July | 2025 | Lotus Rock

Lotus Rock Makiyakinabe

July 20, 2025 / arnoldtnn / 0 Comments

In Japanese cuisine rolled omelettes are made as rectangular thin omelettes and then rolled into a cylindrical or elongated cube shape using Japanese kitchen chopsticks. To obtain a roll with a constant diameter over the entire lengths, the thin omelette should be of rectangular shape. To obtain this shape a special rectangular frying pan is used. This type of pan shape for making Japanese-style rolled omelettes is generally called Makiyakinabe, but in other parts of Japan it is also known as tamagoyakiki.

In the market place today the Makiyakinabe pan is most often made of iron, with either a plastic or wooden handle. Since the main purpose of Makiyakinabe is to use a lot of eggs to make an omelette, a non-stick coating is applied to the pan to facilitate easy rolling of the omelette into an elongated cube shape.

Generally the ingredients for a Japenese-style rolled omelette with the Makiyakinabe pan are as follows:

4 eggs
soy sauce
mirin
sugar
salt
cooking oil

To prepare a Japanese-style rolled omelette the eggs need to be beaten in a bowl, with the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and salt added later to the mix. The Makiyakinabe pan should be brought up to a medium heat and then a small amount of cooking oil should be added. Next the egg mixture is poured into the pan and when it is slightly uncooked should be pushed to the side of the pan. After this another small amount of the egg mix should be added to the pan. Once this has cooked for a bit it can be rolled over the first bit of egg mixture that rolled up the pan earlier. Keep adding the egg in new layers until you have used it all up. Once this is done the omelette can be removed from the pan, and once it cooled can be sliced into thin pieces with a sharp knife.

As was explained above, most Makiyakinabe pans in the market today are made with iron and come with a general non-stick coating on them. However, if you read several reviews of these pans on Amazon you will note that some of these have received a number of negative comments. Some of these complaints include:

Scratching, both on the interior and exterior of the pan.
Rust, in some cases this has appeared after only a few uses.
Uneven heating, the omelette would cook faster in one section of the pan.
Poor non-stick release, eggs would stick quite easily even after just 3 times of use.
Difficult to clean, eggs are difficult to remove from non-stick coating.

As shown in the video here, a Lotus Rock Makiyakinabe pan can cook a Japanese-style rolled omelette extremely well, with no sticking and to a perfect thin, crispy texture. There are a number of reasons for this, these are:

Thickness. A number of the consumers on Amazon complained about both the thin metal base and non-stick coating. This particular pan did not heat evenly (or retain heat well), and the non-stick coating easily scratched, causing the iron surface below to rust quite easily. As previously explained here, Lotus Rock has both a heavy gauge carbon steel base, as well as a very thick ceramic layer around it (up to 100 microns). Therefore, not only does a Lotus Rock Makiyakinabe pan heat up evenly and quickly for an excellent heating effect, but the coating is extremely scratch resistant to use on the stove top or to whatever material it is being stored on in the kitchen. The thickness of the Lotus Rock ceramic layer also provides excellent corrosion resistance, so no rust spots should appear in spite of intensive, daily use.
Non-stick release. One of the most common complaints about the pan reviewed on Amazon was that the non-stick effect wore off extremely quickly. In contrast, all Lotus Rock pans have a natural, highly durable non-stick release. As explained above, one of the cooking instructions for all Japanese-style rolled omelettes is that after the egg mixture is rolled up the pan cooking oil should be added again to make the next layer of the omelette. As the video above clearly demonstrates, no sticking occurred when the egg mixture was added to the Lotus Rock Makiyakinabe pan. The high durability of the Lotus Rock natural non-stick surface is perfect for a consumer who wants to use this type of pan on a daily basis for breakfast.
Metal utensil safe. In order to cook a Japanese-style rolled omelette correctly, speed of movement is important. A tough and sharp utensil is needed to get quickly underneath the egg mixture to roll it over so it settles nicely at the top of the pan. For the pan reviewed on Amazon a fair number of consumers complained that they had to be careful which type of utensil they used, otherwise they might scratch and then impair the quality of the coating. On the other hand for a Lotus Rock Makiyankinabe pan, because the silicon-oxide crystal coating is extremely thin, no metal utensils can damage it or the thick ceramic layer it is coated on. Therefore, a consumer can use any type of utensil, such as a metal spatula, fork or chopsticks without any fear that using them might scratch the coating.

