Tenshinhan is a delicious dish consisting of a fluffy crab meat omelette served on a mountain of rice and then drizzled with a glossy sweet vinegar sauce. Not only is it delicious, but it's super easy to make!
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Tenshinhan
Tenshinhan (天津飯) is a Chinese-influenced Japanese dish made up of a fluffy omelette with imitation crab and shiitake mushrooms served on a bed of rice and then coated in a thick starchy sweet vinegar sauce. It has some similarities to Chinese egg foo yung.
Although tenshinhan is a popular dish that can be found in any Chinese restaurant across Japan, many Japanese people don't realise that it's not true Chinese food, it's actually a Japanese creation!
History of Tenshinhan
There are a few theories about the origin of Tenshinhan, but it is believed to have started when crab meat was mixed with eggs and baked, then served over rice during the food shortage after WWII.
During this time, the Chinese city of Tainjin (天津) was known for its high quality rice and it became popular to serve crab omelette on top of "tenshin rice". "Tenshin" is how the Chinese characters are read in Japanese.
As for the roots of the birth of Tenshinhan, there are two theories. One is the dish was created in a restaurant called "Raizen" in Tokyo, the other is from "Taisho-ken" in Osaka.
In fact, tenshinhan has slightly different sauce depending on the region. Tokyo style is more like sweet and sour sauce and the contains rice vinegar, whereas Osaka style is more savory and swaps the vinegar for sake. My recipe is Tokyo style.
About Ingredients?
Other than the eggs needed to make omelette, other common ingredients for tenshinhan include crab meat, green onions, salt, and green peas...etc
However, real crab meat is an expensive ingredient so for home cooking, we tend to use imitation crab (crab sticks) instead. It also makes the dish more colourful. It's also fine to use canned crab if you prefer.
To make the tenshinhan, simple mix the egg with the other ingredients and then pour the mixture into a wok over a medium-high heat. Mix it quickly, and when the mixture is half-cooked, shape it into a circle. You should use a pan that is roughly the same size as your serving dish.
The key to making delicious tenshinhan is to make a crispy base and a soft, half-cooked inside. (Of course, how cooked you like your eggs depends on preference, but true tenshinhan should be fluffy and moist!)
Tips for making the perfect tenshinhan
Tenshinhan is a quick and easy dish, but here are a few techniques to follow to make it fail-proof!
Order of cooking is important
For tenshinhan, you should cook the rice in advance and the most efficient way is to use a rice cooker. If you don't have a rice cooker, check out my post "how to cook Japanese style rice on the stove".
I often freeze leftover rice and microwave it when I want to eat, using frozen rice to make tenshinhan makes the whole process so quick and easy!
If you cook the eggs first, the residual heat will continue to cook the eggs and make them hard so I recommend cooking the eggs last.
Serve the cooked rice in a bowl, make the sauce, and then finally cook the eggs to finish the dish.
Basically, cooking the egg should always be the last step!
Adding mayonnaise to egg mixture
Mayonnaise helps to reduce the protein binding caused by heating the eggs, preventing them from hardening and making the eggs fluffy.
To me, fluffy omlette is the most important element for this dish!
Half-cook the egg
When it comes to cooking the egg mixture in this recipe, I purposely cook on one side only so that the top will still be a bit runny.
That way, you can enjoy different textures on the bottom and top!
Other Chinese-Inspired Japanese dishes
Why not cook up a Japanese Chinese-inspired feast? Serve tenshinhan with some of these delicious recipes:
- Pan-fried gyoza
- Crispy harumaki (spring rolls)
- Chinjaorosu (pepper steak)
- Spicy Mapo Tofu
- 15 minute Tantanmen Ramen
Tenshinhan (Crab Meat Omelette on Rice)
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 1-2 portions 1x
Description
Fluffy omelette with imitation crab meat and shiitake mushrooms served on a mountain of rice and drizzled with a thick and glossy sweet vinegar sauce. Serves 1-2. (Cooking time doesn't include rice.)
Ingredients
Prep
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 200g cooked rice
- 1 tbsp spring onion white part, finely diced
- 30g imitation crab (crab sticks)
Sauce
- 15g unsalted butter
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 200ml chicken stock
- ½ tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ tbsp rice vinegar
- slurry (1 tbsp cold water mixed with 1 tsp corn starch)
Tenshinhan
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp shiitake mushroom dashi (from soaked shiitake)
- 1 tsp ginger paste (grated ginger)
- 1 pinches salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- green peas to garnish
Instructions
Prep
- Place two dried shiitake mushrooms in approximately 100ml of cold water. (Or enough to cover, depending on the container.) Allow to soak for about 20-30 minutes or until softened.
- Cook the rice in advance. (I often use frozen rice and microwave it while cooking the sauce.)
- Peel the imitation crab sticks into strings.
Sauce
- Place a saucepan on the stove and melt 15g butter on a low heat.
- Once melted, add 2 tsp of soy sauce and mix.
- Add 200ml chicken stock, ½ tbsp light brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Turn up the heat to medium and bring to boil.
- Allow to boil for 1 minute and then add ½ tbsp rice vinegar and your slurry (1 tbsp cold water mixed with 1 tsp corn starch).
- Turn down the heat to medium-low and continue to heat while mixing until it becomes slightly thickened and glossy.
- Turn off the heat and set aside.
Omelette
- Remove the soaked shiitake mushrooms from the water (don't throw away the water!), cut off the stems and then cut them into thin slices.
- Crack 4 eggs into a bowl and whisk.
- Add the finely diced spring onion, sliced shiitake mushrooms and shreds of imitation crab, then whisk.
- Next add 1 tbsp of the shiitake dashi (left over water from soaking the mushrooms), 2 tsp Japanese mayonnaise, 1 tsp of ginger paste (grated ginger) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk well.
- Heat a wok or non-stick frying pan on medium-high.
- Once it's hot, pour 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to the pan and pour the egg mixture in. Mix it in the pan (like you would with scrambled eggs) for about 30 seconds.
- Turn down the heat to medium and continue to heat without mixing until the egg is cooked half way through (it will be a bit runny on top - if you don't like runny eggs you can flip it to cook the other side.)
- Make a mountain of rice on a plate and carefully slide the omelette on top of the rice.
- Pour the sauce over the top and garnish with a drizzle of sesame oil and a sprinkling of green peas.
- Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- soaking time: 25
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Rice
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: Japanese / Chinese
Keywords: Tenshinhan, tenshinhan food, tenshinhan recipe, how to make tenshinhan, crab omelette, crab recipe, crab omelet, crab omelette on rice, crab omelet on rice, crab meat omelette, Japanese crab omelette,
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