Cooking
Vegan Omurice with Silken Tofu Omelette
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Omurice is a beloved Japanese comfort food that consists of ketchup-fried rice tucked inside a thin omelette. We revisited the traditional recipe and turned it vegan using silken tofu instead of eggs. It’s super easy and just as delicious!
This delightful rice omelette is a fusion dish of Western and Japanese flavours. In Japan, it belongs to the so-called yoshoku, a category of western-style Japanese food.
It’s a staple dish of Japanese home cooking, but it’s also often found at Western-style diners in Japan.
The word omurice, or omu-raisu (オムライス), derives from the Japanese pronunciation of the English words omelette and rice. Omelette is spelt omuretsu (オムレツ) and rice raisu (ライス). So omurice is a mash-up of “omu” from omelette and “raisu” from rice.
Omurice consists of Japanese white rice pan-fried with ketchup, soy sauce, chicken, ham or bacon, and vegetables like corn, peas, and carrots.
This tomato-based fried rice is then stuffed into a plain, thin omelette and shaped like a football ball. Finally, the omurice is flipped onto a plate and drizzled with ketchup or ketchup sauce.
Omurice tastes sweet, sour, and savoury. And the combo of fried rice and soft omelette is both filling and comforting. A real delight!
To make omurice vegan, we swapped meat in the fried rice with savoury mushrooms. King oyster, shiitake, and enoki are all great choices.
Then, we paired mushrooms with corn and spring onions, but you can also use other vegetables for the fried rice, following our tips in the FAQ section.
As for the omelette, we replaced eggs with a batter of silken tofu, starch, flour, and curry powder.
Silken tofu is a great egg substitute in vegan recipes, and it’s high in proteins. Starch and flour help bind the ingredients, while curry powder gives flavour and colour to the vegan omelette.
Once you learn to make our vegan omelette, you can re-use it in any other recipe that uses eggs! It’s so awesome.
Ready to start? Follow our step-by-step omurice recipe below, and you’ll be savouring this delicious vegan version of Japanese rice omelette in no time — you’ll love it!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Japanese omurice?
Also called omuraisu (オムライス), omurice is a Western-influenced Japanese dish. It consists of Japanese sushi rice pan-fried with ketchup, meat, and vegetables, wrapped into a thin omelette, and drizzled with more ketchup sauce.
It’s a beloved Japanese comfort food, often home-cooked but also served at Western-style diners.
How do you make omurice vegan?
Omurice is not vegan as it contains chicken and ham in the fried rice and eggs in the omelette. To make it vegan, you can omit the meat in the rice and add mushrooms for a “meaty” and savoury finish.
For the omelette, replace eggs with a batter of silken tofu, starch, and yellow turmeric.
Which are the fried rice ingredients for omurice?
Omurice is usually filled with a pan-fried mix of cooked Japanese sushi rice, chicken or ham, and vegetables, plus soy sauce and ketchup for extra flavour.
You can omit the meat to make the omurice vegan and use more vegetables in the fried rice.
Common vegetables include onions, carrots, peas, corn, and mushrooms. But almost any vegetable will go well with it, which is great for using up leftovers in the fridge!
Which topping sauce do you use for omurice?
Omurice can be served plain with just salt and pepper, but more often, it’s drizzled with a squirt of tomato ketchup.
Some omurice recipes also top the rice omelette with sauces like:
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