Pork Omurice (Japanese Pork Fried Rice Omelette With Okonomiyaki Sauce)

You don't need to be an omelette expert to make this simple omurice dish of pork fried rice topped with egg and okonomiyaki sauce.

By
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Editorial Director
Daniel joined the Serious Eats culinary team in 2014 and writes recipes, equipment reviews, articles on cooking techniques. Prior to that he was a food editor at Food & Wine magazine, and the staff writer for Time Out New York's restaurant and bars section.
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Updated March 06, 2023
Omurice on plate

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

Why It Works

  • Sautéing the rice in batches keeps the skillet nice and hot, for optimal browning and flavor.
  • By not rolling the eggs into a true omelette shape, you'll find it far easier to drape them over the rice, as the dish is served in Japan.

Japan's omurice, which also goes by the names omumeshi and omuraisu, is an fascinating dish of fried rice served with an omelette. It's surprisingly easy to make at home.

I got the idea for this version of omurice, using okonomiyaki sauce and pork, at the very same restaurant in Japan where I watched the chef make the omurice on a griddle. The restaurant in question was in Ozu, Ehime Prefecture; my guide told me that this type of omurice is made at just a couple of restaurants there, although I can't say firsthand whether it's more common elsewhere in Japan.

The process starts out exactly the same: I fry cooked rice in batches and transfer it to a bowl as I go. In place of the carrots, I use some chopped cabbage, searing it in smoking-hot oil to brown it and give it a sweet nuttiness before adding chunks of pork belly or bacon.

The rice goes back in, and the whole thing gets tossed with okonomiyaki sauce. You can buy the sauce at a Japanese grocery or online, or make your own by combining equal parts ketchup and Worcestershire, then seasoning with soy sauce.

I sprinkle in some scallions and a pinch of cayenne pepper at the very end, then remove the rice from the skillet and make the omelette.

To serve it, I use the exact same process as for the variation with chicken and ketchup: molding the rice with a bowl, sliding the soft omelette on top, then drizzling it with okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise, along with a little sprinkle of ao-nori, a green seaweed that's commonly served with okonomiyaki.

Once you've got the cooked rice on hand (and, by the way, this dish works equally well with fresh-cooked or day-old rice), it's just about as fast and easy as a meal can get...so long as you don't try to go for the theatrical version.

August 2016

Recipe Details

Pork Omurice (Japanese Pork Fried Rice Omelette) Recipe

Active 30 mins
Total 30 mins
Serves 2 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked white sushi rice (12 ounces; 350g); see notes

  • 4 tablespoons (60ml) vegetable or canola oil, divided

  • 1/2 cup minced yellow onion (100g; about 1/2 medium onion)

  • 1/2 cup (40g) diced green cabbage

  • 2 strips (50g) thinly sliced fresh pork belly or bacon

  • 1/4 cup (60ml) okonomiyaki sauce, plus more for garnish (see notes)

  • 1 scallion

  • Cayenne pepper, to taste

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 4 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt

  • Kewpie mayonnaise and ao-nori, for serving (optional; see notes)

Directions

  1. If using day-old rice, transfer to a medium bowl and break rice up with your hands into individual grains before proceeding. Heat 1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable oil in a 10-inch carbon steel or nonstick skillet over high heat until lightly smoking. Add half of rice and cook, stirring and tossing, until rice is pale brown and toasted and has a lightly chewy texture, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Repeat with another tablespoon (15ml) oil and remaining rice.

    Cooked sushi rice and toasted rice

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  2. Add another tablespoon (15ml) oil to skillet, return to high heat, and heat until smoking. Add onion and cabbage and cook, stirring and tossing, until just tender and lightly browned in spots, about 3 minutes. Add pork and cook, stirring, until cooked through and starting to lightly brown, about 3 minutes.

    cabbage and cooked pork

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  3. Return rice to pan and toss until well combined with vegetables. Add okonomiyaki sauce and cook, stirring and tossing, until sauce is reduced and each grain of rice is separate and coated in a shiny sheen of sauce. Toss in scallion, then season with cayenne, salt, and pepper. Scrape rice mixture into a small heatproof bowl, packing it down. Invert a serving plate on top of the bowl of rice, then rotate both so that bowl is sitting inverted on top of plate. Set aside.

    Rice well combined with vegetables inside skillet

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  4. Wipe out skillet with a paper towel and return to medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon (15ml) oil and heat until shimmering. Add eggs and stir rapidly with a spatula, while shaking pan to agitate eggs; make sure to move spatula all around pan to break up curds and scrape them from bottom of skillet as they form. Stop stirring as soon as eggs are very softly scrambled and creamy (but still loose enough to come together into a single mass), 1 to 2 minutes.

    Very softly scrambled and creamy eggs inside skillet over medium-high heat

  5. Using spatula, gently spread egg in an even layer around skillet and scrape down any wispy bits around the edges. The top surface should be loose and creamy, but if it looks too liquid and raw, let cook, undisturbed, for another few seconds. (If it still flows, you can swirl skillet to send loose egg to the edges, where it will set more quickly.) Remove from heat.

    Eggs spread in an even layer around skillet, with any wispy bits scraped down from around the edges

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  6. Lift bowl from rice; rice should hold a mound-like form. Slide open-face omelette on top of rice mound. Garnish with a squeeze of okonomiyaki sauce and Kewpie mayonnaise, if using. Garnish with ao-nori, if using. Serve right away.

    Rice holding a mound-like form on plate after lifting bowl from rice, and open-face omelette slid on top of rice mound

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

Special Equipment

10-inch nonstick skillet or 10-inch carbon steel skillet

Notes

Rice should either be cooked fresh, spread on a tray, and allowed to cool for 5 minutes, or, alternatively, transferred to a loosely covered container and refrigerated for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. Ao-nori is powdered green sea laver; it can be replaced with finely shredded nori, or omitted. Okonomiyaki sauce is a sweet and savory sauce; it can be replaced with Bull-Dog sauce or equal parts Worcestershire sauce and ketchup seasoned with soy sauce. Kewpie mayonnaise is a Japanese-style sweet mayonnaise; it can be replaced with regular mayonnaise.

Read More

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
769Calories
45gFat
66gCarbs
23gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories769
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 45g58%
Saturated Fat 7g37%
Cholesterol 393mg131%
Sodium 1117mg49%
Total Carbohydrate 66g24%
Dietary Fiber 2g6%
Total Sugars 16g
Protein 23g
Vitamin C 13mg65%
Calcium 104mg8%
Iron 3mg15%
Potassium 472mg10%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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