Tiny Urban Kitchen

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Tamagoyaki (Japanese Omelet) + Giveaway!

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Tamayaki
I love sushi, and those who know me know that I typically shun most “cooked” sushi, opting instead for beautiful cuts of raw fish.  There are a few exceptions that I make, and tamagoyaki is one of them.  For some reason, I love the simple, slightly sweet, slightly savory taste of this Japanese omelet.

In Japan, they sell square pans for making these omelets.  I wondered whether I could make it at home with a normal non-stick pan.  Coincidentally, the folks at Teflon contacted me and asked whether I would like to test out one of their new non-stick pans.  According to the Teflon spokesperson, Teflon has been doing a lot of research the past few years, and the new coating is much more durable and will not flake off over time, unlike the previous generation of pans.  This particular pan is made with Teflon Platinum, Teflon’s most scratch resistant coating to date.  There is an added midcoat technology that protects the surface from being scratched. You can actually use metal utensils on these pans! Better yet, they offered to give one away to a lucky Tiny Urban Kitchen reader (details at the end of the post).

Of course, since my own non-stick pans did not really work anymore (they stick dismally to eggs!), I agreed to test this pan and also conduct a giveaway.  What a great way to try out my tamagoyaki recipe at home!
TamagoYaki1-1
Most tamagoyaki recipes will tell you to put a thin layer of oil on the pan to prevent the egg from sticking.  Since I was testing this pan, I thought I would put it to the rigorous test of making eggs without any oil at all.
TamagoYaki2-1
Overall, it worked beautifully.  I did not use a drop of oil, and I was able to make a pretty nice omelet.  I did need to use the spatula at the edges to start the whole thing off.  Once I had my roll started, however, the rest was pretty easy.  The pan was also easy to clean.  I used a soapy sponge and easily washed off any remaining egg bits.

Tamagoyaki
Adapted from Just Hungry
Ingredients
4 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp. mirin
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soy sauce

Using a fork, lightly beat eggs, sugar, mirin, salt, and soy sauce together in a bowl.  Avoid using a whisk because you want to minimize bubble formation.  Heat non-stick pan to medium low heat and add a few tablespoons of eggs – just enough to make a thin layer in the pan.  Wait until the egg is mostly set and not runny  (~ 5 min).  Using a chopstick and/or a spatula, slowly roll the egg mixture onto one side of the pan.  Add a few more tablespoons of egg mixture, letting the egg run underneath the egg roll and wait for it to set.  Repeat by rolling the egg roll back, forming a bigger roll. Continue going back and forth until you use up the egg mixture (about 3 times).

Place the egg roll inside a damp bamboo sushi roller.  Wrap the roller around the egg and tighten/squeeze the egg “roll.”  You can either keep it rolled up rested on a bowl to let cool, or slice and serve right away.

Note: This tamagoyaki is a little less sweet than what you might find in a restaurant.  Feel free to add a bit more sugar if you like your eggs sweet.

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Cutting Tamagoyaki
Presentation Ideas
The traditional way to eat tamagoyaki is to put it on top of sushi rice and “tie” it together with a thin strip of nori (black dried seaweed). But there are lots of different ways of enjoying this versatile omelet.

Tamaoyaki Apple!
Serve as an appetizer!
Tamagoyaki Bento
Or as part of a healthy bento lunch!

Giveaway
The folks at Teflon were kind enough to let me conduct a Giveaway as part of this post.  This is a 10-inch nonstick Tramontina pan coated with Teflon Platinum technology (the one that can take metal utensils!).  It’s perfect for making tamagoyaki without any oil.  To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment telling me your favorite egg dish and how you like to prepare it. For extra entries, please subscribe via RSS or become a fan on facebook. Please leave a separate comment for each of these entries.
Teflon Pan

Teflon Pans / Nonstick Pans

There’s been a lot of debate about whether nonstick pans coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), branded as Teflon by Dupont, are safe. PTFE itself is inert and nontoxic. However, at higher temperatures (starting at 260 °C / 500 °F), PTFE begins to decompose and will release certain fumes.. Some of these by-products are carcinogenic.  The fumes can also cause polymer-fume fever (temporary flu-like symptoms) in humans and can kill birds.  Studies have shown that a lightweight, empty pan on a burner set to “high” can easily reach temperatures over 500 °F.  However, eggs cooked at medium heat will only reach temperatures of around 104°C / 220 °F.  

