So, I made some omelet rice on Friday night. Omelet rice is a form of food that the Japanese refer to as yoshoku, or western food that the Japanese have appropriated. I kind of liken it to fast food here. It’s quick, cheap, comfort food. I would maybe put it in the same category as takoyaki, katsu curry, even some street vender versions of okonomiyaki, and anything called “pizza” in Japan.

My version turned out pretty well, although it is way less painful to get it in Tokyo for 700 yen, rather than make it at home. I am sorry that I don’t have a photo, but my omelets were not photo-worthy. I will have to practice making the proper shape before I post a photo. My other issues were that the recipe I had called for something they called canned tomato. They weren’t specific on sauce, paste or diced tomatoes. I used paste, but next time I would probably use sauce or diced. Also, my favorite omelet rice dish in Tokyo is a Jonathan’s, which is an “american style” eatery all over tokyo. They serve the omelet with some demi-glace beef stew. I tried to replicate it with a stew packet, but it ended up not being saucy enough. So, that will require some work to. This is what I did, however:

Servings: 2

Ingredients for rice:

1 cup Japanese rice (or 2 cups of warm steamed rice if you already have some)
1 cup water (for rice if not steamed already)
1/4 pound chicken breast, cut into tiny pieces and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (can sub garlic paste)
1/4 medium onion
4 white mushrooms, chopped finely
1 tablespoon white wine (I use sweet because the omelet rice is supposed to be a little sweet)
5 ounces tomato sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/3 cube of bouillon, chopped finely (or can use granules)
1 bay leaf
olive oil, salt & pepper

Ingredients for Omelet:

4 eggs
2 teaspoons dairy creamer
olive oil, salt & pepper

Ingredients for stew:

1/4 pound cubed stew beef, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 onion, chopped
4 white mushrooms, sliced
prepackaged demi-glace or beef stew in a jar or package

Directions:

1. First, steam the rice. If you have Japanese rice, make sure to rinse the rice in cold water until the water runs almost clear. This can be done by placing the rice in a bowl and filling the bowl with cold water, swishing around and draining the water. Finishing off with a metal sieve will get you the best rinse.
2. After the rice is rinsed, soak it in 1 cup of cold water in a pot for 30 minutes (if possible). [Normally, you would cook Japanese rice with 1 1/4 cups of water for 1 cup of rice, but we want to use a little less water since we are going to be adding it to a sauce]
3. Once the rice has soaked, turn the burner on to high and bring the water to a boil. Let the rice cook at a boil for one minute, then turn the heat down to low and simmer the rice for 20 minutes without checking it. 
4. Once the rice has simmered, turn off the heat and let the rice continue to steam for another 15 minutes.
5. While the rice is in it’s final steaming stage, brown the beef for the stew in a deep skillet with a little oil or butter. When the beef is browned, remove it from the skillet and add the mushrooms and onions. Let them cook until the onions soften and the mushrooms begin to brown. Add some salt and pepper to the mushrooms.
6. Add the beef pack to the skillet and add the sauce (following the directions of the sauce you have purchased).
7. Let this sauce simmer gently until the beef is tender.
8. While the rice is finishing up steaming and the stew is simmering, begin to make the base for the rice.
9. This is best prepared in a non-stick wok. If you don’t have a wok, any wide non-stick skillet will be fine.
10. Start by heating the wok with a tablespoon of olive oil to a medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant.
11. At that point, at the onion, and continue to stir until the onion becomes translucent.
12. When the onions are translucent, add the mushrooms.
13. When the mushrooms have started to brown, add the finely chopped, seasoned chicken.
14. Continue to stir the mixture.
15. When the chicken is cooked, add in the tablespoon of white wine, the tomato sauce, the ketchup, the bouillon, and the bay leaf. Continue to stir until the sauce reduces a little. 
16. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning as needed.
17. Add the warm steamed rice and continue to stir until combined. Once the rice is coated and all sauce is soaked into the rice, remove the wok from heat and separate the rice onto two different plates.
18. At this point, take you wok and rinse it out and return it to the heat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil.
19. Take a small bowl and beat together two eggs, 1 teaspoon of cream, and salt and pepper until smooth. Pour the omelet into the wok. If you have cooking chopsticks, use them to beat the egg in the bottom of the wok (if not, just use a fork or something) until the egg coats the bottom of the pan and tilt the pan around to spread the egg out.
20. Once the egg has set, slide one of the lumps of rice into the center of the omelet. This is the tough part. Flip up the edges of the omelet around the rice lump so that the edges are tucked over the rice. Slide the omelet rice over to the edge of the wok and hold up the plate you want to serve it from up against the work and flip the omelet onto the plate, with the egg on top.
21. ALTERNATIVELY, if you like the egg to be squishy on top, you can just mound the rice onto the plate, let the egg set partially in the pan, and then slide the egg onto the mound of rice. This results in a slightly runny top layer of egg, which some people prefer.
22. Ladle some beef stew around the base of the omelet and serve immediately. Omelet rice is best eaten with a spoon.

Enjoy! Also, if you ever get a chance to visit Tokyo, I highly recommend you get the real thing at Jonathan’s (they are scattered around Tokyo) and follow it up with a choco-banana parfait! :) Next time, I will try to make the crab and bamboo shoot omu-don that I used to get at this hole-in-the wall restaurant in Togoshi. It is basically an omelet rice, minus the tomato base, with a crab and bamboo shoot omelet and topped with a mild sweet and sour sauce. Awesomeness!