Tenshinhan is a delicious dish made up 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 extremely tasty, but it's super easy to make too!
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What is tenshinhan?
Tenshinhan (天津飯) is a Chinese-influenced Japanese dish. It's made up of a fluffy omelette mixed with imitation crab and shiitake mushrooms served over a mountain of rice and then coated in a thick glossy 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. In reality, 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 World War II.
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 contains rice vinegar, whereas Osaka style is more savory and swaps the vinegar for sake. My recipe is Tokyo style.
Ingredients used in tenshinhan
Tenshinhan is made with cheap and accessible ingredients! Here is the complete ingredient list: (Quantities can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.)
- Eggs
- Imitation crab sticks
- Spring onion
- Dried shiitake mushroom
- Japanese mayonnaise
- Grated ginger (or ginger paste for convenience)
- Salt and pepper
- Sesame oil
- Green peas
- Cooked rice
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.
For the sauce I use the following ingredients:
- Unsalted butter
- Soy sauce
- Chicken stock (I use 2 tsp of Youki garasupu mixed with 200ml of hot water)
- Light brown sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Salt
- Potato starch
The sauce is essentially like a sweet and sour gravy, it's seriously good!
Instructions on how to make tenshinhan
Tenshinhan is delicious and extremely easy to make! Here are my step by step instructions including process pictures for clarity and tips and tricks to get it perfect every time! (See the recipe card below for ingredient quantities.)
Soak shiitake mushrooms
The first step is to rehydrate the dry shiitake mushrooms in water. Make sure you only use dried shiitake mushrooms for this recipe as the flavour of fresh ones is not so strong.
For 1-2 servings I suggest 2 shiitake mushrooms, however the ones in my pack were small so I used 3 this time.
Soak them for about 20-30 minutes until softened. You can also use this time to set your rice. (If you don't have a rice cooker, check out my post on how to cook fluffy Japanese style rice on the stove!)
Make the sauce
Start by melting butter in a pan over a low heat.
Once melted, add the soy sauce and mix.
Add the chicken stock, light brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Turn up the heat to medium and bring it to a boil.
Allow the sauce to boil for 1 minute and then turn it down to a simmer.
Make a slurry by mixing potato starch and cold water in a small bowl, then add it to the sauce along with the rice vinegar.
Allow the sauce to simmer until it becomes slightly thickened and glossy.
Once it's thickened, turn off the heat. You can leave it on the stove to keep it warm or reheat it just before serving.
Prepare the ingredients
Once the shiitake are rehydrated, remove them from the water. Don't discard the water as this is now a shiitake dashi (broth) that we will add to the eggs later!
Cut the shiitake into slices.
Finely dice the spring onion and shred the crab sticks using a fork.
Whisk the egg
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them until the whites and yolks are combined.
Add the shiitake, spring onion and imitation crab and whisk them all together.
Add 1 tbsp of shiitake dashi per portion.
Then add Japanese mayonnaise, grated ginger and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Mayonnaise helps to reduce the protein binding caused by heating the eggs, preventing them from hardening and making the eggs fluffy. Fluffy eggs is a must for tenshinhan!
Whisk them altogether and then you're ready to cook!
Cook the omelette
Heat a pan on medium-high and once hot, add the oil and swirl it around the pan. To make sure the base is evenly coated with oil, you can use kitchen paper to rub it all over the surface, this will ensure your omelette doesn't stick. I recommend using a pan that is roughly the same size as your serving dish.
If you're making multiple portions, you should divide the egg and make each portion separately to ensure beautiful presentation. Make sure to oil the pan between each portion.
Once the pan is hot, pour the egg mixture in.
Whisk the egg with chopsticks while it's still raw to ensure a fluffy texture. Once you start to see the edges setting, stop whisking. I usually whisk it for about 30 seconds.
Turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook until it's half done.
Eggs tend to hold onto heat and continue cooking even after you've taken them off the stove. In addition to this, placing them over hot rice will add even more heat. If you cook the eggs all the way, you could end up with a rubbery omelette. Turn off the heat before the egg is fully cooked, the top will still be runny and that's okay!
I took my omelette off the heat at this point. (If you prefer your eggs well done, you can flip it and cook the other side for 30 seconds or so.)
Dish up
Make a small mountain of rice in a bowl. I recommend using a deep dish with raised edges so that the sauce stays in the bowl.
Carefully slide the omelette from the pan over the rice.
Pour the sauce over the top. (Reheat if necessary.)
Drizzle with sesame oil and top with a few green peas for authentic presentation!
And enjoy!
I hope you enjoy this simple, yet delicious Tenshinhan crab omelette! If you try the recipe, be sure to let me know what you thought in the comments below!
Step by step recipe
PrintStep by step recipe
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
- 100ml water
- 200g cooked rice (90-100g before cooking)
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 potato starch or corn starch)
Tenshinhan
- 1 tbsp spring onion white part, finely diced
- 30g imitation crab (crab sticks)
- 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 a small bowl of cold water and soak for about 20-30 minutes or until softened.
- Use this time to cook your rice. (I often use frozen rice and microwave it while cooking the sauce.)
Sauce
- Place a saucepan on the stove and the butter over a low heat.
- Once melted, add soy sauce and mix.
- Add chicken stock, light brown sugar and salt. Turn up the heat to medium and bring it to a boil.
- Allow the sauce to boil for 1 minute and then add the slurry and rice vinegar.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low and stir continuously until it becomes slightly thickened and glossy.
- Turn off the heat and leave on the stove to keep it warm.
Omelette
- Remove the soaked shiitake mushrooms from the water (but don't throw away the water!), cut off the stems and then cut them into thin slices.
- Shred the imitation crab with a fork and finely dice the spring onion.
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk.
- Add the spring onion, shiitake mushrooms and imitation crab, then whisk again.
- Next add 1 tbsp of the shiitake dashi (left over water from soaking the mushrooms) per portion along with Japanese mayonnaise, grated ginger and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk until evenly distributed.
- Heat a frying pan (preferably non-stick) on medium-high and once hot, add a drizzle of vegetable oil. Swirl it around and evenly coat the pan.
- Pour the egg mixture in and whisk while still raw (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 few green peas.
- Enjoy!
Notes
If doubling or tripling the recipe, divide the egg and cook each portion separately to ensure beautiful presentation. (This will also prevent the omelette from becoming too thick.)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- soaking time: 25 minutes
- 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,
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
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