The other concern about PTFE was the presence of trace amounts of PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) that came as a result of the manufacturing process.  The jury’s still out on the safety of PFOA, although evidence points to the fact that it might have some negative health risks.  More recent studies have shown that hardly any PFOA is detected when a nonstick pan is heated, thus reducing earlier fears about this byproduct.

In short, Teflon coated pans are safe to use as long as you use them properly.  Most importantly, don’t ever heat an empty pan (or even a pan with just oil in it) on high!  I plan on keeping my pan mostly for making eggs and other low-heat dishes.

Disclaimer
Time to time I receive free products from vendors to review. I do not receive any payment for these posts/reviews. The views expressed in the posts are completely my own. For this post, I received one non-stick pan from Teflon to review and another for a giveaway.

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Comments

  1. Claudia says

    my favorite egg dish is steamed egg! I mix an egg with about 2 ramekins full of chicken broth. I put dried scallops and scallions in the the bottom of each ramekin, and steam them covered with foil for about 12 minutes. 🙂

  2. aH says

    I love the idea of being able to cook perfect Julia Child omelets, and I do try. The only problem is that I don’t like wet eggs!! So I end up attempting to make a perfect french omelet, observe how close I got, and then cook it until golden. My boyfriend thinks this is blasphemy, and quite frankly I agree, but I just can’t stomach perfectly cooked eggs!

  3. Ophelia says

    Oh, what a great recipe and pan! 🙂 I love eggs so much– I think my favorite egg recipe would have to be an omelette with sharp cheese, green onions, and chicken apple sausage! I would definitely be making those with that pan!

  6. tinyurbankitchen says

    Thanks! btw, Hong, I saw that you were mentioned in the LA Times! My husband actually forwarded me the article (he’s from LA and still reads that paper), and I was like, “hey, I know that guy!”

  9. Hilary says

    While I enjoy eggs in many pan-fried variations, I have to be honest and say that my favorite way to prepare eggs is to soft boil them. I cook them so that the white is cooked and the yolk is still runny. Then I remove the cap of my egg, top it with sea salt and Matouk’s hot sauce, and dip strips of sourdough toast into it. Simple and delicious!

  10. Kim says

    Honestly, I love omelettes. I hardly ever cook them at home though because they usually end up more like scrambled eggs (I have a Jamie Oliver Tefal) – but I always order them for breakfast in restaurants!

  11. Sophie says

    Scrambled egg on toast. Make a cup of tea. Stick the bread in the toaster, whisk two eggs with a drop of milk and a little pepper. In a saucepan add a bit of butter and melt. Put the egg in, get the toast out of the toaster and butter it and then keep stirring the eggs until just done. Tip onto the toast and nom. Heaven 🙂

  13. gamene says

    my favorite egg dish is crusty bibimbap – when making this, i fry the egg on just one side, so that i can stir the runny yolk into the warm rice and vegetables – YUMMERS!

    love your blog, thanks for sharing the wealth with this contest 🙂

  17. MegzJ says

    My favorite among favorites egg recipe? Has to be a good, plain quiche. Flaky crust with some Parmesan cheese on top. This stupid obsession came while living in France. I seriously adore quiches. The way I prepare it? I use the recipe for the crust I learned while in France (I don’t have that at work! sorry!)

    Mix 2-3 eggs (depending on quiche pan size), 1tbs of creme fraiche, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, 1/8 c Parmesan cheese.

    Poor mixture into pan.

    Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

    Bake at 350 until egg sets and cheese on top turns brown.

    SO YUMMY

  20. grace says

    i believe eggs can be scrambled with anything. 5-spice baked tofu and leeks. tomatoes and scallions. carrots and greens…among other things. i also like an over-easy egg with a drizzle of hot sauce and soy paste.

