Tamagoyaki Recipe

Tamagoyaki is a dish many tourists are bursting to try when they visit the country. The fluffy rolled egg is very popular but can be easily be made at home as it only requires four ingredients. If you have tried it before and want to have a go replicating it at home, we have put together our favourite recipe for making it – let us know how it goes!

What is Tamagoyaki

Before we go into the recipe, a bit about what tamagoyaki is. Tamago means egg, and yaki means to fry in Japanese, but the dish is much more than a fried egg. Tamagoyaki refers to a thick, rolled egg and is a staple bento dish, and is also used as a side dish in sushi. You might also find it on skewers, offered as a fast street food dish, with several market stalls specialising in it.

There are also two types of tamagoyaki in Japanese cuisine; atsuyaki tamago and dashimaki tamago. Atsuyaki is thick fried egg and dashimaki is rolled egg in dashi. Both can be sweet or savoury, and dashimaki tamago is a little harder to make due to the dashi (Japanese stock) in it, which also increases the liquid content so can be difficult to roll.

When it comes to making it, you can tailor it to your tastes, sweet, savoury and vary the thickness. You will also need a special rectangular frying pan, called a tamagoyakinabe. The pan will help you to get the right shape for rolling and cutting up the egg when it is cooked.

Ingredients for Atsumaki Tamago

3 eggs

2 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp water

1 tsp olive oil

Ingredients for Dishimaki Tamago

3 eggs

2 tsp dashi

2 tbsp water

1 tsp olive oil

Method

1. Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl.
2. Add the seasoning; dashi and water for dashimaki or sugar, salt and water for atsumaki, and mix gently to avoid bubbles forming.
3. We recommend you strain the egg mixture through a sieve, which helps it become fluffy when cooked.
4. Pour about 2 tbsp oil in a small bowl, and soak kitchen paper.
5. Heat 2tbsp olive oil in the tamagoyakinabe over a medium heat.
6. Pour 1/3 of the egg mixture into the pan, breaking any bubbles which have formed with a chopstick, and scramble gently.
7. When the surface as solidified slightly, fold and push the egg to one end of the pan.
8. Wipe the empty side of the pan with the oil-soaked kitchen paper and pour another 1/3 of the egg mixture into the pan. Lift the folded egg up, so the mixture can run under.
9. Fold and roll the egg from one side of the pan and repeat; wipe the empty side with the oil-soaked paper and pour in the remaining 1/3 egg mixture.
10. When all the egg has been folded, turn the heat off and wrap the egg in a thin kitchen towel.
11. Roll the wrapped egg with a sushi mat to shape, and let it rest to cool down. Once cool, cut 2cm slices and serve.

The method for both is the same except for the seasonings in step two.

We hope you enjoy trying this out at home! Take a look at our Japanese tableware items so you can be sure every part of the meal you cook up is authentic! Why not also take a look at some of our previous blog posts as well, for some inspiration on Asian cuisine and popular dishes to try.Image credit: Lorelei Cortez / Instagram