Next time you order Chinese food for delivery, don’t throw out that extra carton of rice they give you. You can make omelets with it. I definitely thought this was a screwy-sounding idea until I tried it. Omuraisu, as the dish is called, is Japanese home cooking at its best. You dump the leftover starch in a hot pan, as you would for fried rice, season it with a salty-sweet sauce you’ll want to bottle, then fold it all up in a thin, fluffy egg wrapper. The filling can be made with any day-old cooked rice and enjoyed on its own, but I encourage you to follow the recipe through to the end: I promise this omelet is a bundle of joy.
Directions
- Heat the miso, maple syrup, ketchup, and soy sauce together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to combine, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Watch closely, as it can burn quickly. Remove pan from the heat.
- Heat a large cast-iron skillet on the stove, gradually increasing the heat from low to medium. Add the sausage and sauté, stirring occasionally, until it’s crisp and the fat has been rendered, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and sauté just until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the rice, using a wooden spoon to break it up, and combine the ingredients. Cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes, then stir in 3 tablespoons of the sauce to incorporate. Season with pepper. Transfer the rice to a medium bowl and stir in the basil.
- In a medium bowl, lightly beat together the eggs, crème fraîche, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a spouted measuring cup. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in an 8-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, pour in one-fourth of the egg mixture (about ⅓ cup). As the eggs begin to set, tilt the pan toward you and, using a spatula, lift the edges of the omelet so any uncooked egg can run underneath. Next, tilt the pan away from you. Repeat this tilting and lifting, back and forth, until the omelet is set but still slightly runny on top, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and gently slide the omelet out flat onto a plate. Line half of the omelet with one-fourth of the rice mixture, then fold the empty half over the filling to form a half-moon.
- Repeat to make 3 more omelets, using the rest of the oil and egg- and-rice mixtures as above, and plating each separately. Wipe the pan clean between omelets. Drizzle some of the remaining sauce over each omelet, garnish with the fresh herbs, and serve.
Reprinted with permission from Kitchen Remix by Charlotte Druckman, copyright © 2020. Photographs by Aubrie Pick. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.