  24. dianna says

    i LOVE tamagoyaki! thank you so much for posting the recipe. My favorite egg dish is a traditional shangahinese new year’s dish that I grew up watching my mom make. She takes a large metal ladle, adds in a drop of oil, swirls it to coat the inside of the ladle, drops in some pre-mixed egg, swirls it around to make a thin circular skin, drops in a meat mixture and then seals the egg layer to make egg dumplings for hot pot! it absolutely delicious and brings back so many wonderful memories

  26. Amber F. says

    I love softboiled eggs, and we have an electric egg cooker just for this purpose! It’s not as good as boiling them the regular way, but it’s easier and more reliable.

  33. Lara Baats says

    After a busy day at school, my sister and I love to make some simple eggs over easy. We put them on a toasted English muffins with some breakfast sausage and a piece of good cheese. If we have potatoes, some baked wedges go great with this! Easy, but fun and delicious dinner!

  35. Lili says

    My favorite egg dish is seared rice cakes mixed with egg, garlic, peanut butter, & spinach! Simple — leftover cooked rice, 1 egg for every 2 cups of rice, and any spices you want. Mix all ingredients together, form small pancakes on a (Teflon/nonstick!) pan, and heat until crispy on each side (about 3 minutes per side).

  40. Rachel says

    My favourite eggs are still the scrambled ones that I grew up with: Cook two pieces of bacon. While the bacon is frying, whisk together two eggs, some heavy whipping cream, a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and scallions. Pull the bacon out and scramble the eggs in the bacon fat. Decadent? Maybe. Delicious, definitely.

  42. Kat says

    My favorite egg dish has to be omurice!

    I saute onions until translucent, throw in diced green peppers and saute another minute before adding in 1 cup of short grain rice from the day before, mix it all together and add 1 tbsp of ketchup and mix until well-coated before adding vegetable broth, just enough for the grains to get re-hydrated. I place the rice mixture on a place off to the side and get ready to make my thin omlete.

    I add a tsp of olive oil to the pan and add in the 1 egg which I’ve whisked lightly with a fork to the heated pan and rotate it until the bottom of the pan is well-coated with the egg. When the egg is nearly cooked through, I add the rice back to one side of the omelete, then flip the pan over the plate which slides the omelet on the plate, as well as effectively covering the mound of rice with the other side of the omelette. Then I top it with a dollop of ketchup and serve with a side of fresh veggies!

  45. hypothermya says

    Eggs in my household are always in short-supply because either myself or my boyfriend will round them up and make them into egg-in-a-basket/one-eyed-jack/whatever other name you have for them.

    This is the recipe where you cut a circle out of a slice of toast, and then fry an egg in the center of it. You can fry it up with olive oil, butter, or nothing at all. On mornings when we’re having bacon, we’ll sometimes reuse the bacon pan after draining out the excess grease. My boyfriend will make his with darkly browned toast and well cooked eggs, but I prefer mine more lightly toasted with the yolk still runny. Both of us finish our breakfast treat off with a bit of salt and pepper.

    As recipes for eggs go, this one is a little bit tricky — learning the perfect temperature and learning how to flip the toast and egg without breaking the yolk — but it’s well worth the trouble.

    The few eggs that don’t get used for eggs-in-a-basket get stolen by me for poaching or hard-boiling.

  46. sirhin says

    I used to despise eggs, but I’m happy to say that I grew out of it a while ago! Eggs are pretty versatile but I just love omelets! It’s quick and simple and the way they’re made is pretty spot on with the tomagoyaki – minus the rolling-up process and the additional ingredients. Oh – and the tomato-egg dish is to die for!

  48. pegg says

    My Taiwanese Grandma taught me to make Chawanmushi. So yummy and easy. However, she taught me without any clear measurements, which is not how I cook 🙂 Eggs, broth, soy sauce, shrimp, fish cake. Yum!

  53. Jaia says

    AAAAhhhh! I just became a fan on FB last week! Can I still get an entry for that? 🙂

    My favorite egg dish is a really good spinach/ham/cheese omelet with maybe some mushrooms. And I’m not ashamed to admit that my favorite place to get one (if I’m not makign it myself) is Denny’s!

  54. Cornelia Tsang says

    WOW I’m not sure I could believe using metal on teflon! 😉 my favorite egg dish is tomato and egg. it’s such a homey dish but when i’m feeling like just simple home cooking, that’s what i make. i’ve noticed that every family makes it differently so it definitely has to be made a la mom. 😉

  55. Cornelia Tsang says

    hey! did my comment go through? =( if not, my favorite egg dish is tomato and egg done my mom’s style. homey dish for comfort.

    i also would LOVE to test out metal on teflon because I’m not sure I can believe that!

