Tamagoyaki with Grilled Salmon & Rice
The standard Japanese breakfast tray built in a single pan: a salted salmon fillet with blistered skin, a rolled omelette cut thick, rice and nori.
Why it works
Salting the salmon and leaving it while the eggs are beaten pulls a film of moisture to the surface. Blot that away and the skin crisps in the pan instead of steaming. The fat the fillets render is then what the omelette is rolled in, so the salmon runs through the whole tray rather than sitting beside it.
Method
- Salt the salmon on both sides and set it skin-up on a plate. Leave it there while you beat the eggs with the mirin, soy and the ¼ tsp salt for a full 30 seconds, until no ribbons of white remain.
- Blot the salmon dry, the skin especially. Set a 24 cm (10 in) non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat, lay the fillets in skin-side down and press each one flat with a spatula for the first 10 seconds. Cook 5 minutes without moving them, until the skin releases from the pan on its own.
- Turn them and give them 2 to 3 minutes more, until the flesh has turned opaque up the sides and a knife tip slides into the thickest part with no resistance, the very centre still coral. Lift them onto four warm plates.
- Wipe the pan out, leaving a slick of the salmon fat behind, and add the oil. Over medium heat, pour in a third of the egg and tilt to cover the base. When the top is barely set but still glossy, 30 to 40 seconds, roll it towards you with a spatula.
- Push the roll to the far edge, pour in another third and lift the roll so raw egg runs underneath. Let it set, roll it around the first, then repeat with the last third. Slide the log out and cut it into 2 cm (¾ in) slices.
- Add the warm rice and the omelette slices to the plates. Scatter the nori, spring onion and sesame over the rice, and serve with lemon wedges and more soy.
For the toddler
Salt goes on the salmon at step 1 and soy into the eggs, so take theirs before both: a corner of one fillet unsalted, and a spoonful of beaten egg poured off before the mirin and soy go in. Give their piece a minute longer so it is opaque through, flake it off the skin and feel for bones. Cook their egg flat and cut it into strips, and keep the nori and soy off their rice.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Salted mackerel or a thick cod fillet in place of the salmon; both want the same five minutes on the skin. Sea trout works and cooks a minute faster.
Salt the salmon the night before and leave it uncovered in the fridge. The skin dries out completely and needs only 4 minutes.
Miso soup, a spoonful of grated daikon with soy, or quick-pickled cucumber.
Both keep 2 days. Flake the cold salmon through rice with sesame for onigiri, and cut the omelette into thicker slices so it stays juicy.