Omurice

Omurice; it is a delicious rice dish seasoned with ketchup and in this case Kikkoman soya sauce, Hoisin sauce and Oyster sauce. A versatile dish in that it can be enjoyed as a breakfast, lunch and dinner! If you haven't had this dish before, give it a shot, you won't be disappointed~

This dish will give you 4 portions of leftovers to enjoy the following days. You only need about a cup of the rice per person topped with the rolled egg.

*Tools*

To complete this task, you will need:

A good reliable kitchen knife, nice and sharp!

A wok or a large pan to keep the ingredients in, cast iron is perfect for this because of the heat retention and natural low stick without those pesky PFAS getting into your food

A vegetable Peeler

*Recommended substitutes and alterations included

*This recipe has been written for even the most novice of cooks and hopefully the visuals are enough for those with a different native language than English

Rice

• 1 Cup of uncooked short grain sushi rice

• 2 Cups of cold water

• Pinch of salt to season the rice

Meat

• 1 Chicken Breast

• 4 Large eggs for each person

• 2 Tbsp Milk for 4 eggs

Vegetables

• 2 Small/Medium Carrots

• 2 Leaves of Napa Cabbage

• 1 Medium white onion

• 2 Scallions (Garnish)

• 1 Can 341 ml can of Peaches & Cream whole kernel corn (Drained)

• 1 Cup of Frozen green peas

Seasonings and sauces

• 1 Chicken Bouillon dissolved in 2 Tbsp of boiled water

• 1/2 Tbsp Oyster sauce

• 2 Tsp Hoisin sauce

• 3 Tbsp Ketchup

• 3 Tbsp Kikkoman Soya sauce

Misc.

• Ketchup to garnish

• Cooking Oil (Vegetable or canola)

*Notes*

* Olive oil can be used but it may effect the flavour.

*If you do not have access to oyster and hoisin sauce, you can just omit it. I have done this dish without them before and it is just as delicious.

Make sure you have everything you need. There is nothing quite like getting half way through a recipe and realizing you are missing a key ingredient or something has gone bad.

Ingredients for this step

1 Cup of rice • 2 Cups water • pinch of salt

• First things first, cook your rice. Rinse it thoroughly in a fine metal sieve until the water runs clear, if you do not own a fine sieve large enough to hold the 1 cup of rice, you can rinse using the rice cooker pot, just be careful not too lose too many grains of rice!

• Once rinsed, put the rice in the cooker and top with 2 cups of water and a touch of salt to season it.

• After the rice has been cooked, it is important that you let the rice cool, lid off so that the steam can escape and your rice can dry out a little bit prior to the final steps of this recipe. (If this step is skipped your rice can and will stick to the pan, no one likes that to happen)

*Notes*

*Note, it is very important that you rinse the rice otherwise its texture will suffer. Being either mushy or otherwise unpalatable.

*Preferably you want to use the short grain variety used in sushi for its soft and chewy texture (Other rice may work but short grain really is the way to go for this dish).

Ingredients For this step

2 Small/Medium Carrots • 2 Leaves of Napa Cabbage • 1 Medium white onion • 2 Scallions (Garnish) • 1 Can 341 ml can of Peaches & Cream whole kernel corn (Drained) • 1 Cup of Frozen green peas

• The Carrots •

Shave your carrots, and cut them in half so you have 4 pieces of whole carrot • Cut lengthwise into 4 flat wide strips and julienne into sticks • Take those sticks and dice them into cubes (brunoised)

• The Napa Cabbage •

Cut the cabbage leaf in half where the rib (white portion) branches off into the thinner leaf portion. • Remove the leafy portion from the rib and stack the thin leafy portions together. Leave the white rib portion stacked • Stack the leafy portions and slice finely (chiffonade) • cut the rib lengthwise into 2 long strips. • You should have 4 long strips, stack those and slice into 1/2 inch thick strips • Set aside until ready to begin cooking

• The White Onion •

Remove the dry skin from your onion until you reach the edible glossy portion • Cut the onion in half from root end to the top of the onion • Remove the tip of the onion, but leave the root end in tact to keep the onion together while cutting. • Slice away from the root end of the onion towards the top until you have thin slices, careful not to cut too close to the root section • Rotate onion and create finely diced onions • Lay the onion down root side up to avoid accidents and continue dicing until enough has been cut, then return to original position to complete the cutting. • Repeat for second half

• The Spring Onions •

Finely slice your onions at an angle. This is a garnish, save for final step.

• Canned Whole Kernel Corn (Peaches & Cream) •

Open and Drain.

• Frozen Green Peas •

Measure 1 Cup of Peas (Can be cooked frozen or thawed)

*Notes*

*You can prep your vegetables while your rice is cooking or after, which ever is most convenient. The pre-cut vegetables can sit for an hour or 2 prior to cooking without negative effect.

*Try to keep your vegetables at a similar size for even cooking.

Ingredients for this step

1 Chicken Bouillon dissolved in 2 Tbsp of boiled water • 1/2 Tbsp Oyster sauce • 2 Tsp Hoisin sauce • 3 Tbsp Ketchup • 3 Tbsp Kikkoman Soya sauce

Little explanation is needed as to how to measure your sauces. If you would like to mix them together, it will not effect the final dish, feel free to do so and save some dishes!

•Ketchup and Kikkoman•

The Ketchup and soya sauce should be mixed ahead of time for easy adding come the final steps of the rice portion.

