Breakfast in Japan - Tamagoyaki - Rolled Omelet

Tamagoyaki is a type of omelet that Japanese children are used to but in the United States, it is not often seen.  Part of the difficulty is that it is easier to cook in a rectangular frying pan and I used a round one.  That made it a bit more difficult but not impossible.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

 

- 5 eggs

- 1 Tbsp Japanese Sake or rice wine ( I used a bit of the kind with the gold flakes to celebrate that a new grandson will be coming this fall.)

- 1/3 Tbsp salt

- 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

-  4 Tbsp olive oil

- 2 Tbsp - Sugar
- A bit of foie gras oil
- a handful of spinach leaves chopped finely
- fresh or dried thyme and parsley
- lemon and orange pepper or lemon pepper
- 1/2- 1 cup of assorted shredded cheeses ( I used an Italian blend and Swiss.)

Directions:

I combined the five eggs, sake, soy sauce, salt,and sugar and then mixed with an electric hand blender until foamy. I heated the pan to medium low (4) and added the foie gras oil and a tablespoon of the olive oil.  Then, I poured in about 1/2 cup of the egg mixture and swirled the pan too get a thin covering layer of egg.  I increased the heat to 5 and covered the pan to get the egg cooking.  When the egg layer was 1/2 way cooked, I used a spatula to start at one end and roll up the cooking egg. Leaving to one side of the pan, I poured another 1/2 cup of the egg mixture, making sure I lifted the rolled egg and going underneath so it would all cook together. Then, as it started to cook, I added some off the cheese and spinach. I repeated the rolling procedure adding different spices and cheeses to each layer until I was out of the egg mixture and had one complete roll sitting in the pan (nicely browned on the edges).

Finally, I slid the roll out onto the cutting board and put two slices of foie gras in the pan and slightly browned both sides to bring out the flavor.  I cut the roll sushi style and divided it evenly on the plates around the foie gras slice.  I don't have a picture of it but I served it with a wasabi paste for my husband.  He said it tasted fabulous with the cold leftover cumin, lemon, and cream cheese sauce from last night, too!

Reflections:  I need a rectangular frying pan to make this a lot easier. Apparently, kids in Japan take this for lunch too, and I can see myself making this the night before to take for lunch.  It could have a lot of variety depending on the cheese and toppings used in each layer.  I also used eggs fresh from a friend's farm and I think that makes it taste even better! The temp needs to be watched carefully because the sugar can burn.