COOKING AN OMELET RECIPES

Steps:

• Make the rice: Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add 1 tablespoon butter, and then onion and carrot. Cook, stirring, until onion is translucent and a little browned at the edges, about 3 minutes. Add ham and cook, stirring, until it begins to brown, about 30 seconds.
• Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter, and then rice, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or long chopsticks. Adjust heat to medium and cook until the grains are glossy, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in ketchup and soy sauce, and cook, stirring, another 30 seconds or so to caramelize. Stir in peas to heat through, and deglaze the pan with dashi or chicken stock. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• To make a perfect mound of rice on each plate, grease a small bowl with canola or safflower oil and pack 1 cup of the rice. Invert this over a plate and remove the bowl. Repeat with the other half of the rice on a second plate.
• Make the omelet: In a small (6- or 7-inch) nonstick skillet (or a well-seasoned carbon steel omelet pan), heat 1/2 teaspoon oil, or just enough to coat the pan, over medium-high. Beat 2 eggs with 1/2 teaspoon dashi or water, until yolks and whites are completely blended. Season with salt and pepper.
• Pour the egg mixture into the heated pan. Shake and swirl the pan over the heat, stirring constantly with chopsticks or a fork as the eggs cook. When lots of small curds have formed and the eggs are custardy, about 30 seconds, let cook undisturbed until nearly set, about 30 seconds. Run a butter knife or small spatula around the edge of the omelet, and tap the pan firmly against the stove to release the omelet. Turn the omelet out onto the rice, custardy side down. Use a clean dish towel or paper towel to push the edges under the rice.
• Repeat with the other 2 eggs for the second omelet. Dress the omelets with a zigzag of ketchup (or a cute design if you’ve got a steady hand), and serve.

Steps:

• Peel and thinly slice potatoes and onions; it's easiest if you use a mandoline. Meanwhile, heat oil in an 8- or 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. After 3 or 4 minutes, drop in a potato slice. When tiny bubbles appear around its edges, add potatoes, onions, a good pinch of salt and a liberal sprinkling of pepper. Gently turn mixture in oil with a wooden spoon, and adjust heat so oil bubbles lazily.
• Cook, turning potatoes gently every few minutes, until they are tender when pierced with a small knife. Adjust the heat so they do not brown. If potatoes begin to break, they are overdone; stop cooking immediately. As potatoes cook, beat eggs with some salt and pepper in a large bowl.
• Drain potatoes in a colander, reserving oil. Wipe out skillet, and heat over a medium flame for a minute. Add 2 tablespoons oil. Gently mix warm potatoes with eggs, and add to skillet. As soon as edges firm up, after a minute or so, reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 5 minutes.
• Insert a rubber spatula all around edges of tortilla to make sure it will slide from pan. The top will still be runny. Carefully slide out onto a plate. Cover with another plate, and holding plates tightly, invert them. Add another tablespoon oil to skillet, and use the spatula to coax tortilla back in. Cook 5 minutes, then slide from skillet onto a clean plate. Serve warm (not hot), or at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.