Omurice: Japanese Omelette

My son just returned from 16 days touring and camping in Japan at the World Scout Jamboree. He camped with 34,000 teenagers from around the world.

My son is the kid with bandanna on his head. It was unbelievably humid. He is photographed here hanging out with some of the other guys from his troop that was made up of kids from the New York City area.

My son visited the Unknown Scout Soldier Monument at Kodomo no Kuni. A Japanese soldier came upon a wounded American soldier during WWII. The American gave him the scout sign and the Japanese soldier was also a scout and decided he could not kill or turn in a fellow scout. Instead he dressed his wounds. This is a monument to the unity of scouts all over the world.

The American Boy Scouts made 1000 cranes and brought them to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial with the wish of world peace. This was part of the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Our relationship with Japan has changed so much in 70 years, but I glad my son got to understand something about our history with this deeply fascinating country.

Omurice is an American inspired Japanese dish that is very popular with children. It is often found on the kid's menu in restaurants.

Omurice is the kind of meal that Boy Scouts would make with their leftover food while they were camping. It is basically an omelette filled with rice and whatever left over vegetables and protein you have. I provide a recipe for this simple dish below but please feel free to uses any kind of filler: leftover, shrimp, chicken, pork, tofu all work well to make a delicious light dinner or lunch. It is traditional garnished with ketchup but I used sriracha sauce to give it some kick!