New contraption from Japan lets you cook paper-thin egg omelets in your microwave

Use it to make crepes, rice omelets, or decorations for your bento lunchbox!

As people venture into the wild world of home cooking, gadgets that purport to make certain tasks easier become more and more tempting. Think of how many things you could use a melon-baller for, or how easy it would be to crimp your own gyoza with this special mold!

There’s no shortage of said gadgets when it comes to cooking eggs, in particular. We’ve already tested out one that purports to help you make fluffy, delicious omelet sandwich fillings; but today’s offering is a little more high concept. This one boasts that it can produce a beautiful, thin omelet, perfect for wrapping around other ingredients or shredding up as a topping for Chinese cuisine.

▼ The official commercial for the EZ Egg Microwave Thin-Grilled Egg gadget by Akebono, priced at 1,342 yen (US$12.26).

We picked one up, wondering if a gadget like this was worth over 1,000 yen. You can cook an omelet well enough in the frying pan, after all, although it is pretty frustrating to mess it up and have to settle for turning it into an unsatisfactory glob of scrambled eggs.

We removed our new toy from its packaging and stared into its hypnotic yellow eye.

▼ It’s unexpectedly large, around 26 centimeters (10.2 inches) in diameter.

The kit comes in three pieces: a white tray on the bottom, a semi-translucent inner lid, and then the butter-yellow outer lid.

▼ Pour eggs onto the tray, and the two lids will hold them in place.

We still felt a little doubtful, but we followed the instructions. The first steps to prepare for your egg journey are to fill the tray with water and microwave it.

Then we wiped the inner surfaces of the device with cooking oil.

Now it was time for the most important step—beating the eggs until the yolk and white were combined. The manual proclaims that you can also just use yolk if you prefer.

We ladled three tablespoons of egg into the tray and then placed the inner lid on top.

Then we heated it in the microwave. The manual recommends between one minute and ten seconds to one minute and thirty seconds. We popped out our tray and observed our handiwork.

▼ Ta-dah!

There are a couple of spots where the whites weren’t sufficiently mixed into the yolk, but in general, the whole omelet had a great color and consistency. And though we were doubtful about how useful a tool this would be, there’s no denying that this omelet is far thinner and made with much more ease than one that you would make by yourself in a frying pan. And hey, no tears!

▼ We transferred it to a plate and decided to fill it with shrimp.

▼ The shrimp were fried in Thai fish sauce.

▼ Scrumptious!

You’ll be happy to know that Japan has plenty more to offer in the world of extremely specific kitchen gadgetry. Take the apple-pie cooker that makes your pies into an apple shape, for example…or this personal sweet-potato roaster. And don’t forget this kit that allows you to recreate a traditional Japanese bar inside your very own home!

Images © Soranews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Credit: