Omurice, literally “omelette rice” in English, is a very popular “Western” dish in Japan. It consists of fried rice covered in an omelette and topped with some sort of red sauce, often ketchup. My version is a super easy, clean-out-the-fridge weeknight meal that uses leftover pasta sauce instead.
What is Omurice?
Omurice is fried rice topped with an omelette and sauce. It’s a type of yoshoku, which refers to a category of “Western” style cuisine that’s eaten in Japan. Other yoshoku include dishes like curry rice, and hayashi rice. They’re uniquely Japanese dishes that have Western culinary influences. You can find omurice and other yoshoku at cafes, diners, and casual chain restaurants in Japan.
My experience with omurice, however, goes back to a humble chain of Japanese cafes in southern California called Curry House.
Do any of you guys remember Curry House? They closed several years ago, but my family ate there frequently when I was growing up. As the name implies, their menu consisted predominantly of curry rice, but they had other yoshoku as well, including Japanese pastas and my favorite omurice. Curry House was one of the FEW places to find those yoshoku dishes in SoCal, so I was devastated when they closed.
The thing I loved about their omurice was that they did NOT use ketchup. Sorry to all the ketchup lovers out there. I’m just not a huge fan. Instead, they served their omurice with some sort of pasta sauce. I can’t remember exactly, but it was spiced and maybe like a meat sauce? Or maybe it was a demi glace… Cut me some slack, I haven’t had their food since high school, probably.
Anyway, point is, it was the BEST. Ever since then, I have always made my omurice with pasta sauce!
Sauce for Omurice
I feel like I need to mention here that there are other options for omurice sauces. You can definitely use ketchup (sigh). Another popular option is a demi glace, which is a meat stock and red wine sauce. If you, like me, want omurice as a quick and easy meal and are not interested in making demi glace from scratch, you could use hayashi rice roux to make your sauce! That’s what my friend from Osaka does.
But my quick hack for omurice sauce is to use leftover red pasta sauce! I’ve used meat sauce, tomato sauce from scratch, or store-bought marinara. It all works.
Red Pasta Sauce Recipe
I know this is supposed to be a quick and easy recipe, but I thought I’d throw out my red sauce recipe. I usually make this the day before and serve it with pasta for my family. Then, I use the leftovers for omurice the next day. See? Still quick and easy.
Ingredients:
- 1 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes
- olive oil
- 5-6 cloves garlic, diced
- 1/2 onion diced
- pinch of herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil)
- 1/4 cup white wine
Method:
Saute onions and garlic in olive oil. Add herbs and stir until fragrant (about a minute). Add white wine and let simmer a couple minutes. Finally, dump in the tomatoes, crushing them with a wooden spoon and let simmer.
Boom. That’s it! Still pretty easy, right?
Clean Out the Fridge
Omurice is a great clear out the fridge meal, since it uses fried rice. You can dump all your leftover veggies and rice into it. But to make it even EASIER on myself, I often use a frozen veggie medley bought from the grocery store. It’s just fry the rice, add the veggies, stir in the sauce, and you’re halfway there. Top with an omelette, and you’re done! I like to spoon a little extra pasta sauce on top of the omelette as well.
How to Shape Omurice
Typically, omurice is shaped kind of like a football. Fot those of you not in the US, that’s American football, not… the rest of the world’s football. Don’t get me started on American terminology. Now, how you get your omelette and rice into a football shape is really up to you. There are some dang fancy ways of doing it – have you seen the tornado egg omurice on TikTok?
Some people cook the omelette so the inside is still runny, flip it onto the rice, then cut a line down the middle so the egg all spills out.
That’s beyond my skill level.
My method is this: cook your omelette into a plain ol’ flat circle. Shape your fried rice into a football shape. Place omelette on top of rice. Pat the edges down.
If your omelette is super hot, you can use a paper towel to shape it over the rice so you don’t burn your hands. It’s not fancy, but it’s effective.
And that’s about it! I hope you enjoy!
Pasta Sauce Omurice (Japanese Omelette Rice)
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 cups Japanese rice cooked and refrigerated
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen veggie medley
- 1 cup red pasta sauce storebought or homemade
- 4 eggs 1 egg per serving
- oil for frying
- salt
Instructions
- In a large wok, heat oil and garlic. Add onions and saute until soft.
- Add cold rice, and use a spatula to break up the chunks.
- When rice is heated and frying, add frozen veggies. Mix thoroughly; the veggies should only take 1-2 mins to heat up.
- Add 1/2 cup of pasta sauce and mix. Taste your rice and add salt as needed.
- Set fried rice aside as you prepare the omelette. Omurice is served in single servings, so make each omelette as you serve.
- Lightly beat one egg and pour it into a small skillet over stovetop, spreading it out to create a thin omelette. Cook until it's about 80% done.
- Scoop about a cup of fried rice onto a plate and shape it into a football.
- Slide the hot cooked omelette on top of the rice. Put a paper towel over the omelette (so you don't burn your hands) and use your hands to press the ends of the omelette over the edges of the rice, maintaining the football shape.
- Top with an extra drizzle of pasta sauce and repeat the process for all your servings.
Notes
More Yoshoku Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to check out my Hamburg Steak Loco Moco and my Air Fryer Korokke as well!