how to make a juicy cheese omelet?

December 4, 2021 1:56 PM

I recently watched a video about street food in Tokyo, and I'm particularly intrigued by the cheese omelet sandwich from Steam Bread (starting at 1:18 in the video). How can I make a gooey soft omelet like that at home?
posted by moonmilk to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

The texture reminds me of a omurice-style omelette— set but pale skin, runny interior. The cheese is secondary to the egg texture, because cheese will resolidify and just-barely-cooked eggs won’t. Here’s a tutorial.
posted by supercres at 2:13 PM on December 4, 2021 [3 favorites]

Well, you need a lot of practice, but apart from that it isn't difficult. If that makes sense. Maybe look at the legendary Jaques Pepin omelette video. Knowing the principles, you can make it as gooey as you want.
Practice is important, you need to learn to know just when your omelette is just right.
posted by mumimor at 2:14 PM on December 4, 2021 [9 favorites]

tl;dr is that you want a hot pan, pull off absolutely asap, because you want carryover cooking to finish it. Eggs: done in the pan = overdone on the plate. It’s just practice after that.
posted by supercres at 2:17 PM on December 4, 2021 [4 favorites]

Or go the opposite direction— I wouldn’t be surprised if this is something like a sous-vide situation. Put in some sort of vessel. Cook in water bath until you get the soft texture, dunk briefly in boiling water to get the outside to set.
posted by supercres at 2:25 PM on December 4, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'd try like this: How to make Tamagoyaki (Tamago)- Japanese omelette using square pan and round pan.RECIPE - YouTube.

The first couple or three rolls are runny cheesy barely can be 'rolled' down. Then the last bit you let cook a bit longer to get the outer surface more omelet like before flopping the cheesy runny previous bits up. Just make sure to get the final size appropriate for your bread. Then once cut down the middle.... gooey cheesy egg stuff starts squirting out.
posted by zengargoyle at 3:29 PM on December 4, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I decided to try supercres' sous vide suggestion tonight, because it seemed like it would require less skill than the skillet methods. I put the eggs (and scallions and cheddar) in a bag in a 147ºF water bath for about 30 minutes, then dipped the bag in boiling water for about 45 seconds. It almost worked, setting nicely on the outside, but the inside is still too liquid. I think it might work quite nicely if the sous vide stage were at a higher temperature!

That said, it was a lot of fuss and a waste of thermal energy and a disposable bag, so I'm going to try to learn some skillet techniques next.
posted by moonmilk at 3:59 PM on December 4, 2021 [2 favorites]

Follow Pepin above, or check out Julia Child's omelette episode where she bangs out a dozen or so in 30 min (is on YouTube).
posted by Ahmad Khani at 4:10 PM on December 4, 2021 [1 favorite]

For meal-prep I pre-scramble a bunch of eggs to throw on tortillas and into the air fryer for breakfast burritos during the week, and I hate overdone eggs so I aim for this kind of underdone as my prep. The best trick I've discovered is a small wok-shaped nonstick pan - mine is this one - so the amount of pan actually touching heating element is the least possible. And I'm still making like 6+ eggs in that, so if you can get your hands on a 5 or 6-inch tiny wok that might be even more forgiving - here's a carbon steel 4.75" tadka pan, but I suspect it would take a lot of work to make/keep nonstick enough for eggs.

You'll still have to practice to get the exact amount of un-done so that carryover doesn't overcook them, but that pan makes the most forgiving environment short of a double-boiler (which might also be what the shop in the video does), alternate option in silicone.

I use a spoonula so absolutely no egg stays in contact with the pan for too long, and keep the eggs moving almost the entire time, just short pauses to let a little bit of curd develop.

I'm really torn on a critical ingredient. It's called "cheese egg" and the color and texture of the egg in the video makes me think they might use pasteurized cheese food product - something like deluxe American, Velveeta, or Cheez Whiz - probably pre-melted into a sauce to be mixed in. It could be cheddar, but watching (semi-hypnotized) that egg ooze out of the sandwich into his hand sure makes me think that's a softened emulsified cheese goo. But at the end of the segment I see the grease of shredded cheddar. Maybe both?
posted by Lyn Never at 4:50 PM on December 4, 2021 [4 favorites]

I often make scrambled eggs that are runny, sometimes omelets with runny insides, and one key to this is both whisking the eggs really well before cooking -- probably 2 to 3 minutes -- and then moving the eggs constantly whilst cooking at high heat. The omirice videos also hint at this technique.

Comments above mentioning overcooking are also key. If the eggs are done in the pan, they will be overdone when plated -- always. They are very sensitive to temperature, and once the proteins are cooked, that's it. You want to plate before this chemical shuffle occurs.

From experience, however, some eggs are better than others, and I have found that starting with the best eggs I can find is a major factor for making successful dishes. Perhaps as important as whatever technique used to cook them, I think.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:52 PM on December 4, 2021 [4 favorites]

When I want eggs like that, I whisk them with either buttermilk or heavy cream for a few minutes, melt a little butter in the pan, and then take my time cooking them, keeping the eggs moving in the pan. I add shredded cheese when the eggs are almost solidifying -- add it too early and it won't come together right, add it too late and your eggs will be overcooked by the time it melts. It takes practice!
posted by erst at 5:25 PM on December 4, 2021 [2 favorites]

some eggs are better than others

Can confirm. There is no omelette better than one made from today's backyard laying.
posted by flabdablet at 8:30 PM on December 4, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Unfortunately, my building's backyard is occupied by puppies and squirrels, but I will try the other suggestions soon!
posted by moonmilk at 8:15 AM on December 5, 2021

Ok ok, so, I think what you're seeing here is very close to "folded eggs". There's an Australian breakfast place right near us that makes PERFECT scrambled eggs, and it turns out they're actually folded eggs, and while they're not quite as runny as in that video, you can totally make them that runny with the folded egg technique. I searched around for a good video and this is the best I could find: https://youtu.be/uafIcK7jPLM

I occasionally make these as an omlette by just adding cheese on top in the center at the beginning. It's all melty by the end.
posted by antinomia at 12:38 PM on December 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I still haven't managed anything like the original video, firm on the outside with gooey cheese inside. But thanks to everyone's suggestions, my overall scrambled egg game is very much improved.
posted by moonmilk at 7:41 AM on December 15, 2021