Omurice is a Japanese dish with fried rice, deli ham, mushrooms, onion, carrots, peas, mixed with soy sauce and ketchup, and an upside-down omelet on top.
I’ll be perfectly honest, omurice is one of those dishes you either love or don’t care for. (Our house was divided!)
With that said, most love omurice!
What is omurice?
It’s a western-style Japanese fried rice dish mixed with ketchup and a scrambled egg on top. The word “omurice” (yōshoku in Japanese) translates to omelet and rice.
If you have the time, I recommend watching this video of Japanese omurice being cooked by omurice artist Yoshimura.
Ingredients for Omurice
- Cooked Short-Grain White Rice
- Butter
- Sliced Mushrooms
- Shredded Carrots
- Medium-Sized Yellow Onion
- Peas
- Ketchup
- Soy Sauce
- Large Eggs
- Deli Ham – Can substitute with diced chicken, ground chicken, or ground beef
- Salt
Okay, some of these ingredients might sound so odd together. Deli ham is how we originally had omurice. Omurice has many variations so if the ham is too odd, go for diced chicken! Or leave it out and have a vegetable version.
As for the ketchup, yes it goes in it, and to us, it actually doesn’t come out tasting like ketchup-flavored rice.
It’s mixed with soy sauce as well and that helps balance the flavor. Another way I have seen Japanese omurice prepared is with a savory demi-glace.
How to Make Omurice
- As stated above, if you have the time, I recommend watching this video of Japanese omurice being cooked by omurice artist Yoshimura.
- Rinse and dice all vegetables. Slice ham into small squares. Heat butter over medium-high heat in a large pan with deep sides.
- Add vegetables and sliced ham once the butter is melted. Season with salt and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add rice to the vegetables and stir, breaking up any lumps of rice. Whisk ketchup and soy sauce together and mix well into the rice.
- Once you have your rice mixture ready, grab a small bowl and fill it to the top. I measured my little bowl and it holds 1 ⅓ cup of rice and vegetables.
- If you don’t care to have it molded, you can just as easily grab a measuring cup and place 1 ⅓ cup of rice onto your plate.
- Once you have the small dish filled, place a plate on top. Carefully hold the bowl against the plate and flip. Remove the small dish. Next, we make the omelet on top.
Make the Omelet
- In a small dish, add 2 eggs, season with salt, and scramble with a fork.
- In a small lightly greased pan, heat to medium-high temperature.
- Once hot, add scrambled eggs and rotate the pan so that the egg spreads and covers the bottom of the pan.
- Once the bottom of the eggs is cooked and the top is still slightly runny, turn off the heat. It’s meant to be slightly undercooked.
- Carefully transfer the omelet, runny side down onto the rice. The cooked side should be face up.
- Top with a drizzle of ketchup. Repeat step 4 for each serving that you plan to serve right away.
Recommended Recipes
- Air Fryer Egg Rolls with Sweet and Sour Sauce
- General Tso's Chicken
- Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Instant Pot Ginger Pepper Steak
- Instant Pot Korean BBQ Beef Short Ribs
- Korean BBQ Beef Tenderloin Rice Stack
- Leftover Pork Fried Rice
- Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing
- Japanese Steakhouse Ginger Sauce
- Teppanyaki Fried Rice
Omurice
Ingredients
- 6 cups Cooked Short-Grain White Rice
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 2 cups Sliced Mushrooms
- ½ cup Shredded Carrots
- 1 Medium-Sized Diced Yellow Onion
- ⅓ cup Peas
- 4 tablespoon Ketchup
- 2 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 12 Large Eggs
- 10 Slices Deli Ham
- Salt
Instructions
- Rinse and dice all vegetables. Slice ham into small squares. Heat butter over medium-high heat in a large pan with deep sides (or a wok.) Add vegetables and sliced ham once the butter is melted. Season with salt and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add cooked rice to the vegetables and stir, breaking up any lumps of rice. Whisk ketchup and soy sauce together and mix well into the rice.
- Use a small bowl and fill it with rice mixture. Place a plate on top of the bowl, and flip while holding the bowl against the plate. Carefully lift the bowl from the plate so that the rice stays in a nice circular shape. Repeat step 3 for each serving. (Or skip the bowl flip and add 1 ⅓ cup of rice to each plate.)
- Make the omelet: In a small dish, add 2 eggs, season with salt, and scramble with a fork. In a small lightly greased pan, heat to medium-high temperature. Once hot, add scrambled eggs and rotate the pan so that egg spreads and covers the bottom of the pan. Once the bottom of the eggs are cooked and the top is slightly runny, turn off the heat.
- Carefully transfer the omelet, runny side down onto the rice. The cooked side should be face up. Top with a drizzle of ketchup. Repeat step 4 for each serving.
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