Ketchup Chicken Fried Rice under a Folded Omelette
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats, NYT Cooking and America's Test Kitchen.
A Japanese home-style favourite of chicken and vegetable fried rice tossed in tomato ketchup and butter, shaped into neat mounds and draped with a soft, fully set omelette. A zigzag of ketchup and some parsley finish it off.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
Unlock all flavours with Premium
This flavour is part of Premium. You can see the ingredients and nutrition; the quantities and the full method are for members.
Premium: $4.99/month or $39.99/year.
Equipment
- large nonstick frying pan (28-30 cm)
- small heatproof bowl (about 500 ml)
- 2 serving plates
- nonstick frying pan with a lid (20 cm)
- whisk
- spatula
- instant-read probe thermometer
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 896 kcal |
| Protein | 36.7 g |
| Carbohydrate | 92.8 g |
| of which sugars | 15.2 g |
| of which free sugars | 9 g |
| Fat | 41.6 g |
| of which saturates | 14.4 g |
| Fibre | 4.3 g |
| Salt | 2.35 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
4.1 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
Metric · 2 servings
Rice
- 400 g cold cooked short- or medium-grain rice (from about 170 g raw)
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped about 100 g
- 1 small carrot, finely diced about 80 g
- 150 g boneless skinless chicken thigh, in 1.5 cm pieces
- 40 g frozen peas
- 15 g butter
- 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tsp soy sauce (check the label)
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Omelettes
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 g fine sea salt or table salt a pinch
- 20 g butter 10 g per omelette
To serve
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup, to serve
- 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1
Fry the vegetables. Break the cold rice into separate grains. Heat the oil in the large pan over medium-high heat, add the onion and carrot and cook for 3 minutes until the onion is translucent. Softening the vegetables first gives them time to sweeten before the rice goes in.
- 2
Cook the chicken. Add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until browned on the outside and cooked through (74°C). Small, even pieces cook quickly and stay juicy, and the browning adds savoury flavour to the rice.
- 3
Season the rice. Add the butter, then the rice, and cook for 2 minutes, breaking it up, until glossy. Stir in the ketchup, soy sauce and pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes until the rice is evenly coated and piping hot (74°C), then stir in the peas for 1 minute. Briefly frying the ketchup caramelises its sugars, giving a deeper, less sharp tomato flavour.
- 4
Shape the mounds. Lightly oil the small bowl, pack in half the rice, turn it out onto a plate and lift off the bowl. Repeat on the second plate. Pressing the rice firmly gives a neat dome that holds its shape under the omelette.
- 5
Make the omelettes. Whisk the eggs, milk and salt until smooth. Melt 10 g butter in the small pan over medium heat, pour in half the egg and stir quickly with a spatula for 20-30 seconds until small curds form. Spread it level, cover and cook on low for 1-2 minutes until fully set with no liquid egg left on top (71°C). The lid traps gentle steam, setting the surface through while the base stays tender and pale.
- 6
Drape and serve. Slide the omelette onto one rice mound, tucking the edges under to wrap it neatly, then repeat with the remaining butter and egg. Pipe or zigzag the ketchup over the top, scatter with parsley and serve at once, while the rice is hot.
Storage
Cool quickly, refrigerate within 1 hour and use within 24 hours. Reheat once only until piping hot (74°C) throughout; the omelette is best made fresh. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
