Tamagoyaki is such a Japanese dish. When you just want eggs for breakfast or to add to a bento
But, even though it is more trouble, it’s worth it. Japanese Tamagoyaki tastes really good. People in Japan eat it in the morning like people eat scrambled eggs in the US. It is also a favorite for bento boxes for lunch and with other foods like sushi. Another nice thing is that it looks very nice and holds its shape well. That makes it good for using in bento boxes or other packed meals.
Tamagoyaki is thin layers of eggs cooked and rolled into a log using a special rectangular Tamagoyaki pan. How it’s seasoned is different by each household. Some Tamagoyaki is very sweet. We both are from families who liked less sweet eggs, so this recipe is not like the fried egg used in sushi that you might expect.
If you don’t have the Tamagoyaki pan, you can certainly try using a regular round frying pan (8″). It may not be as nice looking as the one made in the special pan at first and you may need to do some trimming, but you can get the similar result after getting more practice. Also, if an egg layer sticks to the pan while cooking, add a little oil to the pan between rolling.
So grab some eggs and a ruler (just kidding) and start rolling!
Tamagoyaki (pan fried rolled egg)
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Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix eggs, salt, soy sauce and Mirin in a bowl.
- Heat a pan at medium high temperature and add oil. (A rectangular Tamagoyaki pan is best, but a round pan can work as well.)
- Pour a thin layer of egg mixture in the pan, tilting to cover the bottom of the pan. After the thin egg has set a little, gently roll into a log. Start to roll when the bottom of the egg has set and there is still liquid on top. If you let the egg cook too much, it will not stick as you roll the log. Now you have a log at one end of the pan. Pour some more egg mixture to again cover the bottom of the pan, with the roll of egg at the end. After the new layer has set, roll the log back onto the the cooked thin egg and roll to the other end of the pan.
- Repeat adding egg to the pan and rolling back and forth until the egg is used up.
- Remove from the pan and cool for 3-4 minutes.
- Slice the ends of the log off and then slice the log into 1/2″ pieces. You should see a nice spiral pattern in the cross section of the egg.
Video
Katrina @ Lardon My French
April 4, 2012 at 7:16 pmHi! I just came across your blog! You have some really great pictures, and I love the instructional videos, I can’t wait to make some of these Japanese recipes! Thanks!
Yuko
April 4, 2012 at 7:50 pmHi Katrina,
Thanks for your really nice comment! We would love to hear your feedback after you try our recipe too!
Thank you!
Shirley Ferreira
January 21, 2014 at 3:29 pmI have been looking for Japanese recipes and found this site. It is clear as you say cooking 101. Thanks for sharing the recipes.
Noriko
February 1, 2014 at 11:38 amShirley,
thanks!
Jonathan B.
January 31, 2014 at 4:23 amAnother alternative to a Tamagoyaki Pan is a small stainless steel or aluminum bread pan. I am trying it out now to see how it turns out, I’ll post my results when I am finished.
Noriko
February 1, 2014 at 11:12 amJonathan,
thanks for trying!
Harold wandle
February 9, 2014 at 10:06 amI was stationed in the army at the finance building in Tokyo. I had a Japanese girlfriend. We ate Japanese food all the time especially the Japanese omelet. I remember we added onions to the reice mixture. We rolled the egg added onions and the rice inside of the egg mixture. I ame ready to eat breakfast and I was thinking about eating a Japanese omelet with added features. By the way I also operated a military Japanese hotel in gotanda and we also cook those types of eggs. Also I was able to speak perfect Japanese but now ican speak a little after all I am 86 years old thank you
Noriko
February 10, 2014 at 8:54 amHarold,
thanks for your interesting story! Japanese girl friend and omelet, very sweet!
Donna
March 18, 2014 at 11:57 pmI found your site when I googled for Japanese recipes. My Japanese Sister-in-law introduced me to this food and I love it. I want to learn how to cook it as well as she did.
Noriko
March 25, 2014 at 11:08 pmDonna,
get your Tamago pan and cook it up!
Ana
April 5, 2014 at 9:20 pmThank you sooo very much for all the recipes I just tried making the tamagoyaki and failed the first time the egg didn’t cook all the way so I tried again and much better but on a round pan is hard I just ordered the tamago pan hope it’s easier but a couple questions can you eat it cold? I’m an anime fan and I always see them eating their bento meals but I always wondered is the food warm or cold? Silly question… but I’m really getting into Japanese food and I want to take with me to school and work so I wondered if its ok or if it would go bad? Same with all the other food that you can take in a bento… What can I do or how can I set up my bento? Thank you again I can’t wait to try your other recipes!!
Noriko
September 14, 2014 at 4:02 pmAna,
Bento is usually room temperature. So yes, you can eat Tamagoyaki cold.
