Japanese Fish Roe Omelette (Ebiko/Tobiko/Masago)
This Japanese fish roe omelette came about as an impromptu recipe as I had leftover masago (Japanese capelin/smelt roe) in the fridge. I frequently buy seasoned fish roe from Sushi Take-Out as a side dish (小菜) to enjoy with drinks or to use as salad toppings. I’m glad I finally have a recipe on my blog using this favourite ingredient of mine. This omelette took less than 15 minutes to make, it’s so easy and gratifying.
See Also:
See Also:
This savory omelette goes well with rice and especially porridge. I served my omelette with a nutritious mung bean multi-grain porridge. This is homely & comfort food for me.
INGREDIENTS
Fish Roe. This recipe can be made with masago (capelin/smelt roe), ebiko (shrimp roe) or tobiko (flying fish roe). I can barely tell the difference between masago & ebiko. If you like more texture, you use tobiko for its pleasantly distinct crunchy bite.
The egg mixture was made of beaten eggs, masago fish roe and spring onions. I used dashi powder, also a Japanese ingredient, as the main seasoning. A great thing about using dashi and not the usual dark coloured seasonings such as soy sauce is that the resultant colour of the cooked omelette is more vibrantly attractive. If you don’t have dashi, you can use a small amount of light soy sauce instead. The seasonings are very minimal in this recipe, as the fish roe is already seasoned & salty.
As a result of the orange fish roe, the omelette took on an attractive vibrant orangy-yellow after cooking.
Japanese Fish Roe Omelette Recipe
In this recipe, the seasonings for the egg are minimal as the fish roe is seasoned and already salty.
Take care not to overcook the egg in the pan so that the omelette will be moist and soft when cooked.
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 tsp dashi powder see cooking note below
- 2 dashes white pepper powder
- 3 + 1 heaped tbsp Japanese roe (ebiko, masago or tobiko) divided
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp chopped spring onion divided
- 1/2 tsp cooking oil
- 1og unsalted butter
You also need
- a non-stick pan
- heat-resistant silicon spatula
Directions:
- Prepare egg mixture. Crack the eggs in a bowl. Add dashi powder and white pepper. Beat well. Then stir in 3 tbsp fish roe and 1 tbsp spring onions & combine well.
- Make the omelette. Heat oil and butter on medium low heat. Tilt the pan to ensure the surface is evenly greased. Beat the egg mixture one last time to ensure the roe is evenly distributed, then pour the egg into the pan. Fold the egg (see cooking note below) by pulling edges with a spatula to draw the egg from various sides to the centre, letting uncooked egg flow underneath. Do so until the egg is just set with some raw egg still on top. Cut the egg to chunks with the spatula and fry quickly until there is no more raw egg. Take the omelette off the heat immediately.
- To serve, dish the omelette out to a plate, garnish with remaining fish roe and spring onions.
Cooking Note(s)
- Dashi powder is a Japanese ingredient used to season this omelette. If you don’t have dashi powder, you can substitute with about 1/2 tsp light soy sauce and/or a pinch of salt, to taste.
- Types of fish roe. This recipe can be made with masago (capelin roe), ebiko (shrimp roe) or tobiko (flying fish roe). If you want a crunchy bite to the omelette, use tobiko.
- Folding the egg. To understand what “folding the egg” means in step 2, check out the step-by-step photos for ham & cheese omelette. This folding technique helps the egg to cook more evenly.