Watch This Chef Make a Japanese Omelette in 12 Seconds Flat
If you’ve ever been to Japan, and even if you haven’t, you know that Japanese culture is all about doing things in order and with great precision. And if you’ve had a chance to ride on the Shinkansen, Japan’s high-speed bullet train line, you might also say fast. About 200 miles-per-hour fast.
From its fine-dining sushi experiences à la Jiro Dreams of Sushi and 7-Eleven bento boxes to teppanyaki restaurants and traditional tea ceremonies, Japanese cuisine ranges from high end to casual, with a focus on both singular flavors and unique combinations of flavors to keep the palate guessing. But even among this range of flavors and combinations, there’s always a thread of consistency between them: quality, care, and thoughtfulness. Which is precisely why this video of a chef making a Japanese omelette in 12 seconds flat is so fascinating.
Where American omelettes are a process to make with all the chopped vegetables and shredded cheese to make them as gigantic as possible, and then cooked until a golden crust forms on the outside, French omelettes are more simple, cooked until just done and rolled into a cylinder rather than into a full, round shape like its American cousin. Japanese omelettes, on the other hand, are a little different. The most iconic version of a Japanese omelette is called tamagoyaki — it’s made by rolling together multiple layers of cooked egg, often prepared in a rectangular omelette pan called a makiyakinabe or tamagoyakiki.
But this chef eschews the traditional, more process-oriented technique of making a Japanese omelette for speed by pouring the egg onto a hot griddle. Then, using not one but two metal spatulas with lightning-speed skill, moving the egg mixture around the griddle quickly and swiftly until just cooked, and rolling it up into a French-inspired cylinder shape before adding it to the top of a generous heap of rice and sauce. (It’s hard to say exactly, but the final dish looks a lot like omurice).
Et voilà: an omelette served in under 15 seconds. Now that’s breakFAST.