Liam Lawson's love of Japanese omelets
If you don't have a Yuki Tsunoda to make your omelet for you, home-cooked is fine.
Welcome to Grand Prix Gastronomy! In 2024, this series is dedicated to cooking the favorite dishes of every driver on the grid.
The Foods That Liam Lawson Loves
Pasta. Ask Liam Lawson about his favorite food, and he'll tell you pasta. No pasta shape. No sauce accompaniment. Just plain ol’ pasta. Because that is the world's most boring answer, I kept digging.
Ask him about his favorite cuisine, and he'll say Japanese food. That's it. No specifics. No dishes in mind. Just “Japanese food.” That, too, is the world's most boring anwer.
That led me to a great video of Yuki Tsunoda whipping up an omelet for his teammate. I'll be honest — Yuki frickin’ nailed it, and Liam loved it. So, I've decided to whip up a spin on a Japanese omelet: omurice.
This Week's Recipes
Omurice is basically a very soft omelet served over a bed of fried rice and topped with ketchup. I'll be totally honest in saying that I've always wanted to try this particular dish, but it's one of those things that I know would be tough to master at home (at least, as far as the egg consistency is concerned). Plus, it's also a fairly straightforward dish, so I've always hesitated to order it at a restaurant.
For my recipe, I picked a tasty looking omurice recipe from I Heart Umami. Note that this site is dedicated to a healthier spin on Asian food; I bypassed the shirataki rice suggestion and instead opted to cook two servings of the sushi rice I bought to make Sergio Perez's favorite food. This is a pretty forgiving recipe, so do whatever makes you happy!
Core Recipe:
Cooking Omurice
First things first: It's rice time.
I used dried short-grain sushi rice for this recipe, but any short-grain rice will do just fine. As you did with the sushi recipe, rinse the dried rice thoroughly, multiple times, until the washing water runs clear. Then, add the dried rice to a pot with some water and cook through. It'll probably take around 15 minutes; after that, remove the pot from the heat and let it rest with the lid on for a few.
That'll give you time to prep everything else. I diced up some yellow onion and ham, then measured out a scoop of frozen peas. That done, heat up some oil and butter, and sauté the onion until soft. Add in the peas and ham and fry for a moment, then toss in the rice.
When everything is heated through, stir some ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, then season with salt and pepper. Transfer the rice mixture to a small bowl, really squishing it down in there so it molds to the shape of the bowl. Then, overturn it on a plate.
Now you can work on the omelet. Whisk the eggs and creamer together until just combined. Melt butter in a frying pan, then drop the heat before you add the eggs. As they cook, slowly fold the edges in toward the center with a wooden spoon. Gently fold it in half and cook just long enough that the exterior is set, but the interior is a little runny.
Place the omelet on your rice ball, then top with more ketchup and enjoy!
So, What's The Verdict?
If you've seen viral videos of omurice, then you know the most satisfying part of the whole dish. After the omelet is served atop your fried rice, you slice down the middle and watch the gooey innards spill out over your rice. It's beautiful. It's mesmerizing. I've always wanted to see it with my own two eyes.
Alas: I overcooked my eggs.
I believe a wise man once said, “practice makes perfect,” and, well, I didn't practice. It only follows that I should then not be perfect.
While it was a little disappointing, I couldn't be totally heartbroken. Eggs and fried rice is my absolute favorite combination in the universe, and I still got to have both of those things piled up on top of one another for my dinner. It just wasn't as ooey gooey as I'd hoped.
But the rice. Wow, the rice!
I was super skeptical about the whole “ketchup” thing, but now I understand. The ketchup adds a little bit of sweetness that can be counteracted by the worcestershire sauce. I'll also be honest: I added in some soy sauce and a topping of Japanese bbq sauce, just for fun. I highly recommend.
So, even though I kinda screwed up the egg part — the part of the whole affair that Liam Lawson though was delicious when it was served to him by Yuki Tsunoda — I'll still consider this whole endeavor a success. And next time, maybe I'll have a Yuki Tsunoda around to cook it for me.
Ready… Set… COOK!
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Omurice was one of my standards when I lived alone I never mastered the cut ooze thing but it always came out tasting good which was my priority.