BY KAYLYN HASLUND
For the UAS Whalesong

Food is hard to make. Well, not really. But it’s hard to make if you don’t have any experience or drive – even more so when you’re not entirely sure what you want. But sometimes the food you make yourself is just the best. I know, because I make dish called omurice.

What’s omurice you ask? Well, let me tell you: It’s an omelet made with fried rice and topped with ketchup, but you can put other things on and in it. Though, the way I make it usually includes a tonkatsu sauce and sausage, but that’s because it’s a dinner omurice. You see, there are breakfast, lunch, and dinner versions to this meal that can all use different ingredients.

The recipe I use is actually a variation on the recipe found on recipesforweebs.tumblr.com.

Here’s what you’ll need:
• 1 cup of cooked rice (or more, depending how many people you’re feeding)
• 1 beef sausage (Or more, I typically use a whole package)
• 2 eggs per plate
• 1 ½ Tbsp. of ketchup
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of black pepper

You’ll also need to create a sauce:
• ½ cup of red wine (any brand, and you can use more if you want, as it will evaporate in the pot)
• ¼ cup of water
• ¼ cup of ketchup
• 3 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 beef sausage (I use about half a package of sausage for the sauce)
• 3 Tbsp of tonkatsu sauce.

The tonkatsu sauce you’ll make separately, but I typically make that first and then just mix the rest of the omurice sauce ingredients into instead of using up too many pans.

For the tonkatsu sauce:
• 1 Tbsp. of ketchup
• 2 ½ tsp. of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ½ tsp. of oyster sauce
• 1 1/8 tsp. of sugar.

You’ll combine all of these ingredients into a pot and whisk them together. After that, I usually start mixing the rest of the sauce ingredients in. I don’t really follow the usual recipes guidelines and just sort of mix it all together and let it simmer. This can include putting sausage into the sauce to simmer and soak in the flavors, but not before cooking the sausage.

For the rest of the meal you’ll want to cut your sausage. I just chop them up and throw them alongside minced garlic into a frying pan. Then, separate what will be going into the sauce and what will go into the rice. After doing that, you’ll want to start putting your rice into the frying pan with the rice sausage. Mix the two together, allowing the rice to cook and brown up. Continue to mix, then turn off your stove top, and place a lid on top of said frying pan, thus letting it cook a bit more.

For the eggs, you’ll just be making flat omelets, and by this a mean what would be the start of an omelet that just never got filled and folded. But first, you’re going to want to beat the eggs together, adding salt and pepper to the mix as you do. Have a separate pan, that you’ll put cooking spray on to keep the eggs from sticking, then spread the egg on it letting it cook.

I typically place the mixed rice on a plate before placing the nice egg blanket on top it and dousing it with the sauce. Then you have a nice meal to finish the day off with, one that is quick and inexpensive.