•Chicken Bouillon•

My experience is that the amount of boiled water doesn't stay hot long so you may need to reheat in the oven for the cube to fully dissolve

*Substitute for the bouillon*

*You can use a condensed bouillon like Bovril Brand, I would not recommend non-condensed liquid broth as it is to be mixed into the rice for a kick of extra chicken flavor that may be lost if not a condensed flavour, or the extra liquid needed to taste may affect the final result.

*If you are substituting I recommend adding 1Tbsp at a time, and tasting to be sure it is flavoured enough. I have not used Bovril liquid bouillon so I cannot say how much is too much. Just that you can always add more, but you cannot take it back out.

*Low sodium is fine

Ingredients for this step

Dissolved Chicken Broth • Cooked and cooled Short Grain Rice

Pour the condensed broth/ sauce into the rice and mix to evenly coat. Careful to not mush the rice. Try tasting it and make sure that you can taste the chicken. You should be able to tell when it has been mixed into the rice evenly

• The Chicken•

Make a cut on the thickest edge of the chicken breast and open it up • Cut from tip to thick portion of the breast to make multiple strips • Cut those strips into small bite sized portions and place into a bowl.

*Safety Reminder*

*Please be careful of cross contamination and make sure to wash the area once you are done cutting the chicken. I am sure it goes without saying but sometimes we can forget about safety or take for granted the lack of ill experiences but it's best to take all precaution when dealing with raw meat of any kind. This step has been saved for last just before cooking to avoid potential cross contamination.

Ingredients for this step: Everything we just prepped!

(Diced Chicken • Prepped Vegetables • Measured/ combined sauces • Seasoned Rice)

Finally the step to start making the house smell good has begun, if the prep of onions hasn't already added a pleasant aroma to the kitchen that is~ If you haven't told anyone what you're making, this is when they come to see what smells so delicious!

• Pour 3 Tbsp of oil into a heating wok or high edged pan capable of keeping the ingredients in the pan, you will know it is ready when you can see ripples on the oil. Alternatively you can place the tip of a chopstick into the oil and if it bubbles you can add your first ingredients and know it won't just sit in the oil.

**(Medium low for the wok, probably Medium heat for a standard pan, but don't be afraid to adjust if needed)**

• Add your chopped chicken and stir briefly to coat with oil and then the diced onions, stir as well, let cook until the onion is almost transparent.

• Add the Peas, Carrots and Corn, mix well. Add the Napa cabbage and stir together. It is okay if the chicken is still pink when adding the vegetables, it will cook through by the end. Once these veggies are added, cover and let cook until the carrots are tender, about 10-12 minutes. Stoves can range however so you may need to cook it for less or more.

• Before testing the carrots tenderness cut the largest piece of chicken you can find to be sure its cooked through! If its white, you can consider it safe to eat and try the veggies, if not, toss it back in and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so and check again. Be sure not to use the same knife for the next test

*Note*

*Try to avoid frying the rice, acting quick once the rice is added as it can and will stick if left to sit too long. *

*The amount of vegetables may look like too much but it mixes perfectly, please trust the recipe, it will not disappoint*

• Once the Veggies and chicken are cooked through, add your seasoned rice and stir till the veggies and chicken are evenly dispersed and the rice has a fine coat of the chicken and veggie juices. Making sure to break the rice clumps up.

• Add the 4 sauces (Kikkoman, Ketchup, Hoisin and Oyster sauce) to the rice and stir until evenly mixed in. Remove from heat and give it a taste, and if you want more of a specific flavour, go ahead and season to taste.

• If you are happy with the flavour, you can remove the rice dish from the wok/ pan and put a lid on it. To keep it warm, you can leave it on the stove. The final step of this dish is the little rolled omelette that adorns the bed of rice.

Ingredients for this step

4 Large eggs • 2 Tbsp of Milk

• Heat oil in your wok or Pan.

• Crack 2 of the 4 eggs into a bowl, whisk and add 1 Tbsp of milk, season with a touch of salt and add half the bowl to the oil once heated.

• After the egg has cooked enough, flip the egg and pour the remaining egg on top. Once it has cooked through, flip and begin to carefully roll the egg inside the pan. Remove and set aside. On the stove preferably to keep warm.

• Repeat the above 3 steps. Once complete return first egg to the wok/ pan to keep warm remove from heat.

*To plate*

• Serve 1 cup of the prepared rice to a wide bowl, top with scallion garnish, place the hot egg atop the bed of rice and add a touch of Ketchup in whichever fashion or amount you would like, and a light sprinkling of black pepper.

• Repeat for the second dish.

The tastiest step of them all. Enjoy your meal and the left overs that follow! I hope you love this dish as much as I do and share the recipe with others so they too can enjoy the harmonious flavours this dish holds~

Be creative with your ketchup decorating and customize the dish for those you're feeding a personal touch ~

*Final Notes*

I do not know if you can leave comments or ask questions but if you have any questions, I will try to respond as soon as possible!

Left overs heat very well, best on the stove top with a tbsp of water and a tiny bit of oil to keep it from sticking. Lidded and stirred frequently will have it heated through in about 10 minutes. It will keep hot long enough for you to be able to fry an egg either over easy or as the recipe suggests.

I do not have a microwave so cannot speak on the quality of the omurice if heated that way. I would assume it will be fine but my experience says that microwaved reduces the quality at least marginally.