Recipe: Tamago Miso French Toast

A cache of miso paste and a few other Japanese ingredients, the last thirds of a loaf of bread, a handful of eggs, and some stray refrigerator stragglers looked like a disparate assemblage cobbled together on my kitchen counter when rooting round my kitchen for something to eat one recent morning. But hunger pangs and inspiration prevailed for what turned out to be a super yummy breakfast – tamago miso French Toast. It’s a recipe I made again soon after and definitely plan to enjoy again and often.

Talk about a pain perdu! My eggy bread took a long detour through Japan on its way to France! Drawing together a love for tamago nigiri (Japanese omlette sushi roll), a near perpetual craving for miso, and a strong a.m. hankering for French toast resulted one of the tastiest breakfast/brunch ideas I’ve had in quite some time.

I reckon my tamago miso French toast – Japanese French toast, if you will – would pair nicely with a broad range of traditional western breakfast dishes (I’m thinking smoked salmon could be a tasty accompaniment) and a good number of Japanese dishes as well. And like most of my favourite recipes (to actually cook for myself) it requires minimum effort for maximum flavour.

For just about all the Japanese ingredients in this recipe, I used Yutaka brand products. Yutaka’s range of authentic Japanese foods can be found at most major supermarkets throughout the UK, the Japan Centre in London, and online at yutaka.co. I’m sure other quality brands would be okay to use for this recipe but feel I should say Yutaka’s roasted sesame seeds are especially tasty (I’m adding them to everything these days) and I’ve never gone wrong when purchasing Yutaka items.

TAMAGO MISO FRENCH TOAST Yum

Ingredients

• 4 eggs;
• 1 heaping tablespoon of miso paste;
• Dash of mirin (Japanese sweet wine);
• Dash of cooking sake;
• Soy sauce to taste (I’d say about a teaspoon);
• Shichimi (Japanese chilli pepper spice mix) to taste;
• White roasted sesame seeds to taste;
• 6-8 slices of white bread (I like mine with a sesame crust for this recipe);
• 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil, or more as needed for cooking;
• Chopped chives to taste;
• Maple syrup or honey to taste.

Method

• Beat egg, miso, mirin, sake, soy sauce, and shichimi together in a shallow dish, making sure the miso is evenly distributed;
• Dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture, turning to coat both sides evenly;
• Cook bread slices on lightly greased nonstick griddle or skillet on medium heat until browned on both sides;
• Top with chives, sesame seeds, and maple syrup or honey to taste.

Serve

Serve as you would a stack of French toast. Consider playing up the Japanese flavour profiles with some pickled ginger on top, added nori or maybe a side of salmon.

Read more tikichris recipes.