Omurice or is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

dishOmuraisu (also known as omurice or omu rice, Japanese rice omelet)
, JustHungry.com. consisting of an

omelette In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives ...

made with

fried rice Fried rice is a dish of cooked rice that has been stir-fried in a wok or a frying pan and is usually mixed with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, seafood, or meat. It is often eaten by itself or as an accompaniment to another dish. ...

and thin, fried

scrambled eggs Scrambled eggs is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs) stirred, whipped or beaten together while being gently heated, typically with salt, butter, oil and sometimes other ingredients. Preparation Only eggs are necessary to make scramble ...

, usually topped with

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among o ...

. It is a popular dish also commonly cooked at home. Children in particular enjoy ''omurice''. It is often featured in Japan's version of a children's meal, .

Etymology

With ''omu'' and ''raisu'' being derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the

English words English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

''omelette'' and ''rice'',Shimbo, Hiroko (2000). ''The Japanese Kitchen'', p.148. . the name is an example of ''

wasei-eigo are Japanese-language expressions based on English words, or parts of word combinations, that do not exist in standard English or whose meanings differ from the words from which they were derived. Linguistics classifies them as pseudo-loanwords ...

''.

History

''Omurice'' is said to have originated around the turn of the 20th century at a western-style restaurant in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

's Ginza district called ''Renga-tei'', inspired by ''

chakin-zushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...

''.

Variations

The dish typically consists of ''chikin raisu''( ja) (chicken rice: rice pan-fried with ketchup and chicken) wrapped in a thin sheet of fried scrambled eggs. The ingredients flavoring the rice vary. Often, the rice is fried with various meats (but typically chicken) or vegetables, and can be flavored with beef stock,

demi-glace Demi-glace (, 'half glaze') is a rich brown sauce in French cuisine used by itself or as a base for other sauces. The term comes from the French word ''glace'', which, when used in reference to a sauce, means "icing" or "glaze." It is tradition ...

, white sauce or simply salt and pepper. Sometimes, rice is replaced with fried noodles (

yakisoba ''Yakisoba'' ( ja, 焼きそば ), "fried noodle", is a Japanese noodle stir-fried dish. Usually, soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour, but soba in yakisoba are Chinese noodles (Chuuka soba) made from wheat flour, typically flavored with ...

) to make ''omusoba.'' A variant in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

is ''omutako'', consisting of an omelet over

taco rice is a popular example of modern Okinawan cuisine. It consists of taco-flavored ground beef served on a bed of rice, frequently served with shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato and salsa. Charlie's Tacos, serving tacos in shells made from ...

. Fried hot dog and Spam are also two popular meats to include in the dish.

Similar dishes

A similar dish exists in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

, especially in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, and is called '' nasi goreng pattaya''. It is a fried rice dish, covering chicken fried rice in thin

fried egg A fried egg, also known as sunny-side up is a cooked dish made from one or more eggs which are removed from their shells and placed into a frying pan and fried. They are traditionally eaten for breakfast in many countries but may also be ser ...

omelet In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives, ve ...

. Volga rice is another similar dish.

In popular culture

A new kind of omurice was developed for the 1985 comedy film ''

Tampopo is a 1985 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Juzo Itami, and starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kōji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it the first "ramen western", a play on the term Spaghetti We ...

'' in collaboration with Taimeiken, a famous restaurant in Nihonbashi. This version has the rice covered with a half-cooked omelet which is cut open to spread and cover the rice. This version has become so popular that it is the restaurant standard now. Home cooks typically cook a thin omelet completely and then place it over the seasoned rice and decorate it with ketchup. Homestyle omurice is a frequent item on

maid cafe A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...

menus since the addition of ketchup allows a maid to decorate the meal easily at the table as a form of "service."

References

External links

* JunsKitchen.
Fluffy Omurice (Japanese Omelet Rice)
,

YouTube.com YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most vis ...

* Setsuko Yoshizuka.
Omu Rice
, JapaneseFood.About.com {{Omelettes Articles containing video clips Fried rice Japanese cuisine Japanese rice dishes Korean rice dishes Omelettes Wasei-eigo Japanese egg dishes