オムライス
Topic: Food
Since thenovakids are all working hard fulltime learning how to build future cities, we've neglected our TAKOTRON NEWS page among many other of the often-overlooked pleasantries of our everyday lives, including decent meals.

We will take this brief but precious opportunity to continue our discussion of food. Specifically, a Japanese dish little known stateside, but quite common in its native land: omuraisu (オムライス) is one of those Western dishes that's been reinterpreted beyond recognition. Dishes like this, are apparently called "Youshoku" (洋食)", which just means Western food. Omuraisu is a contraction for "omelette rice," which is pretty much what it is, except for its magic ingredient, KETCHUP. So first you fry up white rice with chopped onion, ham, bits of carrot, and ketchup. You then wrap it in a thin (1 egg) omelette, and dribble ketchup over that. Pretty simple, though there is a definite art to the process. They make rubber molds you stick the omelette in and then jam with rice to shape the thing. Once in Kyoto (on the restaurant level of the big Kyoto station there is a whole omuraisu restaurant) I saw some chefs add the rice to the pan with the egg and do a little flip and form the shape perfectly. And then some people just drape the omelette lazily over the rice. Beauty in Variety

Last weekend some omuraisu was produced (right) and consumed.