Omurice (オムライス), omelet rice, is ketchup fried rice wrapped with a crepe-like thinly fried egg. Doesn’t sound like Japanese food, does it? Omurice is a “western style” dish created in Japan in the early 1900s. For over 100 years, Omurice has been a very popular food for people of all ages, especially kids.
Omurice is often served at western style Japanese restaurants where Hamburger Steaks and Curry and Rice are also on the menu. Today, there are omelet specialty restaurants in Japan, and they have a lot of different and elaborate kinds of Omurice. Omurice can be covered with cream sauce or demi-glace brown sauce, while basic Omurice is usually finished with ketchup. At restaurants recently, more eggs are used and the trend seems to be for the eggs to be soft and runny, although more traditional Omurice egg is cooked very thin.
Ketchup fried rice may sound a little strange, but it is more like tomato pilaf. The typical meat used in Omurice is chicken fried in butter which has an aroma that makes this dish taste western. However, you could use ground beef, shrimp or anything you like.
We put rice and eggs together separately because it may be a little easier, although many people wrap rice with eggs in a frying pan. Do whichever works for you. It tastes great either way!
Omurice Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 chicken thigh
- 1 small onion
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp oil
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- pepper
- 3 Tbsp ketchup
- 1/4 cup frozen green peas
egg crepe
- 2 eggs
- salt
- 1 tsp oil
Instructions
- Cut chicken thigh into 1″ pieces. Cut onion finely.
- Melt butter and add oil in a frying pan at medium heat. Add chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add onion and cook until onion becomes translucent.
- Add cooked rice and cook mixing for 2 minutes. Season rice with salt and pepper. Make room in the frying pan and add ketchup. Cook only ketchup for 30 seconds to cook it down. Mix rice and ketchup and fry together for 1-2 minutes. Then add frozen peas and cook some more.
- Place half of the ketchup rice into a rice bowl or similar kind of bowl, pack lightly, and unmold on a plate. Make another one.
- Beat eggs and a pinch of salt together. Heat frying pan with 1/2 tsp oil. Pour 1/2 of egg mixture onto hot frying pan and make a crepe-like thin round egg sheet. Cover molded rice with egg sheet to form an oval shape. Repeat one more time.
Video
Samuel
February 20, 2014 at 11:53 pmI’m a total newbie when it comes to kitchen , how do i cook the rice?.
Noriko
February 23, 2014 at 5:48 pmSamuel,
we have the steamed rice recipe on our Youtube and web sites, so check it out!
cameryn
February 17, 2016 at 8:15 pmI cup of rice to two cups of water.
Put two cups of water in a pan and bring to a boil. I like to put in a little dab of butter to help with flavor and make the rice not stick to each other as much. Pour in one cup of rice and stir. Immediately turn the stove top to the lowest setting. (this is called simmering) and let stand for 20 minutes. (with the stove still on at a low temp.) after 20 minutes, the rice absorbs the water making it fluffy. enjoy!
Hazelm
March 24, 2016 at 3:16 amRice is supposed to be sticky
Ben Beasley
August 3, 2016 at 7:08 pmNot always.
Elizapreise
March 16, 2014 at 6:57 amCan i use any type of rice. Is it necessary japan perfume rice. Thanks for the recipe
Noriko
March 17, 2014 at 7:49 amElizapreise,
we use short grain rice. You could use other kind of rice, but texture and flavor is not going to be the same.
Daisy
March 17, 2014 at 8:32 amInstead of a chicken thigh can I use chicken breast ?
Noriko
March 18, 2014 at 4:28 pmDaisy,
of course! Shrimps, hams, whatever works for you.
maya
April 18, 2014 at 11:42 amcan you use fish
Noriko
May 6, 2014 at 9:31 pmmaya,
ketchup and fish may not go well together, but try it if you like.
Kira
May 14, 2014 at 3:57 amHI!
I would like to know what substitute you can use instead of ketchup…I’m allergic 🙁
Noriko
June 4, 2014 at 1:23 amKira,
you can make home-made tomato sauce, and use it as a substitute.
