Around the World in 18 Breakfasts: Japan

Around the World in 18 breakfasts - Tamagoyaki

Week 1: Tamagoyaki

This week marked the first of our series of ‘Around the World’ breakfasts, with Japanese tamagoyaki – a slightly sweet rolled omelette. The name tamagoyaki literally means fried egg, tamago meaning ‘egg’ and yaki meaning fried. The ingredients are very simple and although it is traditionally made in a special rectangular frypan, we made it in a small round one and it turned out just fine. We served it up with some instant miso soup that we had in the cupboard and some soy sauce. Even though Crackers is not usually a huge fan of omelettes, this one was clearly a hit and we’ll definitely be making it again! We found this recipe at Japanese Cooking 101, along with a brilliant video tutorial which we have reproduced below. If you’re interested in Japanese food, this site is definitely worth checking out as it has some great recipes on it.

Around the World in 18 Breakfast - Japan

What you will need:

  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp mirin (or 1/4 tsp sugar)
  • 1 tsp oil
  • a small round frypan (or a rectangular one if you happen to have one)
  • soy sauce for serving (optional)

Method
1. Mix eggs, salt, soy sauce and mirin in a bowl.
2. Heat a pan at medium high temperature and add oil.
3. Pour a thin layer of egg mixture in the pan, tilting to cover the bottom of the pan. After the thin egg has set a little, gently roll into a log. Start to roll when the bottom of the egg has set and there is still liquid on top. Pour some more egg mixture to again cover the bottom of the pan, with the roll of egg at the end. After the new layer has set, roll the log back onto the the cooked thin egg and roll to the other end of the pan. Repeat, rolling back and forth until all the egg has been used.
4. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
5. Slice the log into 2cm pieces.

Here is the video tutorial from Japanese Cooking 101…

Around the World in 18 Breakfasts - making tamagoyaki

We used a small round pan rather than the traditional rectangular tamagoyaki frypan. Crackers also insisted on using chopsticks so I put an elastic band on them to hold them together and make them easier for him to use.

Join us on our journey!
This is the first of our ‘Around the World’ breakfasts. Each week we’ll be making something from a different country as part of our ‘Around the World in 18 Breakfasts’ series. Subscribe to our blog or follow us on Facebook or Pinterest to be part of the journey. Next stop: Brazil!