TAMAGOYAKI | SWEET/SAVORY

A well known saying from the 1960s is that the 3 most loved things by Japanese children are The Giants baseball team, Taiho the legendary sumo wrestler, and tamagoyaki. Tamagoyaki is basically a Japanese omelette. It's actually not a traditional Japanese food and became popular after World War II. It is made similarly to an omelette but with sugar and mirin to make it a bit sweet. There are also different types of tamagoyaki - the sweet one which uses sugar and mirin or dashimaki tamago which uses dashi in it for a burst of umami.  Tamagoyaki is an essential component of bento (Japanese lunch box) and menu item at izakayas.

Photo credit: Cooking New York Times