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1 egg tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette)
10 Jun 2008 by maki
Tamagoyaki, the slightly sweet rolled Japanese omelette, is a standby protein item for bentos. It tastes great at room temperature, is fairly easy to make (once you’ve done it a few times), and is cheap too. Plus the cheery yellow color brightens up any bento box.
There is one drawback with tamagoyaki: unless you have a tiny tamagoyaki pan (which is a single-purpose piece of kitchen equipment, something I try to avoid stocking in my not-so-large kitchen), you need to make it with a least 2, preferably 3 or more, eggs, to produce the distinctive multilayers of egg. This is fine if you’re making bentos for two or more people, but when you’re making bento for one you may not necessarily want to eat 2 eggs at a time. And tamagoyaki held in the fridge for more than a day never tastes as nice.
This method of making a 1-egg tamagoyaki in a normal small frying pan was in a recent issue of Kyou no ryouri (Today’s Cooking), my favorite Japanese food magazine. I’ve tried it out a few times now, and I’m totally sold on it. It does make a slightly flatter tamagoyaki than a multi-egg one, but it still has those nice layers.
Here’s how to make it step by step.
Recipe: 1-egg tamagoyaki
You can also use the basic tamagoyaki recipe and reduce the ingredients to one quarter.
- 1 ‘large’ egg
- 1 Tbs. water
- 1 tsp. soy sauce (regular or light-colored; here I used regular, since that’s all I had in stock)
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1 Tbs. bonito flakes (optional, for added flavor)
- Vegetable oil for cooking
Mix all the ingredients together well with a fork or chopsticks. Heat up a small (6 inch or 15cm) non-stick frying pan and spread thinly with oil (or use a non-stick cooking spray).
From this point on, it only takes about a minute and a half!
Once the pan is hot (if you put a droplet of water in, it dances and evaporates immediately), pour in the egg.
Stir gently with a fork or chopsticks until it’s half-set.
Fold in half with a spatula.
Tidy up the other side a bit with the spatula.
Fold the one third of the egg over with the spatula. Press down.
Fold the other end of the egg over with the spatula. Press the whole thing down.
Flip over, and press again. Remove from the heat before it browns too much. (If you use light colored soy sauce, it won’t get as brown.)
Cut in half and put cut side up, it is nicely multi-layered.
A 1-egg tamagoyaki is only about 100 calories and is great as a secondary protein, paired with a small piece of fish, a tiny tuna tofu burger or black bean mini burger and so on.
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tamagoyaki pan
Thanks for the great post. I’ve been looking for a tamagoyaki recipe. I disagree however with your characterization of the tamagoyaki pan as a single purpose item. I live in Tokyo and am lucky enough to be able to buy the pan at my local Seiyu. And I also live in a small space.
I use my tamagoyaki pan for many things. Hot dogs fit perfectly. I can easily cook one, or 5. I also use it to fry a single egg (or 2). It’s also just the right size for a single hamburger patty. I’ve used it to make what my sister calls “bird in the nest”, which is a slice of bread (buttered), with a hole cut in the middle, and an egg fried in the hole. While the egg cooks, the bread toasts.
My point is, it is a great little fry pan for those times when I don’t need the typical 12 inch or larger pan. It’s easy to clean, and fits perfectly on a burner.
The only thing I haven’t used it for yet, is tamagoyaki. I can’t wait to try out your recipe!
I guess it’s a matter of
I guess it’s a matter of perspective. If I lived in Japan in all likelihood I would own a tamagoyaki pan, or an atsuyaki tamago pan (the big copper lined square one), but outside of Japan we can only get very shoddily made little ones, or something expensive by mailorder. But on the other hand, a little frying pand is inexpensive and easy to buy anywhere I think. But your uses for a tamagoyaki pan are great!
You are right
You’re right. If all I could get was a shoddy piece of cr*p, I wouldn’t bother either. But it does make a great little fry pan for small quantities. in fact, I’m going to buy a couple more :D.
yeah… i bought one for
yeah… i bought one for $1.50, and every time i use it i wonder if i’ll get cancer… hahaha.
Good idea for one egg!
Good idea for one egg! I’ve made your other multi-egg recipe in a small round pan, and my husband liked it (served hot) as a change. With this new method, you could sprinkle sliced green onions or other ingredients on the top before folding. I haven’t tried them cold yet.
I loooooooooooooooooooooove
I loooooooooooooooooooooove tamagoyaki ! I eat this with almost everything (zuchhini with garlic and ginger, onigiri…). I made it with 2 eggs, for two persons.
Thanks for this. I have
Thanks for this. I have trouble finding tamagoyaki pans and I when I do find them, I have to get a huge one that I can never really make tamagoyaki in because my husband won’t eat it and I can’t down three eggs’ worth of tamagoyaki.
Now, when I was able to play with a small, cheap one I found at The Daiso, I also used it to make rectangular pancakes which fit more efficiently in some of the bento boxes I have than round ones. :-)
Thank you Maki, once again
Thank you Maki, once again you answered to our questions! It’s so great. I tried some lately and I think I don”t have the proper recipe or enough practice.
Tamagoyaki made even
Tamagoyaki made even simpler… love it! Now I won’t hesitate to put it into my bento lunch more often :) thanks a lot, Maki!
unintentional tamagoyaki
I was cooking breakfast one morning and was working on the omelet part when I decided I’d try to fold up the egg just like a tamagoyaki. I’d never done it before, but it worked beautifully! Since I wasn’t initially going for a tamagoyaki, instead of the traditional ingredients, I used two eggs, a touch of milk, a small handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and some freshly cracked pepper.
I’m so glad you posted the 1-egg recipe. I will try it soon. Thanks!!
Fridge?
Hey im new to bento making and am just wondering how long they keep in the fridge and/or freezer? im looking forward to making one :) Thanks Alot
It does depend on how well
It does depend on how well you cook through the egg. If you leave them a bit soft (which tastes better) you should only keep them for a day or so at most (e.g. make it the night before). If you cook them through thoroughly, they’ll be drier but will keep a bit longer. Freezing does rather adversely affect the texture of tamagoyaki so I don’t recommend it. Hope that helps!
Thank you for this tip
I’ve always read how fiddly a sweet omelet is to make, but I’m going to make one of these for tomorrow, since it’s perfect for one person. Thank you for passing this along!
Omelet-wrapped sushi?
Hi Maki,
This is a bit off-topic, but I saw another blogger wrap some stuff in a thin omelet (like sushi but with the omelet replacing the nori: http://is.gd/NTp ). Have you covered that before in your blogs? Is there any particular trick to cooking egg that way, so that it would hold up to rolling stuff in it without crumbling into a million bits?
usuyaki tamago
That is usuyaki tamago - very thin omelettes. I have a complete step-by-step here. My favorite sushi form that uses usuyaki tamago is the chakin zushi which is the last photo in the article. Hope that helps!
It does! Thank you SO MUCH!
It does! Thank you SO MUCH! :)
wow~!
this is delicious! it was so easy to make too! and even though we barely have anything in the house…>_> i made this!^o^ plus i read ur other recipes too so i can fill myu new and first bento i got from my friend!:D
Thank you~
Wow, thanks so much for sharing this with us. I live alone, and I find it difficult to cook for one (even while packing leftovers in a bento). This one-egg tamagoyaki is a huge help. Thank you again! :D
i made this last night in a
i made this last night in a tiny (7”?) teflon frying pan my old roommate left with me and i’m just about hungry enough to start eating my lunch - i’m looking forward to it! thanks for the tute and i am even thinking of getting a tamagoyaki pan from my awesome grocery store, which stocks them (about $8 i think), and would probably be great for frying gyoza, etc in the morning as well.
i made this for the first
i made this for the first time tonight and had a bit of a problem….
(^ - ^);;
I used butter instead of oil, but i think i used too much, and that might have been part of the problem. It was very runny, like, watery, not that the eggs weren’t cooked, I don’t think. It was still like that even after I microwaved it…
Also, I couldn’t flip it. (TT - TT) I have no idea what happened, but it kept breaking and stuff. Maybe i should have let it cook longer….
It was very tasty, though!! (o w o) <333 Maybe next time will be better! This is a really good recipe, I think I just havn’t done it enough.
It does sound like you may
It does sound like you may have added too much butter. Try just enough oil or butter to barely coat the pan, and a high heat under your pan. It should cook very fast.
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