🍱 Tamagoyaki
Tamagoyaki is a dish made by seasoning eggs and frying them thickly. In the Kanto region, it refers to “atsuyaki tamago,” a sweetly seasoned omelet that is fried until lightly browned, whereas in the Kansai region, it refers to “dashimaki tamago,” an omelet that is made with soup stock, fried without browning, and served with grated daikon radish. Eggs have been prized by people since ancient times as a “food that nourishes the spirit,” but in the imperial court, eating chicken was prohibited, and chickens were treated as useful animals that could tell the time, so along with other meat, eating them was prohibited for a long time. Cooking and eating chicken and eggs as ingredients began in the early Edo period when the ban on eating them was lifted. Due to the influence of the Nanban trade, people started eating chicken eggs, but they were still valuable. After that, a dish called “tamago fuwafuwa,” a dish in which beaten eggs were poured into boiling stock and steamed, became popular as a delicacy for the commoners of the Edo period. This is said to be the origin of tamagoyaki. Oji Ogiya, which appeared on stage in the rakugo story “Oji no Kitsune (Fox of Oji)” and was also depicted in Hiroshige Utagawa's “Edo Komei Kaitei Zukushi,” is a hand-fried tamagoyaki shop that remains faithful to the original taste even now. At that time, there were many tea houses and restaurants in the area around Asukayama, Oji, which was said to be famous for its cherry blossoms, and Ogiya was one of them. Edo-style tamagoyaki is characterized by its sweet, deep flavor and chewy texture, with the flavorful umami of bonito stock. Today, it has become a staple in every household, and thanks to the widespread use of Teflon-based rectangular frying pans, it is easy to fry and continues to be a favorite for lunch boxes.