Omurice (Oh moo rice) - Japanese Rice Omlet

For our playdate, Miho wanted to introduce us to another traditional Japanese meal.  Remember, the last time we went over she made us Hayashi Rice?  I make that now for us in the apartment.  And, if you want, I'll make it for you when we get home.

This time, she wanted to share with us Omurice.  This is a meal we see alot in restaurant windows.  Jim has ordered it twice.  It's basically rice with an egg rolled around it.  But Miho showed me how to make it and the girls ate it fairly well.  Could be another dish we make occasionally at home?  We will see.

First you make the rice.  Miho cut up chicken, green peppers and onion then added carrots, peas and corn and sauteed them in a pan.  She then folded this mixture in to white rice she also cooked.  And added lots of ketchup to the mixture.  Now, Japanese ketchup is not quite the same as American Ketchup.  It's more sour.  It's fairly similar, but there is a difference.  Theour re is also a difference in Japanese Mayonnaise.  It's also more sour.  I like it better, but I really don't care for mayo...except in chicken salad.

But anyway, here is the beginnings of the inside mixture.  Isn't it pretty?

Then you scramble some eggs and add a thin layer to the pan and cook it.  Take that pancake looking - very thin egg layer and wrap it over your rice mixture.  Some mamas here draw pictures or write words in ketchup on the top.  As you can see in the complete picture above, I put a heart on mine.

In the picture at the very top, to the left, you can also see she made us a potato salad dish with the Japanese Mayonnaise.  I liked it very much.  They don't call it potato "salad" here, but it's very similar in how it's made to our version.  Just the mayonnaise is more sour.

We enjoyed our time on the 10th floor with our friends.  It's great to play with other people (for the girls and me).  Miho and I spent part of the afternoon together looking at Japanese cookbooks.  I could ask her what was this and that...things I've seen out that we didn't know what it was.  She could explain cultural things to me.  Sometimes using the computer to look up a word in Japanese or English so we could understand one another better.  It's really a blessing for us that she has opened her home to us and wants to share things with us.  And, all of us enjoy the time that we spend together.

There is a small possibility we could see them again...Miho's husband has family in Chicago and if they ever take the journey across the ocean to visit them, we could very easily meet them for an afternoon and then visit with our Chicago family too.  Something to hold on to when it's hard to say goodbye...