My quest to eat the differents kinds of Omurice in Japan first started with a Japanese drama, of course. It was called Lunch Queen. I watched it because I was so into Japanese dramas, that I watched anything anyone suggested. I never knew Yamapi was in it, he had a minor part (playing a younger brother.) When I found out a couple of years later, I had to go back to see. He was so young and skinny.
Lunch Queen was about a family who owns a small family restaurant. The father was the owner and chef, he was also the creator of one of his specialty, omurice with a demi-glaze. His children worked there and was suppose to take over the family business. Seeing the omurice in the drama looked delicious that I wanted to try it but was not available from where I live at that time.
On my first trip to Japan, I found it in one of the last restaurants we went to. Oh, the joy I had eating it. I couldn't believe I found it. I loved it! Unfortunately, the sauce was not the demi-glaze but just ketchup. =( Delicious, none the less. This is when I made it my quest to try more of it, if I ever came back to Japan.
On my second trip to Japan, I was all excited to try it again. But, curses! I never had a chance to eat it. The picture above was the closest I ever came to it. A restaurant that made a variety of omurice. On my last day, I found out that it's a very common dish found anywhere. What?!? I guess we just spent too much time eating the variety of ramens we saw.
Basically, omurice is fried rice wrapped in an omlette and topped with, normally, ketchup. It has chopped up meat, green peppers, onions, mushrooms or I guess any vegetable you have, mixed in the rice.
Now the new quest is to find out how to make a sauce for it instead of standing over the stove for hours on end stirring the pot just like the father in Lunch Queen. Ketchup will not suffice.
I must say, any of the Kdramas and Jdramas make food look wonderfully delicious.
If you have a chance, watch Lunch Queen. It's a good drama. ~gt
