Tamagoyaki: An (O)bento Staple

Two weeks ago, I blogged about my current interest, which is all about (o)bento. And in my attempt to learn how to make (o)bento staples, I tried cooking tamagoyaki or Japanese sweet omelet for may mag-ama. According to this site, Tamagoyaki actually means "fried egg" and is also called atsuyaki tamago which means "thick fried egg". At first I was hesitant to do it because I thought I would have to use a special pan to fry the eggs, but enough research on google led me to a few sites that teaches how to make a tamagoyaki using a regular non stick pan. So, I did and viola, I'm so happy with the results. Never thought it would be that easy to make one.

I used the following on my first attempt:

3 or 4 Eggs (I guess it's actually up to you how many eggs you feel like cooking. As long as it fits your pan of course. I used 5 eggs the other day and it turned out okay. But I can say that 4 is ideal.☺)

Sugar

Salt

Soy Sauce

Mayonnaise

Oil for frying

I beat the eggs with the rest of the ingredients. I didn't include the measurement for each in my list above because honestly when I mixed everything, tancha tancha lang ginawa ko, hihi! I guess it's just about a teaspoon of sugar and soy sauce, a tablespoon of mayonnaise and a pinch of salt for each egg. Adjust the taste according to your preference.

Here's how I did it:

1. Heat a non-stick pan. Medium heat is good enough. Add just a little bit of oil then wipe it with a paper towel. This will leave just a smear of oil in the pan.
2. Then pour a very thin amount of the egg mixture into the pan, probably around 3 to 4 tbsps. Swirl the pan so the egg will spread. Imagine you're making a crepe. 
3. Once the egg is half done or almost done (don't overcook/overfry), roll the thin crepe-like egg on one side of the pan. I actually used a ladle and the back of a fork to do this.
4. Wipe the pan with the paper towel with oil if you think there's not enough oil left. A smear is good enough based on my experience. 
5. Add another thin amount of egg mixture into the pan, swirl the pan again so the egg will spread. Make sure that it reaches the rolled egg so it sticks to it.
6. Again, once it's half done or almost done, roll the cooked egg which is on the side of your pan with the new layer until everything is rolled altogether. (It's important to note instruction #5 here, make sure that the newly poured egg mixture sticks to the rolled egg so it's easier to roll them up together.) Put the rolled egg in one side of the pan again.
7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 until you finish pouring all the egg mixture. 
8. Slice and enjoy!

That's basically it. Super easy actually! All you have to do is to roll multiple layers of thin egg sheets (a little bit thinner than crepes) until you come up with your delicious and cute tamagoyaki. :-)

Additional tips: If you think that the tamagoyaki is somewhat pale, you can still continue frying the surface of the egg to brown it to add color. Now, if you feel that the inside of your tamagoyaki is still a bit runny, you can nuke it for a minute in the microwave oven to firm it up. Just don't overdo it or you'll end up with a rubbery-textured egg, or worse the egg surface will tear apart.

Here's a link that I found on the web that helped me in making my tamagoyaki. I also found some videos on youtube. There are a lot! :-)

The first time I made my tamagoyaki, I followed the ingredients I listed above and added sugar into it, it wasn't really very sweet as I only added just around a teaspoon or less but hubby said that he wants his tamagoyaki without sugar, so the next time I did it, I removed the sugar already. It ended up okay so far. Trev, on the other hand, loves both. Pinapak niya nang pinapak yung share niya. Haha!

My first attempt at making tamagoyaki. This was our dinner the other night. I paired it with sauteed veggies with pork.

My first tamagoyaki, the sweet kind. I used three eggs here. Trev loves it! Hurray! Although, it was not a perfectly shaped tamagoyaki, I just love how it turned out.

Our breakfast this past weekend. I paired it with longganisa and fried eggplant with toyomansi, fried rice and tomatoes. This tamagoyaki had no sugar, Allan likes it better. Trev, too of course! :-p

My tamagoyaki without sugar. Turned out okay, too. I used 5 eggs here so the slices were a bit thicker. I'm not sure if you see those layers of egg sheets in the slices, but oh, how I love those layers in tamagoyaki. That's actually the first thing that got me interested in making tamagoyaki. I have always been curious about how they make those rolled layers. Ganun lang pala. Hihi!

My third attempt at making tamagoyaki. This time I tried filling it with hotdogs, as per my hubby's request. So far, okay naman siya. Yun lang, no twist sa taste, same same lang. Haha!

Whenever I cook tamagoyaki, my husband always kids me and says that it looks like bread daw. Hmm, I guess I would have to agree as it really does look like bread on some angles and on your first glance. :-P

Anyway, so far that's it for now. So, I've done different shapes of sausages, done tamagoyaki, next time I'll try some other (o)bento staples again. I'm thinking onigiri. Hmm, we'll see. I hope kayanin ng powers ko.

Have you tried making (o)bento or cooking any of its staples lately? Care to share some tips?