Tweet of the Week #45: Omurice For Dummies

While Japanese chefs are known for their pursuit of culinary perfection (Tokyo still reigns as the city with the highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world), most ordinary Japanese folks would rather enjoy a style of cuisine that’s a little bit more rustic.

Known as “B-class gourmet (B級（きゅう）グルメ), a term coined in the mid-80s, the trend for homestyle cooking was born from people’s gradual rejection of dining out at expensive restaurants during the Bubble Economy, where a meal would typically cost ¥10,000 or more.

You’re probably already familiar with a number of B-kyu gurume dishes. Basically, “B-Kyu” denotes a regional dish made using local and cheap ingredients. There’s okonomiyaki, takoyaki, and kushikatsu — all famous foods from Osaka. Ramen and the festival food yakisoba (fried soba noodles) are included in the category as well. But top ranking among all of these has got to be omurice — a dish of ketchup-flavored rice covered in an omelet — that’s loved by both young and old across the country.

How to make Japanese omurice

To make omurice all you have to do is take the rice, fry it with a tomato-based sauce like ketchup, add chicken or spam, then wrap with a thinly fried omelet. And voilà! 

OK, maybe it’s not that easy. There’s an art to topping the rice with the perfect eggy dome: a good tip is to pour some cheese on the mound of rice first to hold it all together, then, using a spatula, fold both sides of the omelet toward the middle of the pan, flip upside down and gently shake it onto the rice.

What NOT to do when cooking omurice

Left to fend for himself by his parents, who were out of town for work, @fguy found out the hard way that no, a microwave is NOT a good tool for heating up eggs after seeking advice from a “friend.”

今日俺は人間不信になった pic.twitter.com/AGEecu6z2g

— 特別養護老人 (@fgyu) August 22, 2019

今日（きょう）俺（おれ）は人間（にんげん）不信（ふしん）になった = Today I lost faith in humanity

His viral tweet includes screenshots taken from the popular messenger app LINE where we can read his S.O.S.

頼（たの）みがある = I have a favor to ask

なんや = What?

今日（きょう）親（おや）が両方（りょうほう）出張（しゅっちょう）で家（いえ）に帰（かえ）ってこないから自分（じぶん）で飯（めし）作（つく）って食（た）べろって言（い）われたんだけど俺（おれ）料理（りょうり）の知識（ちしき）0だから何（なに）もわからない。とりあえずオムライス作ろうと思（おも）うんだけど作り方（かた）教（おし）えてくれない？

Today, both my parents are on business trips out of town so I was told to make my own meals, but because my cooking skills amount to 0, I have no idea about anything. So, I thought I could start with cooking myself omurice. Could you teach me the recipe? 

いいぞ = Sure

まず卵（たまご）を柔（やわ）らかくするために電子（でんし）レンジで3分（さんぷん）温（あたた）めます = First, in order to soften the egg, warm it up for 3 minutes in the microwave 

A couple of minutes later, @fguy realized he’s been pranked. 

お前（まえ）死（し）ねカス = Die, you piece of trash!

In order to cook omurice, one should know how to make an omelet

The expression ために is really handy when you want to explain aims such as “in order to do something” or “for something/someone.” 

ために follows the dictionary (plain) form of verbs: 

日本語（にほんご）を勉強（べんきょう）するために、来日（らいにち）しました。= I came to Japan in order to study Japanese.

ために can also be used with nouns, but in this case, you’ll need the particle の to link the noun to the phrase: 

家族（かぞく）のために働（はたら）きます。= I work for my family.

Vocabulary

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