Tamagoyaki is a dish in which eggs are seasoned and cooked so that they are nice and thick. In the Kanto region, the term tamagoyaki refers to eggs seasoned sweetly and cooked until slightly charred, while in the Kansai region, the term dashimaki tamago refers to eggs seasoned with dashi (a soup stock usually made from fish or seaweed) and cooked without browning. Dashimaki tamago is served with grated radish (daikon oroshi).
Eggs have been valued by the Japanese since ancient times as "food that nourishes the soul." However, since chicken meat was forbidden at court and chickens were regarded as useful animals which told the time, their consumption was prohibited along with the meat of animals.
It was not until the early Edo period (1603-1868), when the prohibition was lifted, that people began to cook and eat chicken meat and eggs. Although people began to eat chicken eggs due to the influence of the Nanban trade, they were still very precious, out of the reach of commoners. Sometime later, a dish that became popular as a feast for the common people of Edo was "tamago-fuwafuwa" (lit. “fluffy eggs”), a dish made by pouring beaten eggs into boiling broth and steaming them. This is believed to be the origin of tamago-yaki.
Oji Ougiya, which is mentioned in the rakugo comic story "Oji no Kitsune" and is depicted in Utagawa Hiroshige's “Edo Komei Kai-tei Zetsu”, serves hand-baked tamagoyaki, maintaining the flavor of the time. In those days, many teahouses and ryotei (traditional Japanese-style restaurants) lined the streets around Oji and Asukayama, which were famous for their cherry blossoms, and Oji Ougiya was one of them.
江戸高名会亭尽（えどこうめいかいていづくし）by 歌川広重/Utagawa Hiroshige's "Edo Komei Kai-tei Zetsu
The “Edo omelet” is characterized by its sweet, rich flavor with the umami of bonito stock and its elastic texture. Even today, this dish has become a staple in Japanese households, and with the spread of Teflon square frying pans, it can be easily prepared and continues to be a favorite bentō staple.
