Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter to pan and cook until lightly browned. Re-whisk eggs until foamy, then add to skillet and cook, using a silicone spatula to push the edges in toward the center as they set and tilting the pan to spread the uncooked egg underneath. Continue pushing in the edges of the eggs and tilting the skillet, working all around the pan, until omelette is almost set, about 45 seconds.

Sprinkle ham and cheese over half of omelette, remove from heat, cover, and let omelette sit until it reaches the desired consistency, about 1 minute.

Using silicone spatula, loosen the edges of the omelette from skillet and shake skillet to ensure that it’s not stuck. Carefully fold omelette in half, then slide it onto a serving plate and serve immediately.

Special equipment
10-inch nonstick skillet, silicone spatula

Finishing the omelette off-heat keeps it tender and moist.
Just as with scrambled eggs, the method by which the eggs are heated and stirred is the primary factor that determines what kind of omelette you end up with. This is my basic technique for diner-style omelettes with large, tender, browned curds and plenty of space for fillings.
This recipe is excerpted from my book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.

Sorry for shouting, but I’m so excited!! Ever since the first time I laid eyes on those giggly giant fluffy Japanese pancakes, I’ve been obsessed. We may or may not have been to almost every fluffy pancake place in Tokyo because of my obsession – here’s a run down on the places we’ve been to. I love the way Japanese pancakes taste: light, airy, and oh so delicious.

The best part of going to the pancake places, aside from eating the pancakes, is that you get to watch them expertly shape, flip, and plate up serving after serving of fluffy goodness. It’s nice to watch but also kind of awkward because I’m sure the pancake peeps don’t really want anyone staring at them. I would have major anxiety if people were watching me do my job day after day after day.

Heck, I was anxious making these pancakes in the safety of my own home in my joggers and sweatshirt. It’s a good thing I was in comfy clothes because these pancakes have been years in the making and to be honest, I failed a couple times before they came out just the way I wanted them.

The very first time I tried to do Japanese pancakes I did the ring mold version, but that just wasn’t what I wanted. Then, a couple of years ago, I winged it and made some that tasted good, but weren’t perfect, looks wise. (Update: I made the ones with molds and they are super tall and fluffy!) I kept meaning to perfect that recipe and put it up, but I kind of sort of *gasp* forgot about them. Just recently though, Mike mentioned that Pancake Day was coming up and I started thinking about pancakes again and here we are.
I tried to find the recipe that I was working on so many years ago but somehow it was gone so I gave up and just tried out a very popular google result. Sadly, I was seriously disappointed: too eggy and nothing like the pancakes I’ve had in Tokyo. They weren’t even fluffy?! I just knew I had to get back the recipe that I started so many years ago so I asked Mike to help and lo and behold, it was there, on my computer. With tasty recipe in hand, I set out on making them even fluffier and went deep into fluffy pancake search mode and found a promising looking video.

The ingredients for this Japanese cheesecake recipe are are similar to regular cheesecake, but with a few important changes:

cake flour: if you don’t live in America, cake flour is low protein flour, usually about 8%-9% protein
corn starch: not corn flour. corn starch is used to get the protein content down even further to make the cake as light and fluffy as possible
cream of tartar: cream of tartar helps stabilize the egg whites, which are whipped into a meringue. Cream of tartar can be hard to find depending on where you live, so if you don’t have it but you’re pretty good at whipping egg whites to soft peaks, you could skip it. You can also order it online.
How to make Japanese Cheesecake
Make the cream cheese batter: The cream cheese is melted over a double boiler so that it gets extra smooth and creamy. When it’s melty, mix in the butter, milk, egg yolks, and a bit of sugar.
Sift in the flour and cornstarch: After everything is smooth you sift in the cake flour and cornstarch.
Whip the egg whites: This is the part that is key. It’s not too difficult, especially if you’ve made meringue before. Just whip up your whites to about soft peaks.
Mix: Gently fold together the whites and cream cheese batter, being careful not to deflate the whites too much.
Bake in a water bath: Japanese cheesecake is a bit delicate so you’ll need to bake it in a water bath with a kitchen towel underneath so that it doesn’t contact direct heat in any way.
Cool: If you like, you can remove it from the pan once it’s cool enough to touch and do the jiggly shake that I’m sure you’ve seen on the internet. Otherwise, just let it cool very slowly then you’re ready to eat!

Japanese cheesecake is probably my all-time favorite cake of any kind, cheese or not.

Recently, I’ve been making Japanese cheesecake after cheesecake, not to perfect a recipe or anything, but because they’re just so fluffy and addictive. Can you ever have too much cheesecake?

What is Japanese Cheesecake?
Japanese cheesecake is a soufflé cheesecake that’s quite different than the dense and thick New York style cheesecake we all know and love, but every bit as tasty. They are light and fluffy thanks to loads of whipped egg whites, are a little less sweet, and have a slightly tangy cream cheese flavor. They’re so fluffy that you can probably eat a whole cheesecake by yourself and not feel totally guilty about it. They’re like the cheesecake version of Japanese soufflé pancakes.

