Omurice is fried rice wrapped in egg omelette. It’s a fusion dish that combines Asian fried rice with a Western omelette and ketchup. Flavored with sweet and tangy ketchup, omurice is especially popular with children.

If you don’t favor ketchup in fried rice, it can be omitted. The fried rice will still be delicious inside the soft egg omelette. Likewise, you can increase or decrease the amount of ketchup to your liking.

Use day old rice if available. If you need to make fresh rice, make it slightly drier by using a little less water than usual. It also helps if you rinse the rice well by vigorously swishing around with your hand. This washes off the starch on the surface of the rice, so the cooked rice won’t be as sticky.

This recipe uses two eggs per serving, but you can use three if you want a thick omelette covering your rice. You can also add a little bit of heavy cream or milk for a softer omelette. 

Prepare the fried rice ingredients by finely chopping them.

Heat a large skillet over high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the onion, scallion, carrot, celery and beef, and stir fry until the onion turns soft and the meat is cooked through. Stir in 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste.

Reduce the heat to medium high. Add the rice, and stir well until the clumped up rice is broken up and all the ingredients are well combined and fried. Add the ketchup, salt and pepper to taste, and continue to stir until the ketchup is evenly incorporated into the fried rice. Transfer to a plate if using the same pan (non-stick) for the eggs.

Crack and beat 2 eggs in a bowl with a spoon or a fork. Stir in a pinch of salt. Heat a small non-stick pan over medium low heat. Add the egg mixture to the pan and swirl it around to cover the pan.

When the bottom is set but the top is still runny, add one serving of the fried rice in the middle of the egg omelette.

Using a spatula, fold both sides of the omelette over the rice.

Push the whole omurice to the side of the pan. Flip it onto a plate. You can shape the omurice by hand using aluminium foil or a paper towel, if desired. Drizzle some ketchup on top. Repeat the last 3 steps for another serving.

For more recipes visit www.koreanbapsang.com.


By Ro Hyo-sun