Recipe: Japanese rolled omelette with broccoli

I was commissioned to write a recipe for Tenderstem broccoli that could be done in ten minutes. I came up with this healthy, low fat, very quick Japanese omelette roll recipe. Low fat I say? All very unlike me. Use any fine stems of broccoli or sprouting broccoli. Or use asparagus.

The omelette is very thin (should be thinner than in the photo) because the egg is diluted with a little water. It also requires, to do it properly, some serious chopstick nimbleness. This is called Tamagoyaki in Japan and to be authentic, should be cooked in a rectangular frying pan.

There is a video at the bottom to show how to do it properly. I’m not gonna lie, it’s harder than it looks.

A decent frying pan (such as Green Pan) if you haven’t got a rectangular one.

a knob of butter

3 broccoli stems (choose the slimmest), or sprouting broccoli

Boiling water from the kettle

Salt

2 eggs

a little vegetable oil to cover the pan

1 tablespoon of caster sugar

A pinch of salt

1 tablespoon of water

1 tablespoon of soy/tamari/shoyu or ponzu sauce

Put a knob of butter into your frying pan on a medium heat. Place the broccoli in the pan and add a little boiling water to the pan, just enough to cover the stems. Braise for 4 minutes until the stems are tender.

Drain the broccoli stems and set it aside, and wipe the moisture from the frying pan.

Whisk together the eggs, caster sugar, salt, water and soy/tamari/shoyu or ponzu sauce. Add a little vegetable oil to your frying pan, just covering the bottom and add the egg mixture so that it covers the bottom of the pan.

Once the egg begins to set, add the broccoli stems to the omelette, laying them next to each other stem to tip. Then, using a spatula, start to roll the omelette over the stems. You are aiming for a rolled Japanese style omelette with the bright green crisp broccoli stems inside.

Serve whole or sliced cross ways with small dipping bowl of sauce.

Here are the other chefs with their recipes for Tenderstem if you want to check it out. I’m at the bottom of the list. Which is a bit of a cheek. I’m easily the best lookingest. And they didn’t even spell my name right. Harrumph.