Paul
May 26, 2014 at 3:35 pmI made this for my girlfriend as part of a bento box. She said it was really tasty!
Thanks for the recipe!
Noriko
June 2, 2014 at 11:36 pmPaul,
what a nice boyfriend!
David
June 26, 2014 at 12:26 amThank you for this, I can’t wait to try it out and I love this site!
Question, do you happen to know where can I find an omurice rice mold? I have been searching everywhere with no luck.
Thanks again!
Noriko
September 13, 2014 at 10:42 pmDavid,
if you can’t find it, use a round bowl as a mold and reshape to oblong with hands.
Yuki
July 22, 2014 at 11:18 amI was wondering if I cold put in spinach instead of peas or does it taste better with peas
Noriko
September 13, 2014 at 5:13 pmYuki,
yes, you could.
Geneva
July 23, 2014 at 2:53 pmThis may seem like an odd question, but is Japanese ketchup any different than the regular Heinz ketchup I can pick up at my local grocery store? My husband is Filipino and they use a banana ketchup, which taste different from tomato ketchup. I know the Japanese ketchup is tomato, but didn’t know if there are possibly other ingredients that might make it different. Hope my question makes sense and doesn’t seem silly.
Noriko
September 13, 2014 at 5:05 pmGeneva,
banana ketchup! Wow I’ve never had it and I can’t tell how it’s going to taste. Omurice is typically (or only) with tomato ketchup. But you can experiment with other condiment if you want.
Tara
January 14, 2016 at 7:42 pmJapanese ketchup is less sweet than heinz ketchup
Lori
July 27, 2014 at 5:48 amWhat a great help your recipe’s for cooking, it added my little recipe’s…
After Sujin retirement, he oftenly requested me to do the home cooked food.
Tasukeremashita, Okini.
Noriko
September 13, 2014 at 2:13 pmLori,
Glad we can help!
Lukman Hakim
August 24, 2014 at 6:52 ami try it and it was delicious! Thanks for the guide. Its totally an easy recipe for beginner like me.
Noriko
September 8, 2014 at 9:40 pmLukman,
glad you liked our Omurice recipe! Come back for more recipes too!
Marcy
September 22, 2014 at 7:13 pmcan we use red rice?
Noriko
September 23, 2014 at 11:53 pmMarcy,
we never tried, but you can try it! Let us know what you think.
Dre
October 17, 2014 at 9:01 pmCan you substitute chicken with other meats?
Noriko
October 24, 2014 at 8:58 pmDre,
of course! You can use ground beef or pork, or anything. I even use lunch meat (ham) sometimes.
Evi
January 16, 2016 at 10:32 amCan i use red, yellow and orange peppers instead of green peas?
Yuko
January 17, 2016 at 7:44 pmSure!
Noriko
January 18, 2016 at 10:46 pmEvi,
yes you can!
Jessica
January 29, 2016 at 5:13 amThis is easy for a starter like me! By the way, what type of meats are best to put in the dish? Thanks for the recipe!
Noriko
January 30, 2016 at 9:11 pmJessica,
chicken is very good, but you can put ground beef, ham, or anything you like!
Jens
March 6, 2016 at 9:18 amI would just like to thank You for such tasty and easy recipes.
I have tried a couple of them with great result. Omurice was a positive surprise, it was alot tastier then i expected!
Please keep up the good work, and once again, thanks to the both of You.
Mike
August 3, 2016 at 5:09 amPlease, I’m not japanese, but this is really the worst omelette I’ve seen in my life. I wouldn’t even call it that. It should be thick and runny and not thin and dry.
Acara-lea
September 10, 2016 at 1:25 amWell mabey you cooked it wrong.
Grace
October 3, 2016 at 6:32 pmThen do your own version? I’ve seen people use more eggs and soft-cook them just enough to get it out of the pan, then it runs all over the rice. This is just the ‘classic’ version.