They look pretty darn cute and squishy and taste good too. This recipe bakes up beautifully, doesn’t crack and the inside texture is bang on, almost exactly the same as the cheesecakes I get in Tokyo. The key is baking it at different temperatures. It starts off high so it can get a lot of heat to help it rise, then goes low and slow so everything bakes evenly.

Japanese cheesecake is probably my all-time favorite cake of any kind, cheese or not.

Recently, I’ve been making Japanese cheesecake after cheesecake, not to perfect a recipe or anything, but because they’re just so fluffy and addictive. Can you ever have too much cheesecake?

What is Japanese Cheesecake?
Japanese cheesecake is a soufflé cheesecake that’s quite different than the dense and thick New York style cheesecake we all know and love, but every bit as tasty. They are light and fluffy thanks to loads of whipped egg whites, are a little less sweet, and have a slightly tangy cream cheese flavor. They’re so fluffy that you can probably eat a whole cheesecake by yourself and not feel totally guilty about it. They’re like the cheesecake version of Japanese soufflé pancakes.

They look pretty darn cute and squishy and taste good too. This recipe bakes up beautifully, doesn’t crack and the inside texture is bang on, almost exactly the same as the cheesecakes I get in Tokyo. The key is baking it at different temperatures. It starts off high so it can get a lot of heat to help it rise, then goes low and slow so everything bakes evenly.

The ingredients for this Japanese cheesecake recipe are are similar to regular cheesecake, but with a few important changes:

cake flour: if you don’t live in America, cake flour is low protein flour, usually about 8%-9% protein
corn starch: not corn flour. corn starch is used to get the protein content down even further to make the cake as light and fluffy as possible
cream of tartar: cream of tartar helps stabilize the egg whites, which are whipped into a meringue. Cream of tartar can be hard to find depending on where you live, so if you don’t have it but you’re pretty good at whipping egg whites to soft peaks, you could skip it. You can also order it online.
How to make Japanese Cheesecake
Make the cream cheese batter: The cream cheese is melted over a double boiler so that it gets extra smooth and creamy. When it’s melty, mix in the butter, milk, egg yolks, and a bit of sugar.
Sift in the flour and cornstarch: After everything is smooth you sift in the cake flour and cornstarch.
Whip the egg whites: This is the part that is key. It’s not too difficult, especially if you’ve made meringue before. Just whip up your whites to about soft peaks.
Mix: Gently fold together the whites and cream cheese batter, being careful not to deflate the whites too much.
Bake in a water bath: Japanese cheesecake is a bit delicate so you’ll need to bake it in a water bath with a kitchen towel underneath so that it doesn’t contact direct heat in any way.
Cool: If you like, you can remove it from the pan once it’s cool enough to touch and do the jiggly shake that I’m sure you’ve seen on the internet. Otherwise, just let it cool very slowly then you’re ready to eat!

The very first time I tried to do Japanese pancakes I did the ring mold version, but that just wasn’t what I wanted. Then, a couple of years ago, I winged it and made some that tasted good, but weren’t perfect, looks wise. (Update: I made the ones with molds and they are super tall and fluffy!) I kept meaning to perfect that recipe and put it up, but I kind of sort of *gasp* forgot about them. Just recently though, Mike mentioned that Pancake Day was coming up and I started thinking about pancakes again and here we are.
I tried to find the recipe that I was working on so many years ago but somehow it was gone so I gave up and just tried out a very popular google result. Sadly, I was seriously disappointed: too eggy and nothing like the pancakes I’ve had in Tokyo. They weren’t even fluffy?! I just knew I had to get back the recipe that I started so many years ago so I asked Mike to help and lo and behold, it was there, on my computer. With tasty recipe in hand, I set out on making them even fluffier and went deep into fluffy pancake search mode and found a promising looking video.

Sorry for shouting, but I’m so excited!! Ever since the first time I laid eyes on those giggly giant fluffy Japanese pancakes, I’ve been obsessed. We may or may not have been to almost every fluffy pancake place in Tokyo because of my obsession – here’s a run down on the places we’ve been to. I love the way Japanese pancakes taste: light, airy, and oh so delicious.

The best part of going to the pancake places, aside from eating the pancakes, is that you get to watch them expertly shape, flip, and plate up serving after serving of fluffy goodness. It’s nice to watch but also kind of awkward because I’m sure the pancake peeps don’t really want anyone staring at them. I would have major anxiety if people were watching me do my job day after day after day.

Heck, I was anxious making these pancakes in the safety of my own home in my joggers and sweatshirt. It’s a good thing I was in comfy clothes because these pancakes have been years in the making and to be honest, I failed a couple times before they came out just the way I wanted them.