If you are a passionate lover of Japanese cuisine, and you would like to cook a delicious Japanese-style rolled omelette then perhaps you should consider to purchase a Lotus Rock Makiyakinabe pan. It can be used for your daily breakfast, over a long period of time without any worries over scratching or poor non-stick release.

Lotus Rock’s non-reactive surface

July 13, 2025 / arnoldtnn / 2 Comments

When a consumer is searching for a cooking utensil to buy, one of the many questions they might ask themselves is ‘What kind of cooking task do I want to do?’ Naturally their first consideration would be the pan shape, for example a sauté pan, with its high, straight sides has quite an advantageous shape for high heat searing and then for braising afterwards. The consumer might then consider the thermal properties of the material in the pan (as discussed previously here). Once both of these have been fully evaluated, a fairly experienced chef might also look into the reactivity of the pan’s surface.

The terms “reactive” and “non-reactive” refer to the type of metal from which the cooking utensil is made. Generally speaking, aluminum, cast iron, and copper are all “reactive.” Stainless steel, ceramic, glass and metal cookware with enamel coating are all “non-reactive.” Those metals listed as “reactive” will all generally react with acidic and alkaline foods, but they are all a good choice for boiling water, sautéing vegetables, or searing meat. Acidic ingredients that metals such as aluminum will react with include tomatoes or lemon juice, which give your food a metallic flavor, especially if the cooking time is very long. In addition, with a reactive cooking surface cooking with acidic ingredients might also produce undesirable colours and/or flavours.

Reactive cookware

Aluminum

Tomato sauce and other tomato products react with aluminum because of their acidity, and acids don’t mix well with aluminum. Highly acidic foods cause oxidation, which can darken the aluminum pan and alter the taste of the food. A special case is anodized aluminum, which is aluminum that has been treated with an electrolytic process to create a harder surface that is still somewhat reactive, but significantly less so than untreated aluminum.

Cast Iron

If food is cooked with this type of cookware then it may pick up chemical elements from the surface. However, ingesting iron is not a health concern as the human body can process iron relatively easy. When properly seasoned a cast iron pan’s surface becomes less reactive and some acidic ingredients can be used for a short period of time. However, these pans must be continually re-seasoned otherwise the surface will become more reactive and begin to discolour and pit when used with acidic ingredients.

Copper

An uncoated copper surface is actually beneficial for some cooking techniques, such as whipping egg whites (makes the whites more stable). However, unlike iron, the human body has a much harder time eliminating copper after ingesting it, so a cookware utensil with this type of surface should be used sparingly. Other problems with copper cookware include discoloring and scratching.

Non-reactive cookware

Non-Stick coating

One significant benefit of a non-stick coating on, for example, an aluminum pan, is that it provides a complete non-reactive surface for cooking. Whether the coating contains PTFE or silicone oil for its non-stick release, acidic or alkali ingredients will not react with either the inert coating or the surface metal below it. However, there is one major disadvantage with the non-reactive surface of a non-stick coating: it is not suitable for deglazing. First and foremost, non-stick coatings are not appropriate to use for high heat cooking, which is important for browning meat and vegetables. However, even if a non-stick coating was used for searing large cuts of meat with a brown crust on them, de-glazing can still not be done because these little brown bits formed after the meat is seared will not stick to the pan during cooking. It is these leftover bits on the pan (the fond) which are an essential ingredient for de-glazing, to create a delicious sauce which can then be poured over the just seared meat.

Lotus Rock

All Lotus Rock pans come with a non-reactive surface. This means that during cooking certain ingredients, usually acidic ones, will not chemically combine and alter the flavor and colour of the finished palette. For example, tomato juice can be used for a Bolognese sauce and lemon juice can be added where necessary to give a dish extra flavor. These sauces can then be cleaned from the pan after cooking without any colour staining or visible scarring on the coating’s surface. Unlike cast iron, a Lotus Rock pan does not need to be continually re-seasoned to make it less reactive to acidic ingredients. Likewise, unlike a copper pan, Lotus Rock can be used on a regular basis without heavy metals being absorbed into the cooked food. Lastly, because of its non-reactive surface, a Lotus Rock pan is highly appropriate for de-glazing after meat has been seared at a high temperature. The residue of the Fond can be made to form part of a delicious sauce through the addition of some kind of acidic solution, such as a broth or cup of wine.