Easy Omurice: Omelet Rice Featuring Ketchup Fried Rice

Making a restaurant-quality omurice at home is easier than you think. With its savory ketchup fried rice and a soft, fluffy egg omelet topping, this omelet rice recipe is a meal that everyone will enjoy. Try this omelette rice recipe tonight and let me know how it turned out in the comments.

What Is Omurice?

Omu rice is a Japanese Western-style dish made by placing an omelet on top of fried rice. The fried rice usually contains chicken or ham, onions, and carrots, and is stir-fried with ketchup to create flavorful ketchup fried rice.

The omelet can either be thin and wrapped around the rice or softly cooked and placed on top. Common sauces include ketchup or demi-glace sauce, but at home, most people simply drizzle ketchup over the omelet rice.

Although omurice is not Korean food but Japanese cuisine, many Koreans are very familiar with it and often enjoy it as a home-cooked meal. Over time, the recipe has been adapted into a Korean-style omelet rice recipe using ingredients commonly found in Korean kitchens. Today’s omu rice recipe is one of those Korean-style versions that is easy to make at home.

The Origin of Omurice (Japanese Western-Style Food)

• Rengatei (Tokyo, around 1900): Kitchen staff mixed rice and ingredients with eggs and cooked them together so they could eat quickly with one hand during busy hours.

• Hokkyokusei (Osaka, around 1925): A chef created omurice for a regular customer with a weak stomach by wrapping fried rice in a soft omelet.

Different Styles of Omurice

• Classic Folded Omu rice:
  The omelet wraps around the ketchup rice, just like in today’s omelette rice recipe.
• Torn Omelet (Tokyo-Style Fluffy Omu rice):
  A thick, fluffy omelet is placed on top of the rice and then sliced open to cover the rice.
• Demi-Glace Omu rice:
  Soft-cooked omelet rice topped with rich demi-glace sauce instead of ketchup.

K-Omurice vs. J-Omurice: Key Differences

Omelette rice is one of the Japanese dishes that became popular in Korea, similar to donkatsu. However, Korean-style omelette rice is slightly different from the Japanese version.

• Protein: In Japan, chicken is most commonly used. In Korea, sausages, bacon, or Spam are more popular choices for ketchup fried rice.
• Sauce: Japanese recipes often use ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. In Korean homes, Worcestershire sauce is less common, so ketchup is often combined with soy sauce, oyster sauce, or tonkatsu sauce. In this omelette rice recipe, tonkatsu sauce is used as an easy substitute.

Ingredients for Omelette Rice

For the Ketchup Rice

• Cooked rice: 1 large bowl
• Small onion: 1/2
• Green onion: 1/3 stalk
• Carrot: 1/5
• Sausage (or ham): 2 links / 70g
• Ketchup: 2 tbsp
• Tonkatsu sauce: 1 tbsp
• Cooking oil: 2 tbsp

For the Omelet

• Eggs: 2 large
• Salt: 1 pinch

For the Special Omu rice Sauce

(This sauce can be skipped. You can simply drizzle ketchup and mayonnaise instead. I skipped this sauce today.)

• Tonkatsu sauce: 4 tbsp
• Ketchup: 1.5 tbsp
• Butter: 1 tbsp
• Oligosaccharide (or liquid syrup): 1 tbsp
• Water: 30 ml

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Prepare the Vegetables and Sausages

Finely dice the carrots and onions so they cook evenly. Thinly slice the green onions and sausages. Sausages add a rich, smoky flavor to the ketchup fried rice.

2. Cook the Fluffy Omelet

Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Pour in the beaten eggs with a pinch of salt. If you want a softer omelet, you can add 1–2 tbsp of milk or heavy cream. Cook the eggs flat and thin, then set aside.

3. Sauté the Fried Rice

Heat oil in a pan and sauté onions, carrots, green onions, and sausages. Once the sausages are lightly browned, add the rice, ketchup, and tonkatsu sauce. Stir-fry until every grain is coated, creating flavorful ketchup fried rice.

4. Simmer the Signature Sauce (Optional)

This sauce can be skipped. I skipped it and finished the omelet rice with ketchup and mayonnaise instead. Combine all sauce ingredients in a small pot and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes.

5. Plating Like a Pro

Place the fried ketchup rice on one side of the omelet and fold the other half over. Drizzle with ketchup, mayonnaise, and sprinkle parsley for a classic omurice finish.

Omelette Rice Sauce Recipe

At home, most people simply add ketchup to omelet rice. If you want a simple but flavorful sauce, follow this recipe. Simmer 4 tbsp tonkatsu sauce, 1.5 tbsp ketchup, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp syrup, and 30 ml water for 5 minutes.

When to Make Omurice

• When you feel too lazy to cook:
  This omelette rice recipe takes only 10 minutes.
• When you want to cook for kids:
  The sweet ketchup fried rice flavor makes it a kid-friendly meal.
• When you want to use up all the vegetables in your fridge:
  Omu rice is perfect for cleaning out leftover vegetables.
• When you have too many eggs:
  This omelet rice recipe uses plenty of eggs.
• When you need to use leftover rice:
  Omurice is ideal for leftover rice, and cold rice actually makes better fried rice.

Great Recipe for Using Leftover Rice

Omelet rice recipe is perfect for using leftover rice. Here are more easy rice recipes:

• Tuna Mayo Rice:
  A simple rice bowl topped with tuna mayo and eggs. Affordable, easy, and popular among Korean students.

• Cream Kimchi Fried Rice:
  Kimchi fried rice dipped in a cheesy cream sauce, known for its spicy and creamy balance.

FAQ about Perfect Omelette Rice