Home-Style Tamagoyaki

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons homemade dashi or hondashi, or more or less as desired
• 1 teaspoon usukuchi soy sauce, plus more for drizzling
• 1 teaspoon mirin
• An oil-soaked paper towel, folded up into a small bundle, for greasing the pan
• Grated daikon radish, for serving

Directions

1. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and whisk them with chopsticks until the mixture is smooth, with no streaks of white left. Stir in the cooled dashi, mirin, and soy sauce.
2. Set a tamagoyaki pan over medium-high heat. Warm it until holding your hand 1 inch or 2 from the surface lets you feel a steady, moderate heat; the pan should be hot enough for the eggs to bubble and sizzle gently, but not so hot that they brown fast. Grip the oil-soaked paper towel with chopsticks and swipe a thin film of oil over the entire pan, getting into the corners too. During cooking, it is handy to park the oiled towel in a small dish close by.
3. Pour 1-quarter of the egg mixture into the pan, then tilt the pan so the egg coats the bottom in an even sheet. Pop any big bubbles with your chopsticks as they appear.
4. Once the underside has set but the top still looks a little wet, start the first roll. Take the pan off the heat, slip a chopstick under the far edge of the egg if you can, and flick the pan upward quickly to fold the egg over itself so it rolls partway toward the handle. Do that again until the sheet has rolled all the way toward the handle. This first layer is the trickiest because it is so delicate; if it resists, just nudge and gather it with your chopsticks at the handle end.
5. Put the pan back on the heat. Use the oiled towel to grease the uncovered part of the pan, which will be the center and the far side, then move the omelette roll away from the handle to the far side of the pan and oil the area near the handle.
6. Add the next 1-quarter of the egg mixture; you will make 4 layers in total. Spread it over the bottom of the pan, then lift the rolled section with your chopsticks so the uncooked egg can flow underneath. Cook until this fresh layer is just set but still moist on top, bursting any large bubbles as needed.
7. Roll again in the same manner, working a chopstick under the far edge and turning the cooked egg log over itself as you move it toward the handle. Repeat the same layering and rolling process 2 more times, using up the remaining egg.
8. If you like, tip the rolled tamagoyaki onto a bamboo sushi mat and wrap it snugly but gently to help shape it into an even roll; let it rest for 3 minutes. Move the tamagoyaki to a serving plate, cut it crosswise if desired, and serve it with a small mound of grated daikon radish. Drizzle a little extra usukuchi soy sauce over the daikon, if desired.