Name: Tamagoyaki Scramble
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 3 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: vegan
Ingredients: 1 sheet yuba (10g dry or 60g fresh); 1/4 cup silken tofu (60g); 3 tbsp liquid of choice (ie. cashew milk, soy milk, oat milk or water 45g); 2 tbsp chickpea, white rice or brown rice flour (20g // see blogpost for textural difference); 1 tsp soy sauce (5g // tamari for gluten free); 1/2 tsp kombu dashi granules (or 1 tsp miso paste); 2 tsp mirin (10g); 2 tsp sugar (10g); 1/8 tsp baking powder; 1/4 tsp black salt; pepper to taste; 2 tsp nutritional yeast (8g); 1 tbsp vegan kewpie mayo (makes it extra creamy); pinch of turmeric (for colour); kizami nori (cut up seaweed); soy sauce; scallions; sesame seeds

Japanese Scrambled Eggs made vegan using yuba, eggy sauce and all the flavourful seasonings that typically go into tamagoaki (Japanese rolled omelette). This tamagoyaki scramble is sweet, savory, soft & wonderfully delicious over rice. The perfect quick and easy high protein breakfast!

close up shot of japanese scrambled eggs over rice in a dark brown bowl and nori on top

I have fond memories of Tamagoyaki– it was always one of my all time favourite things to eat growing up. Was also never super crazy about eggs but I was crazy about Tamagoyaki. I looked forward to Japanese school every Saturday for my mom’s bento lunches just for her Tamagoyaki.

If you’re unfamiliar, Tamagoyaki is a Japanese rolled up omelette seasoned with mirin, soy sauce and sugar. Japanese omelettes, while easy do take some patience so this is something my mom used to make us to save time: Scrambled Tamagoyaki. She would serve it with toast for my dad and sisters and over rice for her and myself.

Basically, its scrambled eggs plus all of the seasonings used in Tamagoyaki. Since going vegan, I haven’t had it and thats over 10 years! With all the new egg products coming out, it inspired me to make my own vegan version of one of my favourite childhood breakfasts.

ingredients for japanese scrambled eggs in a bowl on a beige backdrop

How to Make Japanese Scrambled Eggs (with Tofu!)

Last year, I experimented with a Tamagoyaki recipe that actually came out quite good, but the texture was slightly off. It was just a bit too thick and I think tightly squeezing it with the rolling mat (like you typically do) made it almost too dense. I used that recipe to make a scramble instead and it was shockingly like the real thing,

The Ingredients

Yuba (bean curd skin): This is what gives this scrambled eggs soft curds like real eggs do. Yuba can easily be found at your local asian grocery store or amazon either dry or fresh.
Silken tofu: Makes the ‘egg’ soft and and slightly fluffy like real eggs.
Soy milk or water: Some liquid to thin out the batter a bit.
Seasonings: soy sauce, dashi, mirin, sugar and black salt for an eggy taste.
Chickpea OR Rice flours: I know a lot of people (including myself at first) don’t like the chickpea flour taste so rice flours is a great substitute but do yield slightly different textures:
- Chickpea Flour: The highest in protein, gives it a slightly cooked consistency but still fluffy.
- White Rice Flour: My personal choice. It gives a slightly softer and lighter texture but with that still runny smooth consistency.
- Brown Rice Flour: Similar to white rice flour but just slightly more dense. Depending on the brand, it can be a bit gritty so be sure to use fine brown rice flour.

You can get away without adding the dashi and black salt but don’t skip the soy sauce, mirin and sugar. For more flavour, you can also use nutritional yeast. Somedays, my mom would also add in a bit of kewpie mayo (they sell vegan versions now!) for extra richness.

yuba bean curd rehydrated in a white bowl

How to Scramble Tofu “Eggs” + Tips

After you blend the egg mixture, heat up a medium sized pan over medium heat and add some oil. While you can make this without oil on a really good non-stick pan, the oil adds richness and cooks up the scrambled eggs much more deliciously so I don’t recommend skimping out.

Pour the egg mixture over the hot pan and then place pieces of yuba on top. Once the edges look cooked, use chopsticks or a spatula to push the edges toward the middle. This will ‘scramble’ the eggs while leaving large curds from both the yuba and actual egg mixture. Turn the heat down to low and let it cook for 30 seconds – 1 minute depending on the consistency of scrambled eggs you like.

Tip #1: Add the black salt at the very end once the eggs are just about done cooking. This helps enhance the ‘eggy’ flavour.
Tip #2: Don’t swirl the egg too much, you want to kind of leave it as is once you do the first round of pushing the eggs toward the middle. I like my eggs to be slightly runny so I’ll take it off the stove as soon as I see light browning.
Tip #3: If you prefer a traditional vegan tofu scramble, use this recipe and just add all the seasonings!

japanese scrambled eggs made with yuba on a black frying pan

While this isn’t EXACTLY the same as real eggs, it has that same soft, slightly fluffy and runny-curdy texture thanks to the yuba. Flavour wise? It’s pretty darn close. Eggy yet savory sweet with a hint of umami coming from the dashi.

Serve over rice (my fav!), toast or have it on the side with your typical breakfast. My family wold pair it with miso soup, onigiri and some seasoned vegetables like this spinach side dish.

I hope you get a chance to try this vegan version of Japanese scrambled eggs and love it as much as my family and I do! It’s such a nostalgic family comfort dish, I’m super excited to finally be able to share a recipe that is close to the original. ♡

japanese scrambled eggs over a bed of rice in a bowl topped with nori and a spoon inside the bowl

If you recreate this Vegan Tamagoyaki Scramble Recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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