Shiso to sakura ebi no tamagoyaki / omelet with perilla leaves and dried shrimp

An omelet with goodies! Perilla leaves accentuate the mild egg flavor, while dried shrimp adds a toasty taste.

<Ingredients>

2 eggs
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sake and 1 tsp mirin
2 tsp dashi
Pinch of salt
2-3 shiso perilla leaves
1 tbsp sakura ebi dried shrimps


<Directions>
1.

Cut shiso lengthwise into two or three, and julienne crosswise.

2.

Mix eggs, soy sauce, sake, mirin, dashi, and salt.
While mixing, move chopsticks to cut apart egg whites.

Add shiso and sakura ebi, and mix.

3.

Heat pan, put a generous amount of oil, and wipe off excess with paper towel. Keep heat at medium low.

Pour one-third of egg mixture, and quickly poke all over with chopsticks.

Roll from outer end.

Apply oil (go over with paper towel used to absorb excess oil) on open area.

Move rolled egg to outer end, and apply oil to front end.

Pour half of remaining egg mixture, quickly poke, and roll before surface dries out.

Repeat one more time, and cook until egg mixture is completely set.

4.

Cut into desired number of pieces.

<Notes>

• Make sure to pour enough added ingredients (shiso and sakura ebi) with egg in the first and second layers. Surface of the finished omelet will be rough if lots of added ingredients are poured in the last (third, outer) layer.
• The additional ingredients help to make tamagoyaki look plumper without adding more eggs. (Using two eggs for one tamagoyaki roll for two persons sometimes makes it look too thin and rather shabby.)
• Poking egg mixture after pouring into pan is to fluff it up.
• Use spatula to roll if maneuvering chopsticks is too much work or egg mixture sticks to pan.