Tenshinhan, amazu-an / crab omelet on rice, with sweet and sour sauce

Another version of Chinese crab omelet donburi is with sweet and sour sauce.

<Ingredients>

For omelets
3 eggs
Handful (70-80 g) crabmeat
1/6-1/4 takenoko no mizuni boiled bamboo shoot
1 green onion
2 dried shiitake mushrooms
Several snap peas (or sugar peas)
1/2 tbsp sake
Pinch salt (optional; not in photo)
2-3 tsp oil (not in photo)

For sauce
200 cc chicken stock
5 tsp (1 tbsp + 2 tsp) soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
7 tsp (2 tbsp + 1 tsp) rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp Shaoxing (Shaohsing) wine
1/2 tsp sesame oil (optional; not in photo)
1 1/2 tbsp potato starch & water mixture

2 servings steamed rice (not in photo)


<Directions>
1.

Rehydrate dried shiitake by soaking in water for a few hours or microwave for 1 minute.

Blanch snap peas.

2.

Julienne shiitake, snap peas, bamboo shoot and green onion.
Soak julienned white sections of green onion in cold water. (Snap peas and white sections of green onion are for garnish.)

3.

Prepare sauce. In a pot, put all ingredients except for potato starch & water mixture.

Swirl in potato starch & water mixture, first 1/2 tbsp, stir well, and add more as necessary.

4.

Prepare omelets.
Lightly beat eggs, add crab meat, bamboo shoot, shiitake, green onion (green sections), sake and salt, and mix well.

5.

Heat oil in a frying pan, pour 1/2 of the egg mixture, and cook halfway through on medium low heat.

Flip, and quickly cook the other side.

Place over steamed rice.

Pour sauce, and garnish with white sections of green onion and snap peas.

<Notes>

• Sweet and sour sauce for tenshinhan often contains ketchup, making it a favorite of kids.
• Instead of making individual omelets, one large omelet can be made and divided,.
• A half-done creamy omelet is more common for this dish. I prefer mine to be done on the outside (slightly golden) and still soft on the inside.
• This is normally eaten with a spoon. No struggling to pick up grains of rice...
• It is said that tenshinhan in Eastern Japan (Tokyo) commonly has an omelet containing goodies and comes with sweet and sour sauce, whereas in Western Japan (Osaka) the omelet is often plain and soy sauce-flavored sauce is more common. (My hometown is near the borderline between these two cultures, and at home tenshinhan means crab omelet and sweet and sour sauce.)
• Another version of tenshinhan with soy sauce-flavored sauce is found here.