a curious cook

Tamagoyaki omelet

tamagoyaki

I made Tamagoyaki omelet for a spring picnic under the cherry blossom trees in the Amsterdamse Bos, a park in Amsterdam.

This elegant rolled omelet is a standard dish in every Japanese lunch box and a popular topping for sushi. I made mine in a special rectangular tamagoyaki pan, but you can easily just make it in a round pan or use a square or rectangular baking tin that is suitable for use on a stove top.

Tamagoyaki omelet gets its special taste from the Japanese seasonings. A savory broth (dashi), salty soy sauce and sweet Japanese rice wine (mirin) is mixed in with the egg.

Japanese products can be found in well-stocked supermarkets. If your supermarket does not carry them, you will find them in organic or Asian supermarkets. 

Tamagoyaki omelet

For ± 8 pieces

3 eggs

2-3 tbsp dashi*

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp mirin

pinch of salt

1 tsp rice oil or other neutral oil

Also needed: rectangular tamagoyaki pan, sushi rolling mat (both optional)

Beat the eggs in a measuring cup until smooth. The measuring makes it easier to pour the mixture into the pan later.

In another bowl, whisk together the dashi, sugar, soy sauce and mirin. Mix the dashi mixture with the eggs in the measuring cup.

Grease your pan lightly using a piece of kitchen paper and preheat the pan over low heat.

Pour a thin layer of egg into the pan and let it set almost completely. Carefully roll up the omelette.

With the omelet roll on one side, lightly grease the rest of the pan again and pour another thin layer of egg into the pan. Let the egg set again almost completely and then roll your existing omelet roll over to the other side. Continue until the egg mixture is used up and you have a nice thick omelet roll.

Transfer the omelet roll to a sushi mat if you have one. Press into a slightly more square shape and leave to cool. Cut into thick slices.

*If you don’t have time to make your own dashi, you can also use dashi powder. For sale in well-stocked supermarkets, Asian supermarkets and online.

You can also make your own vegan dashi from kombu (a type of seaweed) by breaking 1 piece of kombu of ± 10 x 5 cm into pieces and putting it in ½ liter of cold water. Bring to the boil over low heat and boil gently for ± 10 minutes. Remove the scum if necessary. Take the kombu out of the water. Your kombu dash is ready to use.

If you don’t mind eating fish, you can now add 10 g of shaved dried tuna flakes (katsuoboshi), bring the liquid back to a boil. Turn off the heat and let the flakes sink to the bottom. Strain the liquid.

 

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