup chopped white onion, 1 green chili, 1/2″ ginger, 1 tsp sugar, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup water as needed.
Rumor has it that a little shop in Boston called Mei Mei’s serves this delicious breakfast sandwich made of two poached/fried eggs on a scallion pancake with pesto sauce and cheese. It’s called the “Double Awesome.”
After making cha siu and a Taiwanese-style pork roast, I was looking for other regional preparations of pork butt/shoulder (apparently butts and shoulders are interchangeable in pigs). I thought carnitas would be overly ambitious, but of course Kenji pulls through with a non-slow cooker non-pork lard soaked recipe.
Carnitas
Cut 3 lbs boneless pork butt with rind removed into 2-inch cubes. Season with 1 tbsp salt. Arrange in 9×13 baking dish with no spaces.
Quarter 1 medium orange. Squeeze over juices. Add orange pieces, 2 quarters of a medium onion, 4 cloves garlic halved, 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick broken up. Pour over 1/4 cup oil.
Bake tightly covered with foil at 275 F for 3.5 hours, until fork-tender.
Remove other solids. Strain out liquids, which should result in 1/2 cup liquid and 1/2 cup fat. Shred pork with forks. Season with more salt. Optionally add some fat back to pork.
Roast under broiler for 6 minutes to develop crispy edges. Rearrange and roast again for 6 minutes.
Serve with salsa, 1 onion finely diced, 1/2 cup cilantro chopped, limes, crumbled cheese, on corn tortillas.
You can make a frittata with a huge variety of ingredients. I happened to have fairly standard ingredients on hand from making a boatload of French omelettes last week, so I went with that. Recipe and tips from epicurious and bonappetit.
Other ingredients to consider: potatoes, sausages, ham, roasted red bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, crumbled bacon, and herbs like parsley, dill, basil.
Breakfast Frittata
In an 10-inch cast-iron skillet, saute 1 onion diced in oil for a few minutes.
Add 8 oz crimini mushrooms sliced. Saute, trying to evaporate all liquid.
Pour in egg mixture. Use chopsticks to lift up filling a little. Cook without stirring 5 minutes, until edges start to set. Sprinkle top with 1/4 cup cheese.
Bake at 350 F for 22-27 minutes, until golden brown and set. Don’t overbake.
This Japanese beef bowl is street fast food (from a place called Yoshinoya?). I use Chinese hot pot meat. I may retake this photo once I get the proper toppings. Recipe from justonecookbook.
Gyudon (Japanese beef rice bowl)
In small pan, boil 1/2 cup dashi (1/4 tsp hondashi in boiling water), 1 tbsp mirin, (1 tsp sake), 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sugar.
Add 1/2 small onion thinly sliced in single layer. Simmer covered on medium for 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 lb beef ribeye thinly sliced. Cook uncovered until no longer pink and sauce mostly reduced.
Serve on bowl of rice topped with scallion sliced and pickled red ginger, togarashi (seven spice). Optionally top with 1 onsen tamago.
Simple to make, but a pain. Really, for one hour. Caramelize while cooking other things.
Caramelized Onions
In nonstick skillet, heat 2-5 onions over very low heat with ~1/2 tbsp butter per onion, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, for 1 hour, until dark brown and reduced.
