Kobashira-iri omuraisu / tomato rice with bay scallops in egg crepe

Omuraisu, or "omelet rice," has been my favorite food since childhood. It was symbolic of Westernized food and found at a modern restaurant on the top floor of a department store in a large city where my family went on weekend outings. In college, I frequently went to eat omuraisu for lunch at a cafe near campus. The combination of ketchup-flavored chicken pilaf and fluffy crepe-like omelet tasted heavenly. I also enjoyed omuraisu at more upscale restaurants later, but my preference has always been for the simple kind, meaning no demiglace or cream sauce. At restaurants, it is often more of an omelet using multiple eggs per portion. Since one egg per day is my preference, our omuraisu is wrapped with egg crepe. Fresh ripe tomatoes for the rice and the addition of dashi and rice vinegar to the ketchup topping sauce—added to reduce the amount of sodium-loaded ketchup--bring a nice, refined touch.

1/2 of recipe:
445 calories; 19.5 g protein; 11.4 g fat; 63.0 g carbohydrate; 59.4 g net carbs; 340 mg sodium; 234 mg cholesterol; 3.6 g fiber


<Ingredients>

2 small bowls of steamed rice (254 g in photo)
1/4 onion (52 g in photo)
7-8 cm carrot (32 g in photo)
6 shishito sweet peppers (26 g in photo)
Handful chanterelle mushrooms (50 g in photo)
Handful (15-16) bay scallops (96 g in photo)
2 small ripe tomatoes or 5-6 ripe cherry tomatoes (130 g in photo)
1 tbsp ketchup (for tomato rice)
1 tsp olive oil (not in photo)
Black pepper, to taste (not in photo)

For egg crepes
2 eggs
1/2 tsp olive oil (not in photo)
1/2 tbsp butter

For ketchup topping sauce
4 tsp ketchup
1 tsp dashi
1/4 tsp rice vinegar


<Directions>
1.

Mix ketchup, dashi and rice vinegar for topping, and set aside.

2.

Grate tomatoes.
Discard skin.

Finely chop onion.
Thinly slice carrot and chop into a size matching onion.
Slice shishito into rounds.
Cut and tear chanterelle mushrooms into smaller pieces.

3.

In a frying pan, heat olive oil, and saute onion on medium to medium low heat until somewhat translucent.

Add carrot, and continue sauteing.

When carrot is coated with oil, add shishito and chanterelle, and continue sauteing.

4.

When shishito and chanterelle are basically cooked (shishito brightens, chanterelle color intensifies), add tomatoes and bay scallops.
If tomatoes are watery, raise heat to let liquid evaporate.

Stir, and cook until liquid is almost gone.

5.

Add rice, and mix well.

6.

Add ketchup, and mix well.

Add black pepper, and mix again.

Tomato rice is ready.

7.

In a small frying pan, heat olive oil, and add and melt half of butter.







Beat 1 egg (one each time, or beat both eggs at same time and use 1/2 per crepe). 

Pour and spread egg into a round shape, and cook on medium to medium low heat.

8.

While egg surface is still uncooked, put half of tomato rice in a rough oval shape in center.

Using a spatula, wrap both sides of tomato rice with egg crepe.

Flip over a plate.

9.

Pour ketchup topping sauce.

Heat remaining butter, and repeat for second omuraisu.

<Notes>

• I use steamed rice leftovers, which I keep frozen. Slightly heat rice in microwave before use; this makes it easy to mix with other ingredients.
• If you use canned tomatoes instead of fresh ones, watch the sodium content and adjust the amount of ketchup accordingly.
• No salt is added to this dish. Sodium from ketchup and bay scallops should be enough.
• Because all vegetables that go in tomato rice are cooked in liquid from grated tomatoes and bay scallops, they do not have to be cooked through in the preceding processes. 
• When flipping omuraisu over a plate, hold the frying pan in one hand and the plate in the other, and catch omuraisu with the plate as you flip the frying pan. When there is a lot of tomato rice, the egg crepe may unravel--tuck it underneath the rice to make the dish look neat.
• If shishito is not available, try green pepper, asparagus, sugar snap peas, green beans, fava beans or relatively thick stems of leafy vegetables.
• If you want a fluffier, omelet-like omuraisu, use 2 eggs per serving and a medium-size frying pan.