Sara
April 12, 2014 at 1:18 pmYou can easily make this in a non-stick bread pan. I just made one very easily. US grocery stores sell these for about $8. They are multipurpose, too. No need for a special pan. You can also do it on a round non-stick griddle, which is also a multipurpose pan.
Bernard
May 5, 2014 at 11:41 pmI used a round stone pan and it worked just fine. The pieces from the edges of the egg roll looked different than the rest of the rolls, though.
Anyhow, I tried cooking it for breakfast and my parents liked the better presentation and different approach from our usual omelet.
Thanks, Noriko and Yuko!
Noriko
May 6, 2014 at 9:18 pmBernard,
thanks for making it!
Ryan
May 10, 2014 at 7:21 amI went to Amazon and found a whole bunch of Tamagoyaki Pans I have gotten 2 different ones and they both work great!
Noriko
May 12, 2014 at 9:28 pmRyan,
sounds good! Keep on cooking!
Farynor
May 17, 2014 at 12:48 pmI saw the lifestyle of high school students in anime (I love anime ^-^), and I became interested in the food that was cooked for them! Now I’m into Japanese cuisine and I find them unique and great. Thank you for making this website, now I can try cooking them!
Noriko
June 3, 2014 at 12:55 amFarynor,
when you see food in anime, it looks so good, I wonder why. I had a similar experience with western food in some anime, too.
George from Bradford, MA USA
May 26, 2014 at 11:31 amI enjoy making tamagoyaki. About a month ago, I bought a new ceramic tamagoyaki pan from Japan and I like the pan very much. I can make very good tamagoyaki by using that pan. I thank you people very much for sharing the tamagoyaki recipe. It is very easy to make.
Noriko
June 2, 2014 at 11:35 pmGeorge,
glad you liked our recipe!
Tyler
June 2, 2014 at 8:18 pmHi. I’ve always been interested in the Japanese culture so when I wanted to learn how to cook Japanese style dishes and google brought me here I was very impressed with it. I will continue to try to make more dishes and am happy I found this site. Keep up the great work!
Noriko
June 2, 2014 at 10:47 pmTyler,
thanks! Come back soon!
Amber
July 6, 2014 at 12:24 pmI love you kind your voices are, and just how energetic you are. It’s quite infectious!! The food turns out amazing, too. Thank you so very much for putting in so much time to help others! Thank you thank you 🙂
Noriko
September 13, 2014 at 9:56 pmAmber,
thanks! Come back for many other recipes!
Shannon
July 8, 2014 at 3:51 pmThanks so much for posting this video! I am going to make tamagoyaki this week. 🙂
Noriko
September 13, 2014 at 8:41 pmShannon,
hope you liked it!
Fabio
July 15, 2014 at 1:11 pmI’m gonna make it tomorrow. – What kind of oil do you use to cook it?
Noriko
September 13, 2014 at 9:24 pmFabio,
we use vegetable oil like canola.
Amber
July 20, 2014 at 6:22 pmI just made the recipe for my family they loved it they want me to make it every morning thank you 🙂
Noriko
September 13, 2014 at 8:47 pmAmber once you know how to make Tamagoyaki, it’s not so hard and doesn’t take much time either.
Matthew
August 6, 2014 at 2:49 pmUm is soy sauce required or can I just leave it out, soy sauce is salty so I can I use salt in its place.
Noriko
September 12, 2014 at 1:59 amMatthew,
if you don’t like it salty, cut back the amount of salt.
Miki
September 21, 2014 at 12:39 pmI tried your recipe this afternoon as a snack – and it was really good!
Sadly, I had to use eggbeaters for half of it since I ran out of eggs, and prepared it in a round pan, but sure was delicious!
Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Noriko
September 23, 2014 at 11:56 pmMiki,
glad you liked our Tamagoyaki recipe. Come back for many other recipes on our web and Youtube sites!
Tess
September 23, 2014 at 8:19 amThx for sharing the simple yet nutritional recipie. My kids don’t fancy eating eggs that much, but they love tamago. Thought it would be a complicated process in making one, but your recipe is so easy!
Noriko
September 23, 2014 at 11:19 pmTess,
it is pretty simple to make after a couple of times of practice. Glad you like it! We have a lot of recipes your kids may like such as Karaage and Omurice, so check them out!
Usagi
October 3, 2014 at 10:04 pmHello! I just tried your recipe and it was a success and it was my first time cooking tamagoyaki! It was tasty but a little too salty for my taste buds :p I will be making some adjustment to your recipe to better suit my taste next time!
Noriko
October 24, 2014 at 5:11 pmUsagi,
that’s the best part of home cooking, adjusting to your liking!
humera saeed
October 15, 2014 at 10:17 amHi im a pakistani and pakistan is very rich in foods.famous for hot and sicy foo but at the same time we like chinese ,mexican, thi ,english and french cuisine .pls upload some pakistani and maxican recipes thanks
Noriko
October 24, 2014 at 5:56 pmhumera,
I love cuisine from other countries too along with Japanese! We will try to do more Japanese dishes inspired by other cultures.