Luisa
October 13, 2016 at 5:30 pmCongratulations, you’re one of the rudest people I’ve ever come across. Judging by your comment, you haven’t read the description on this page which explains this point. (“At restaurants recently, more eggs are used and the trend seems to be for the eggs to be soft and runny, although more traditional Omurice egg is cooked very thin.”) Of course, you’re entitled to your own opinion, but that is no reason to be rude.
Potato
October 14, 2016 at 7:35 pmYou’re the worst kind of person.
TMK
December 10, 2016 at 9:25 amMan, did you even read the OP? Clearly says that originally a thin egg wrap was used. Although this is a omelet inspired dish, it’s clearly adapted to Japanese culture…
It doesn’t hurt to actually read a bit and inform yourself too… And, it’s free…
Tina
August 20, 2016 at 7:19 pm@Mike, it’s a western omelette altered for Japanese tastes in Japan ages ago. (I’m not sure visitors from Japan or China would recognize western versions of their cuisines as “good” compared to what they cook at home.). It’s ok if you don’t like it, but that doesn’t make it bad.
I went to Japan for the first time in May and had this twice for breakfast. I’m not fond of ketchup, but it was so delicious, I want to make it at home.
Thank you, Noriko and Yuko, for your great recipes and videos.
どうもありがとうございます。 (thank you very much)
Nana
September 21, 2016 at 3:34 amI was wondering, would minute (instant) rice be suitable for this recipe? It isn’t quite as sticky, and I’m not sure if it would cook differently. I have never tried Omurice, but I would like to! It looks delicious.
Acacia
October 5, 2016 at 7:06 pmI just tried making this recipe for dinner tonight. It wasn’t very pretty looking and I didn’t have any peas, but its very tasty! Next time I will try to make the eggs thinner and rounder, for me they just kind of flopped over funny.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Claudia
October 26, 2016 at 1:38 pmGreetings. I just finished watching Midnight Diner, Tokyo Stories. Loved the series and the importance of the food. I already tried making omurice and sauteed potatoes. And, I see the potato and onion dashi recipe on your website. Yay! It looks like what was presented in the show. Thanks for clarifying that Japanese ketchup is less sweet than Heinz. Otherwise, omurice would be a sugar mess for me. Where can I find tan-men recipe? Thank you.
Susana
November 3, 2016 at 2:13 amDear Yoriko and Yuko,
I’m Portuguese and I love your webpage and videos. Thanks to you, I believed that cooking Japanese dishes at home was possible. Thank you so much for your webpage.
So far I have cooked onigiri, ramen, tonjiru, miso soup, gyouza, yakisoba… and all well.
I world like to try the オムライス/Omuraisu bu the I have a little problem: I really dislike ketchup or tomato sauce, even home made… I know I’d be departing from the main recipe and breaking with the original idea but I still would like to try it anyway.
What could replace the (argh 😉 ketchup? I thought of soy sauce for the taste but that couldn’t be used for decoration.
Any ideas?
どうも ありがとう ございます。
スザナ
Tina McKee
November 16, 2016 at 10:33 pmI had this in Japan twice on our first trip in May 2016. I found it delicious, even though I don’t like ketchup, normally. Is Japanese ketchup different from American ketchup somehow?
Gary
December 9, 2016 at 11:22 amHow can e previous poster judge without trying?!!? It is an omelette and a favorite of my husband and I. My first experience with a rice omelette was in Seoul, Korea, around the time of the Winter Olympics in the early 80’s. It was the only breakfast item I felt comfortable trying, on the menu. Loved it, just as this recipe was written.
Last year we took a cruise, and at a port in Japan, found this on the menu. I’ve been regularly making this now at home for almost 2 years. You can make it your own with your own fried rice…or like we do, pick up an order of spicy Fried Rice at our Thai restaurant and use this….or pork fried rice at our Chinese restaurant. You really can’t go wrong, and it is really a yummy dish.
Hats off to Noriko for posting the authentic recipe! So yummy!!