How To Make Japanese Tamagoyaki, Omurice and Custard Pudding

I recently attended a Japan Egg Cooking Workshop hosted by the Japan Livestock Export Promotion Council to learn more about Japanese eggs and how to make three classic Japanese egg dishes - tamagoyaki, omurice and pudding! For example, did you know that Japanese eggs can be eaten raw for up to 3 weeks from the day the egg is produced? Because it is quite normal to eat eggs raw in Japan, strict measures and tests are implemented and conducted to ensure that the eggs are safe to eat. 

This colorful logo serves as proof to the quality and safety of the eggs from Japan so be on the look out for it on product packaging and even restaurants who uses Japanese eggs.

Our cooking instructor for the day was Kei San, who is from Hokkaido but can speak Cantonese fluently! He taught us how to make 3 classic recipes using Japanese eggs which are all relatively easy quick to make.

Tamagoyaki

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2/3 Tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
Oil

1) Put the eggs, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.

2) Turn the heat on the stove to medium and coat the entire surface of the rectangular tamagoyaki pan with oil (if you don't have tamagoyaki pan, you can still use a small pan for this).

3) Spread 1/3 of the egg mixture onto the pan evenly.

Use chopsticks to make sure the bottom is cooked and start rolling the egg when it is ready.

4) Once the first layer of egg is rolled, push it all the way to the far end of the pan, oil the pan again if needed, and pour another 1/3 of the egg mixture into the pan.

A tip is to lift the rolled up egg so that the new layer of egg yolk can reach all the way to the end of the pan. Roll the egg when the second layer of egg is ready.

5) Repeat step 4 with the remaining 1/3 of the egg mixture.

That's it and your tamagoyaki is done!

Omurice (Japanese Omelette Rice)

Ingredients for Rice:

2 cups rice

100g chopped chicken bits

1/2 chopped onion

6 Tbsp ketchup

Ingredients for Omelette:

2 eggs

1 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp butter

2-3Tbsp Ketchup

1) Prepare the rice by pan-frying the onion, chicken, rice, and ketchup.

2) For the omelette, turn the pan to medium and heat the butter until it is fully melted. Add the eggs and milk mixture to the pan and let it spread evenly around the pan.

2) Once the egg is almost done, add the rice in the center of the omelette. Be careful not to add too much or your omelette may not be able to wrap fully around it.

3) Fold both sides of the omelette around the rice and push it to the edge of the pan in order to transfer the omelette onto a plate. Hold a plate in one hand and the pan in the other, and flip the pan to move the omurice onto the plate (swift motion is required!). Garnish with ketchup as desired.

Ta-da!

Custard Pudding

Ingredients:
2 eggs
250 ml milk
3 Tbsp sugar
2-3 drops vanilla extract

1) Mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract in a large bowl and then add the room-temperature milk last

2) Use a sieve before pouring the mixture into containers which are then to be placed in a pot of boiling water (water level should be 2/3 of the height to the containers)

3) Close the lid and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat completely and let it sit for another 10 minutes. After that, let the custards chill completely before putting it in the refrigerator.

4) Lastly, when you are ready to eat, sprinkle sugar onto the surface of the pudding and use a blowtorch to caramelize the sugar like a creme brulee. 

Enjoy!

*By Invitation

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