Joseph
October 22, 2014 at 4:00 amI made this tonight for maki sushi. tasted absolutely perfect! I made it in a 25cm round pan though, so my shape was a bit off, not that that matters in a roll. Thank you ladies!
Noriko
October 24, 2014 at 6:28 pmJoseph,
sounds yummy!
Veronica
October 26, 2014 at 1:32 pmHi. 3 years ago my son and I spent 3 weeks in Japan. We had such a marvelous time. One, amongst many things we adored, was the food. I live in Los Angeles and there are Japanese restaurants all over town. But none of them cook the food my son and I had in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. Everything in Los Angeles is “Americanized.” I tried cookbooks, but they are also “Americanized.” Then, I found your website. Better than any cookbook. I’ve made miso soup, (making the dashi from scratch,) karaage, and nikujaga. All were excellent. This morning I tried the tamagoyaki. It was fabulous. I added scallions to it. It was a little difficult to roll, and I noticed when you use the chop sticks, one goes on the “inside” and the other on the outside. I didn’t exactly do it that way, which is why I had a little trouble. I think technique is important with this dish. Your website is that best. Thank you for all the work you do.
Noriko
October 26, 2014 at 9:20 pmVeronica,
glad you find Japanese Cooking 101 useful…Thanks! I love Tamagoyaki with green onions, that’s the best! Come back for more recipes!
Hailee
February 1, 2016 at 8:45 pmJust tried making this in a round frying pan and it still came out great and is perfect for my bento! Thank you so much for the great recipe!!
Issa
February 9, 2016 at 5:22 pmThanks very much for sharing this! We tried this recipe with fried little potato cubes and shredded cheese ^^ it tastes really nice!
Dean Murphy
March 24, 2016 at 9:17 amI just made this. I didn’t have mirin, so I used table sugar, and it came out great! My technique in the round omelet pan needs some work, but I love it.
Pouring smaller amounts of egg would help I think.
Thank you for making the site.
Candace
March 31, 2016 at 2:59 pmI tried this in a round pan and it worked, but then my daughter-in-law gave me a square Tamagoyaki pan for Christmas and it is so easy I make this several times a week and take it to work for lunch. She found the pan online, only problem is all the information is in Japanese so I am not sure of the best way to clean and maintain it, but so far it is working great.
Mike
August 13, 2016 at 9:43 pmThank you for the recipe and video. I really like tomagoyaki! The slightly sweet taste is quite different from western style omelettes. I’m using a round pan which was a challenge at first. I’m also using this general technique to make western style omelettes (no sugar/mirin, soy sauce). I was never good at western style omelettes because they took so long to cook before folding them over. With tomagoyaki style omelettes, the thin layers cook quickly so you don’t get bored waiting. The texture is more pleasing too!
Thanks for all of your recipes and videos!
Christina
August 16, 2016 at 1:41 amThank you for this super easy to follow tutorial! I am slowly learning how to become a better cook thanks to you guys! The tamagoyaki was delicious! 🙂
GERMAN OLAGUE
September 5, 2016 at 8:48 amHi!!!
We are planing the lunch for our 2 years old kid.
I think Tamagoyaki could be a good option for his obento.
Can I prepare the Tamagoyaki on night before, put it on the fridge and then in the morning warm it a little bit a put it in the obento box for the lunch?
In this recipe you use 4 eggs, my son only eats 1, can I save the rest for later? how many days could be in the fridge?
Thanks and best regards!
Razan
September 7, 2016 at 4:56 amI admired the site, your explanation for the recipe is clear and ,it looks so easy, and I will try it very soon,
Jared
September 22, 2016 at 10:20 ami just tried it so easy to do and its good
Matt B
September 28, 2016 at 12:26 pmI make them with 4 eggs, 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp soy and 1 tbsp sugar. I do prefer it with only 1/2 tbsp soy because then its more sweet and taste a lot like pancakes. I have a rectangle pan so its easier to flip, i alternate between chopsticks and spatula when cooking. In the end its easier to press the log with the spatula into more of a square form if you don’t use a sushi rolling mat. I want to try and make a dashimaki tamago next but i was only able to find the dashi granules at a decent price.
Kura
January 13, 2017 at 5:50 pmHi
I made the tamagoyaki and it was delicious!! I made some for my family and I and they loved it, they want me to make it again sometime. I loved the soy sauce with a hint of sweet in it. The light fluffy was very cool. I’m only under 13 and it’s great to cook thanks so much😄😄
Trenton
January 16, 2017 at 3:15 amThanks for this recipe. I made it really easily with a regular nonstick frying pan. Definitely a refreshing new way to eat eggs! (for me anyway)