Rice with raw egg

TIME magazine presented the ALL-TIME 100 best films as chosen by TIME's movie critics. I like to see this kind of list just for fun. Ikiru, Tokyo Story, Yojinbo, and Ugetsu are chosen Japanese movies that were chosen. Ha! They are old Black & White cinema. But I am a exactly a person who doesn't go to the theater for Japanese movies. I can agree with them.

Anyway do you know the movie Tampopo? It was good food movie. The main story was a Trucker GORO helps a woman named TAMPOPO open a good ramen restaurant. Woven into this main story are a number of episode about food. Ken Watanabe, and Koji Yakusho are in the cast and the Director is Juzo Itami.(He was the target of Yakuza, because of his movie "Minbo no onna", but he did not show any signs of being daunted. However he committed suicide because of depressive psychosis.)
In the movie, there are two impressive scenes involving an egg. One of them is an erotic scene in which a guy and a woman pass an egg yolk back and forth, mouth to mouth. Another one involve this Tampopo Omlet & Rice.　The omlet is half cooked, and when you cut the top, the egg runs over the chicken rice. Originally this omlet & rice is served at well-known restaurant called Ginza Taimeiken. (HP).  This sounds very delicious to me. How about you? I ask because some of my foreign friends don't like half boiled egg.

Generally speaking Japanese like raw eggs and half done eggs. We appreciate them as "toro toro tamago!" For example, Topping boiled egg of Ramen, Omlet, Katsudon, Oyakodon, these are so delicious because the eggs are "toro toro" (soft, half done, close to raw).

And at breakfast, we might eat rice with raw egg (TAMAGO KAKE GOHAN). Basically, it's adding an egg to white rice with soy sauce, that's it. But way to add egg, kinds of topping(natto, mayo etc,.), quantity of soy sauce...we can discuss about Tamagokake Gohan for long time. Look at this long page at Wikipedia! That whole page talks about only Tamagokake Gohan. We actually have a special soy sauce for raw eggs, and there are two versions, for East Japan (strong) and for West Japan (Sweet). You can eat it in restaurants in Japan, this place has the name "Tamagokake Gohan Nakama"　Will you try rice with raw egg?

Comments

[huang]

Yup, yup. Kaya is high cholesterol food (spread). It is made with eggs and coconut milk (plus sugar, colouring).

A Taiwanese guy was in town and requested to try it, so we ate that on toast just before dinner !

The 2 dominant kaya players in Singapore are Ya Kun and Killiney's. Ya Kun opened its 1st outlet in Seoul recently.

Ya Kun sells kaya in glass bottles but I find it too smooth for my liking. I usually bring plastic jars of Killiney's kaya for friends in HK. The plastic containers are not as air-tight as glass bottles but don't break, so I feel they travel better.

However, my personal fave kaya is from Chin Bee Chin in Katong (eastern part of Singapore). It is a standalone shop and not a chain like the other 2.

Yes, Yeo Hiap Seng sells bottled kaya, so does Gloria.

[Mari]

Hi AB, thank you I understand what is kaya. It sounds very delicious. I want to try. yes cel, I agree with you. I cannot agree 100% with them, there is no Jean-Luc Godard movie. ( I do not like his movie though)

[cel]

Regarding Time's 100 best films. These lists are always more interesting for what they leave out (Hitchock's Vertigo and Rear Window, for example; or even David Lynch's Blue Velvet, which is surely more interesting than the 1986 version of The Fly). Anyway, in terms of Japanese cinema, while I love the masters from the 50s and early 60s, I am most partial to the Japanese New Wave directors, like Koji Wakamatsu, who directed Go, Go, Second Time Virgin (Yuke Yuke Nidome No Shojo) and Ecstacy of the Angels.

[AzianBrewer]

Kaya is the Malay version of custard. Quite similar to the gooey stuff that they put in the cream puff. I think it is made of raw eggs, sugar (brown sugar??) and coconut oil or cream. It is very rich tasting. They sell them in a can. I think Yeo's is the only company that export them.

[Mari]

Hi there
Hmm everybody like raw egg, so maybe I should change my image foreign people do not like it. Huang, no I don't know Kaya toast. It close to poached egg? we will find it coffeeshop?! it is a kind of desert for them?!

[AzianBrewer]

Do they put coconut oil in Kaya?? They are quite fattening! I don't mind eating raw eggs but I am just too afraid of salmonella.

[Noswonky]

I love rice with raw egg. Raw egg is also good for dipping sukiyaki. However, my mother thinks it's disgusting.

[huang]

Your blog pet has been writing again. If only I can get it to work with my blog ! Sigh !

Mari, have you tried soft boiled eggs with kaya toast in Singapore. Actually the eggs are not even boiled. The eggs are put in a metal container and hot boiling water is poured over them, submerging the eggs. The container is left covered for several minutes.

These eggs are then eaten with black soya sauce and a dash of pepper. Usually served in coffeeshops selling kaya toast.

I stop eating such eggs because of cholesterol and fear of salmonella. ^-^

[BlogPetの「tokiokun」]

きのう、blogしたかった。
mariがblogするはずだった。
ここにひまとかblogしたよ♪

[クレア (Claire)]

Tampopo, Marusa no Onna, and Minbo no Onna are some of my favorite movies. Tampopo is the most funny of Juzo Itami's movies to me. The others are more serious, I think. It was a sad day for me when he died.

I've had tamagokake gohan with natto. おいしし安いし食べ物と思いますね。I think a lot of Western people are turned off by the thought of the raw egg, but when you put it on a hot bowl of rice, most of it gets cooked. The effect is a lot like having a poached or soft-boiled egg.

I can't imagine tamagokake gohan with mayo, though. ちょっとへんと思いますね。マヨレが好きでしょ。

[Kallun]

I've never tried Tamago Kake Gohan. I might try it tomorrow...