  57. Lillian says

    My favourite egg dish is when my eggs are in a quiche! Delicious 😀

    Basically the eggs act as a stabilizer. The recipe is a mixture of: spinach, sauteed onions, 4 eggs, mozzarella cheese, cheddar, cream, salt, and pepper. It’s very easy and very yummy.

  58. Lillian says

    My favourite egg dish is when my eggs are in a quiche! Delicious 😀

    Basically the eggs act as a stabilizer. The recipe is a mixture of: spinach, sauteed onions, 4 eggs, mozzarella cheese, cheddar, cream, salt, and pepper. It’s very easy and very yummy.

  60. Dana says

    My favorite egg dish is a Thai fried omelette (kai jeow). Mix eggs with fish sauce, some spicy goodness, and some chives or green onions, then slowly pour it into a verrrrry oily pan. You can of course add any other things you like. I tend to add pork floss, but it does funny things to the texture. I’ve had it made with crazy amounts of MSG too, which was tastier than I want to admit.

  61. Jenny says

    I’ve recently been introduced to oyako donburi and it is fast becoming a comfort food favorite of mine. I use about 3-4 eggs, 1 chicken breast or 3 chicken thighs, 1 round onion, some green onions or parsley, a can of chicken stock, 2-3 teaspoons of shoyu sauce, 1-2 teaspoons of sugar, and hot rice. Combine stock, shoyu, and sugar in a skillet (like the teflon one) until boiled. Add cut chicken and onions (bite size) and simmer for 5 mins. The next part is tricky– mix eggs in a bowl (do not beat the eggs) then pour it all around the pan (do not stir). Remove from heat once the eggs start to bubble (do not cook). Scoop mixture over a bowl of hot rice and garnish with green onions or parsley. For variety, you can add sliced carrots and/or sliced shiitake mushrooms. Really warms me up on a cold night.

  64. Shannon says

    Ooh, this is great! I’ve never tried this, but it sounds right up my alley as i love eggs. My fav preparation is probably with a runny yolk, over toast w/cheese or hummus and topped with salsa. Been my go-to dinner lately 🙂

  66. Welko2 says

    I love to poach my eggs and serve them over a bed of steamed asparagus with a sauce of lemon butter and fresh thyme. For the sauce I take 1 TBS of lemon juice and add it to 2 TBS of butter in a low/medium heat pan. Then I’ll beat this lightly with a fork while adding fresh thyme leaves. Add this to eggs and asparagus with a little fresh ground black pepper, enjoy!

  68. Lily says

    My fave egg dish is a Chinese steamed egg dish my mom makes. Very delicately steamed she enhances the egg flavor by adding shredded dried scallops to it as well. Topped with a little drizzle of soy sauce, it’s the kind of dish that comforts and only mom can make!

  70. xoxoh says

    My favorite egg dish is simple and so easy. Just scramble a few eggs, coat a pan with olive oil, and cook away. 🙂 Nothing can be quicker or tastier

  74. janewatson says

    my favorite egg dish, after a fresh, backyard gathered, fried egg, is vietnamese crepe. Yummy, filled with sprouts, basil, some meat if you want, other veggies. I dont make this at home, rather, I save it for my treat when eating out.

  75. Chao says

    i love eggs, so i have too many favourite egg dishes.
    i prefer my eggs scrambled, in any way, like tomato and egg or scrambled eggs with spinach and ham. i also love egg in my fried rice.
    when i fry rice, i like to add the egg last so the tiny pieces don’t burn 🙂

  76. Samantha S. says

    Favorite way to serve eggs for me is to fry them in sesame oil and serve on toasted Dave’s Killer Bread with a little bit of mayo.. soo good!

  78. Kate says

    My favorite egg dish is deviled eggs. I whip up the yokes with Dijon, yellow (more for color than flavor), and dried mustard, a little mayonnaise to make them creamy, a splash of apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. I then pipe the mixture back into the whites and sprinkle with paprika (my family won’t eat them without it). Creamy, and tangy, and oh so good!

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