Yakimeshi is Japanese fried rice with egg, meat, and vegetables. Yakimeshi is something your mom makes from left over rice and ingredients she already has in the house. Other than rice and egg, there are no particular ingredients you need to use. Yakimeshi is quick and easy and also a very economical food you can make for your family or yourself.
If you are from a country where people eat rice as a staple food, you know some fried rice dish like Yakimeshi there. China has Chow Fan, and Indonesia has Nasi Goreng. There is always a day or two day old steamed rice in the kitchen of any Japanese household, and it needs to be eaten in some way. Yakimeshi is a great dish not only for recycling old rice but also helps you clean up odds and ends of ingredients forgotten in the corner of the fridge. You can use any meat from ground beef or pork to lunch meat ham to even Kamaboko fish cake. It is the same way for the vegetables, onions, carrots, green peas, or anything. Even a stem of broccoli can be chopped up and fried with rice. Egg is the only ingredient that is necessary to add for Yakimeshi. Egg is important because it can help fluff up rather glutenous Japanese rice from getting soggy and mushy.
Chinese fried rice is also very popular in Japan and similar to Yakimeshi, but Yakimeshi is more simply flavored. There are no seasonings like garlic or ginger or any secret sauce. Salt, pepper, and some soy sauce, and that is it. Yakimeshi has a simple home made flavor that reminds you of mom’s cooking rather than restaurant food. It may not seem too glamorous but this is a kind of dish you always want to come back to.
Yakimeshi Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1/4 brown onion
- 2 slices ham
- 4 shrimp
- 2 green onions
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 2 cups steamed rice
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/4 tsp salt
- white pepper
- 1 tsp Soy Sauce
Instructions
- Chop brown onion coarsely. Cut ham and shrimp into small pieces. Chop green onions finely.
- Heat wok with oil at high heat. Stir-fry onion, ham, and shrimp.
- When half way cooked, add steamed rice and cook breaking apart. Pour beaten egg over rice and cook until the egg coagulates. Add green onions.
- Add salt, pepper, and soy sauce and cook a minute longer.
Video
Colleen M Castille
September 18, 2016 at 4:41 pmI was born in Japan to American parents and my mom prepared it with fresh ingredients. White rice, browned hamburger, onions, carrots, green, yellow and red peppers and mung bean sprouts. After cooking everything separately, I mix together and then add a fried egg on top. Serve with soy sauce and it’s great. I salt and pepper the meat and then at the end when I mix it together I sprinkle a little Chinese Five Spice.