Gluten-Free Omelette

Ah yes, the omelette. A fluffy pillow of beaten eggs, vegetables, meat for the carnivores, and seasoned with regional flavors. The omelette is one of the most ubiquitous dishes in the Northern Hemisphere. Contrary to popular belief, the eggy delight originated in ancient Persia with countries around the world adapting their recipes to the local cooking style. In this week’s gluten-free recipe, a Japanese omelette meets a Latin American flavor in what I call, the tamale tamagoyaki.

Flavors in this omelette are inspired by a favorite gluten-free go-to, a corn and green chile tamale. Recreating the flavor combination of corn and green chiles is especially satisfying when tamales, corn flour, and corn husks are difficult to procure. Instead of corn flour encasing the filling, the corn and green chile filling is bundled in a fluffy egg roll in the Japanese tamagoyaki style, hitting both the Latin American and Asian palette.

Dating back to 8,000–5,000 BC, tamales are an ancient dish that were a staple food item for the Aztec and Mayans. Tamales are still eaten widely throughout Mexico and Central America. For the gluten-free, they are a quick and wonderful breakfast or snack item.

Eating homemade steamed chicken and beef tamales, made by a local Mexican-American or Guatemalan-American woman, procured by Caucasian-Americans with a unique tie to Latin America, was my introduction to the flavor of tamales. A simple dish made from a corn husk filled with corn flour and fillings ranging from meat and fish, to squash and vegetables, to honey and fruit. Regardless of the choice of filling, the central flavor throughout a tamale is maize, or corn flour.

The Japanese omelette, or tamagoyaki, dates back to the Edo period, 1603–1868. While western style omelettes are generally round in shape, Japanese tamagoyaki are rectangular. The method to make a Japanese rolled omelette starts with pouring beaten eggs into a dashi broth, and are then rolled and folded into a specialized square tamagoyaki pan. Fish, vegetables, and sugar can be added, but eggs and dashi are always the base.

The tamago tamale creation in this recipe is neither traditional nor ancient, but rather a fusion of flavors. A few dollops of Kewpie mayo on top of each piece makes each bite a perfect umami blend of creaminess with a meaty egg and corn texture.

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs per person

• ½–1 green chile

• Two teaspoonfuls of canned corn

• Pinch or two of sugar

• Pinch or two of salt

  
  

Instructions:

• Open a can of corn and drain.

• Wash and finely chop one green chile.

• Crack eggs in a bowl and beat with a whisk or fork.

• Add a pinch of salt and sugar to the egg mixture.

• Heat oil in a tamagoyaki pan.

• Add green chile and corn to the pan and heat.

• Pour in the egg mixture.

• Slowly roll and fold the egg.

• Repeat until all of the egg mixture is used.

• Cut into pieces and top each piece with a dollop of Kewpie mayo.

  
  

Bon appetit!

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Written without AI.