Raw Egg On Rice? The simplest Japanese food

Tamago kake gohan (“egg over rice”) is a popular Japanese breakfast dish, which consists of hot steamed Japanese rice, topped with raw egg, and toppings.
There is no correct way of making tamago kake gohan.
Some people beat the egg first, then pour it over their rice.
Some people only use the yolk.

Toppings can include whatever you feel like adding.
Scallions, nori, furikake, bacon,all are delicious!
This dish is so popular in Japan that is sometimes called TKG for short.

Food Safety

Japanese eggs are premised on raw food, so hygiene management is thorough from the production stage, and the expiration date is often set to about two weeks on the premise of raw food.


The poultry house environment was prepared so that chickens would not be infected with Salmonella, and for distribution, strict quality control such as washing, sterilization, egg inspection, and selection of eggshells was carried out, and containers and packaging were hardly touched. And sold in stores under complete hygiene management.
The system is so tightly controlled that many steps must be cleared.



The date is displayed

In Japan, each egg is stamped with the date on which it was laid, so you always know exactly how old your eggs are.

Raw egg is never something people are afraid of in Japan.
In other countries however raw egg is a different story, so for them, tamago kake gohan isn’t a frequent breakfast option.

Many Japanese people today like raw eggs on rice.
They break a raw egg over their rice, and add some soy sauce, then mix it all together with chopsticks, and eat it.

When did Japanese people begin to eat raw eggs?

One record of this exists. Kishida Ginko, a man from Okayama, ate a raw eggs on rice at the beginning of the Meiji era.
Another record shows that when chicken farming began in Japan in 1955, a lot of eggs were produced. And eating eggs became popular all over Japan.

Raw Egg On Rice - Could Be Seen As Quite Egg-centric To Some? (casual version)

My dear reader, ..when you feel hungry and feel like something tasty to eat, it is easy to assume that most people would have never considered cracking a raw egg on top of some cooked rice.

Many people may even feel completely put off just by thinking about it, or maybe get worried about the risks of Salmonella poisoning.

Yet, this simple meal consisting of only two ingredients, although it is common to add a little soy sauce, is an eggs-elently delicious meal to many Japanese people.

There are now a lot of restaurants in Japan that actually specialize in serving this raw egg over cooked rice dish, and some are eggs-tremely famous.

There is even an annual tamago-kake-gohan symposium!

I know it’s pretty hard to swallow, but isn’t it at least eggs-citing to learn about such a popular and unique Japanese dish?

Please “chick it out” sometime to get egg-ucated in this simple Japanese meal!


Author’s Note: My apologies in advance for all the egg puns, their egg-istance is due to how egg-cited they made me.

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I am a Japanese living in Mie prefecture. I work in a supermarket. You will often find information about Japan from anime and manga. However, in reality, it is slightly different. I want to convey the true Japanese culture and lifestyle.


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