Tamagoyaki (Japanese Rolled Omelette)

Step 1

Break the eggs into a bowl or large cup with a spout.

Step 2

Add the sugar, soy sauce, and salt to the eggs and beat them together while trying to minimize the air you incorporate into them.

Step 3

Preheat your pan over medium-low heat until it's hot.

Step 4

Add the oil to the pan and use a folded up paper towel to spread it around the pan, ensuring every surface of the pan (including the sides) are well oiled. You can use the oil-soaked paper towel to re-oil the pan if you find the eggs are starting to stick.

Step 5

Pour enough egg into the pan to evenly cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of egg, and let this cook until it's not runny on top anymore, but the egg is still wet.

Step 6

Carefully roll the egg from one end using chopsticks or a spatula. You want to roll it as tight as possible so that you don't have air pockets inside. Once you get the egg rolled, you can use a spatula to press the air out of the roll and help the layers adhere to each other.

Step 7

If you are using a round pan, fold the sides of the egg towards the center so that when you roll it, the egg ends up a consistent thickness.

Step 8

Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you run out of egg.

Step 9

If you used a round pan, or if the shape of your tamagoyaki didn't turn out well, you can turn the warm tamagoyaki out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and then wrap it tightly. As it cools, the egg will set into the desired shape.

Step 10

If you are serving your tamagoyaki immediately, you can cut it into 4-8 slices immediately. If you plan to include your tamagoyaki in a bento box, let it cool completely before slicing it.